Am'octuriSearm'}     British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  515 
insufficiency  of  the  demand  for  sound  education  in  pharmacy  and  the  science- 
allied  to  it  as  to  the  absence  of  adequate  provisions  for  focussing  the  demand 
in  such  quantities  as  to  ensure  its  supply.  For  the  organization  of  such 
demand  and  supply  it  was  proposed  that  Great  Britain  should  be  divided  into 
.about  fifteen  districts,  each  of  which  should  be  under  the  supervision  of  a  rep- 
resentative local  committee,  having  for  its  business,  among  other  things,  the 
establishment  of  one  or  more  educational  centres  in  the  district,  care  being 
taken  to  utilize,  so  far  as  possible,  any  existing  university  or  college  teaching. 
Statistics  were  quoted  to  the  effect  that  eight  hundred  candidates  present 
themselves  annually  for  the  pharmaceutical  examinations,  of  whom  nearly  four 
iiundred  pass,  as  evidence  that  there  should  be  ample  material  for  so  limited  a 
number  of  educational  centres  to  draw  upon  to  make  most  of  them  self- 
supporting.  But  supposing  there  were  centres  for  which  assistance  could  be 
legitimately  expected,  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  Council  of  the  Pharmaceu- 
tical Society  might  well  be  called  upon  to  fulfil  the  promises  that  it  has  made 
under  successive  presidents,  to  render  assistance  when  there  is  satisfactory 
organization.  Looking  about  for  suitable  constituents  for  such  committees, 
Mr.  Greenish  thinks  these  might  be  found  in  the  local  secretaries  to  the  Phar- 
maceutical Society  in  each  district,  who  would  not  only  form  strictly  local 
.and  representative  committees,  but  would  just  give  that  contact  with  that 
Society  which  in  view  of  a  probable  demand  for  pecuniary  assistance  the 
Council  might  fairly  require.  Moreover,  it  was  pointed  out  that  such  organiza- 
tions would  be  extremely  valuable  for  other  purposes,  and  it  was  significantly 
added  that  probably  the  next  political  struggle  in  which  pharmacists  would 
find  themselves  as  a  body  engaged  would  be  for  the  existence  of  present 
rights  rather  than  the  extension  of  present  privileges.  Eecognizing  the 
necessity  for  something  more  than  empty  declamation  as  to  wants,  Mr. 
Greenish  then  proceeded,  with  the  aid  of  maps,  to  a'  description  of  the  pro- 
posed divisions.  From  this  it  appeared  that  in  England  and  Wales  he  suggests 
there  should  be  twelve  districts,  and  in  Scotland  three ;  the  committees  then, 
supposing  that  they  included  all  tbe  local  secretaries  in  the  respective  districts* 
would  in  England  and  Wales,  as  a  rule,  number  from  twenty  to  thirty  members> 
whilst  in  Scotland  they  would  number  about  ten.  Any  approximate  estimate 
as  to  the  cost  of  carrying  out  such  a  scheme  is  of  course  out  of  the  question 
without  further  inquiry;  the  figures  quoted  rather  took  the  form  of  the  outside 
possible  cost  to  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  supposing  it  undertook  tbe  respon- 
sibility. Taking  three  hundred  and  fifty  as  the  outside  total  under  present 
arrangements,  of  the  possible  members  of  the  committee,  it  was  suggested  that 
each  committee  might  be  limited  in  its  expenditure  for  travelling,  etc.,  to  twenty 
shillings  per  head  per  annum,  which  would  be  covered  by  a  sum  of  £350. 
Another  estimate  of  £300  was  arrived  at  by  supposing  that  direct  subsidies  in 
aid  of  the  classes  might  be  required  to  the  extent  of  an  average  of  £20  for  each 
district.  The  two  sums  would  form  a  total  of  £650,  which  Mr.  Greenish  specu- 
lates might  be  somewhat  reduced  by  local  subscriptions  to  ensure  interested 
supervision,  and  he  suggests  that  the  balance,  possibly  £500  a  year,  might  be 
found  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society.  A  sympathetic  allusion  to  the  late  Mr. 
William  Southall,  then  brought  the  address  to  a  close. 
It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  sketch  that  the  Presidential  address  to  the 
