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ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  PHARMACY. 
These  two  occurrences  led  me  to  reflect  instinctively  that  the 
life  of  the  French  Pharmacien  differed  from  that  of  the  Eng- 
lish Pharmaceutist,  at  least  in  its  external  character ;  and  being 
a  Chemist  myself,  I  determined  to  see  whether  there  might  not 
exist  other  and  more  special  points  of  difference  than  those  sug- 
gested by  a  superficial  glance  ;  and  as  one  object  of  travel  is  to 
draw  practical  results  from  mere  amusement,  I  thought  it  not 
idle  to  work  out  the  subject,  and  proceed  to  weightier  matters. 
The  country  in  relation  to  the  country  druggist  will  aid  in 
establishing  a  just  comparison. 
Every  young  man  with  a  spark  of  ambition  in  him,  wants  to 
come  to  London,  because  it  presents  a  wider  field  of  observation 
than  can  be  obtained  elsewhere ;  it  allures  with  the  chance  of  a 
first-class  situation,  and  the  strong  hope  of  consequent  improve- 
ment, besides  offering  the  certainty  of  seeing  and  knowing  more 
than  can  be  expected  in  the  narrow  limits  of  a  little  town.  Lon- 
don, too,  has  a  School  of  Pharmacy,  with  excellent  lectures,  and 
a  Museum,  to  which,  though  this  is  not  generally  known,  is  at- 
tached a  library.  Influenced  by  these  advantages,  the  country- 
man deserts  his  fields  and  comes  to  town  ;  works  very  hard — 
stares  at  every  Chemist's  window — takes  amazing  notes,  and 
has  a  monomania  for  self-culture.  But  no  sooner  has  he  acquired 
as  much  as  he  thinks  requisite,  than  the  ultimate  object  of  his 
ambition  is  to  regain  the  country,  where  he  thinks,  and  rightly 
thinks,  that  his  late  experience  and  his  London  name  may  favor 
his  success. 
Across  the  Channel,  the  country  is  the  last  place  to  which  the 
provincial  Pharmacien  would  choose  to  go ;  not  that  he  is  spell- 
bound by  the  fascinations  of  the  city,  as  Eugene  Sue  declares,  for 
the  necessities  of  life  are  rude  disturbers  of  the  romantic  notions 
found  in  novels  ;  nor  yet  that  he  has  an  insane  love  for  the  hot 
air  and  crowded  streets  in  Paris,  but  because  outside  its  walls  he 
meets  with  an  unexpected  rival,  the  Religious  House. 
A  slight  explanation  is  necessary  in  order  to  understand  the 
case.  Before  the  general  spread  of  education,  the  inmates  of 
these  houses  were  the  sole  conservators  of  knowledge,  and  there- 
fore were  alone  capable  of  practising  the  art  of  healing,  hence 
medicine  and  piety  went  hand  in  hand.  Such  a  community  was 
a  real  blessing  in  a  country  town ;  the  Convent  Dispensary  was 
