78 
Pharmacy  and  Chemistry. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
I    February,  1905. 
students.  Some  American  students  are  no  more  than  kids — all  the 
way  from  sixteen  years  down. 
The  young  man  who  wishes  to  enter  a  British  chemist's  shop  (cor- 
responding to  our  drug  store)  as  an  apprentice,  must  pass  before  the 
recognized  board  in  the  following  topics  :  English  grammar  and 
composition,  Latin,  a  modern  language,  algebra,  arithmetic  and 
Euclid.  This  bill  of  fare  would  correspond  to  at  least  the  fourth 
year  in  one  of  our  American  high-schools.  The  boys  will  be  about 
seventeen  to  eighteen  years  old  when  they  pass  this  examination  ; 
nor  is  the  examination  gratuitous,  for  it  has  a  two-guinea  fee  at- 
tached, i.e.,  $10.00. 
After  the  young  man  has  fulfilled  his  academic  requirements, 
which  fact  is  officially  recorded  by  the  examining  board,  he  may 
enter  the  "  chemist's  "  shop  as  a  student  or  apprentice.  This  Eng- 
lish method  seems  decidedly  more  logical  than  that  of  our  States, 
which  do  insist  on  some  educational  requirements  before  they 
admit  to  the  examination  for  assistant.  There  are  cases  on 
record  where  young  men  have  graduated  from  reputable  Colleges 
of  Pharmacy  and  have  failed  to  pass  this  preliminary  examination. 
It  seems  rather  cruel  and  decidedly  unreasonable  to  require  such 
young  men,  who  have  shown  ability  by  their  success  in  obtaining 
the  degree  Ph.G.,to  make  up  such  elementary  deficiencies.  Medical 
Boards  in  many  States  demand  that  the  medical  student  shall  have 
the  requisite  common  schooling  before  he  may  enter  a  medical  col- 
lege. Naturally,  such  boards  believe  in  the  quid  pro  quo\  and  no 
young  doctor  will  ever  be  held  up  by  the  board  later  on,  as  is  the 
case  with  the  druggists  mentioned. 
After  three  legal  years  as  apprentice,  the  British  applicant  may 
take  the  so-called  minor,  for  which  he  pays  a  fee  of  $50.  He  must 
also  have  attained  his  majority.  This  English  examination  covers 
more  ground  than  that  of  the  first  year  in  the  American  College. 
It  also  embraces  such  important  features  as  a  good  knowledge  of 
the  Poison  Act,  and  a  prompt  and  accurate  dispensing  of  a  prescrip- 
tion. The  examiner  grades  him  on  the  time  it  takes,  and  his  pro- 
ficiency in  the  art,  as  evidenced  by  an  actual  filling  of  the  prescrip- 
tion. So  we  see  such  a  young  man  must  be  a  capable  professional 
aid  to  his  employer. 
Later  the  major  examination,  a  most  thorough  and  searching 
probing  of  the  future  "  chemist's  "  knowledge,  chemical,  pharma- 
