STUDY. 
531 
customers,  advertised  the  drugs,  and  improvised  a  reputation,  yet 
somehow  or  other  the  new  house  and  its  owner  by  degrees  gained 
itself  a  name,  passed  into  a  household  word,  and  became  as  well 
known  as  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
Study  was  the  talisman  which  wrought  the  enchantment. 
One  hour  a  day  devoted  for  three  years  to  regular,  uninterrupted, 
systematic  reading  would  enable  you  to  reach  the  limits  of  your 
ambition.  Three  years  !  what  an  age  !  But  unimproved  or  not 
they  will  go  all  the  same,  so  why  not  make  the  best  of  them  in 
passing  ?  The  sole  question  is,  can  you  get  one  hour  ?  Such  is 
the  internal  constitution  of  some  houses  that  it  is  quite  impossible. 
On  this  subject  we  are  fearful  of  being  led  astray  by  temporary 
excitement,  which  would  gain  no  object,  but  simply  create 
annoyance.  We  believe  it  to  be  the  interest  of  none  but  the  gas 
companies  to  commence  business  before  the  day-dawn,  and  pro- 
tract it  beyond  the  dead  of  night.  It  is  the  interest  of  masters 
to  have  the  cordial  sympathy  of  their  assistants,  and  not  their 
unwilling  services.  It  is  the  interest  of  the  public  to  be  served 
by  an  intelligent  being,  and  not  by  a  spectral  incompetent.  It 
is  the  interest  of  the  assistants  to  have  the  requisite  time  for  im- 
provement here,  and  the  opportunity  for  attending  those  sacred 
duties  which  are  to  fit  them  for  hereafter. 
Now  for  a  few  practical  details  : — Ten  pages  can  be  well  read 
in  one  hour.  "Why  bless  us  all,  I  can  read  fifty  without  the 
slightest  trouble — thirty  at  least."  In  "  bless-us-all  gentlemen" 
we  have  little  confidence ;  the  first  month  finds  them  at  work 
like 'a  steam-engine,  the  second  at  the  bottom  of  their  beds 
They  are  like  those  remarkable  young  ladies  who  learn  French 
in  three  months,  pick  up  Italian  on  their  way,  and  take  German 
at  a  hand-gallop — a  process  which  causes  a  slight  embarrassment 
to  the  respective  natives. 
Returning  to  the  decimal  system,  which  is  after  all  the  best,  a 
short  tabular  view  may  tend  to  enlighten  the  subject.  One 
month  contains  in  round  numbers  thirty  days,  consequently  ten 
pages  every  morning  would  be  300  pages  a  month,  from  which 
the  following  average  result  might  ensue  : — 
Pereira's  Materia  Medica    .    1900  pages     6  months. 
London  Pharmacopoeia       .      550     "        2.  " 
Christison's  Dispensatory   .      950     "        3  " 
