544  APPRENTICESHIP  AND  EARLY  TRAINING  OF  PHARMACISTS. 
knowledge  of  even  the  elements  of  chemistry,  botany,  or  materia 
medica !  He  then  proceeds,  at  a  very  small  salary,  to  one  of 
those  superior  establishments  where  "  neither  apprentices  nor 
arsenic  are  kept  on  the  premises."  At  length  it  becomes  neces- 
sary for  him  to  pass  an  examination ;  his  knowledge  has  in- 
creased, but  it  is  a  disorderly  knowledge.  If  he  has  worked,  he 
probably  feels  how  much  of  his  precious  time  he  has  wasted  in 
working  in  wrong  directions  ;  he  finds  that,  instead  of  getting, 
as  he  expected,  more  leisure  for  study  as  he  grows  older  he  gets 
less,  and  he  sees  no  other  course  open  to  him  but  to  cram  under 
the  direction  of  a  professional  crammer.  A  friend  who  has  been 
prepared  by  Mr.  So-and-so  recommends  that  gentlemen's  ser- 
vices, and  night  after  night  he  crams  his  memory  with  formulae, 
decompositions,  diagrams,  antidotes,  natural  orders,  and  very 
unnatural  methods  of  keeping  certain  names  and  facts  within 
reach  for,  say,  ten  days.  With  these,  if  he  can  keep  calm,  and 
does  not  lose  his  presence  of  mind  at  critical  moments,  he  prob- 
ably gets  through.  But  this  large  meal  of  many  courses  dis- 
agrees with  a  mind  not  accustomed  to  generous  diet ;  assimilation 
does  not  follow  ;  a  reaction  takes  place,  accompanied  by  a  lasting 
distaste  for  similar  mental  food,  and  by  the  time  the  holiday 
which  usually  follows  a  pass  is  over  he  has  become  confused  as 
to  his  facts,  and  foggy  as  to  his  formulae,  but  he  thanks  his  stars 
that  the  ordeal  is  over. 
The  outline  I  have  given  of  the  studies  and  opportunities  of 
^the  apprentices  of  the  period,  though  happily  contradicted  by 
many  bright  examples,  is,  I  believe,  broadly  true.  Now  this 
system,  whilst  it  swells  the  ranks  of  pharmaceutical  chemists, 
and  adds  to  the  funds  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  is  not  con- 
ducive to  our  real  progress.  We  must  remember  that  the  knowl- 
edge which  will  be  useful  to  a  man  is  not  that  which  he  possesses 
on  an  examination  day,  but  that  which  he  retains  afterwards. 
I  think  we  may  take  it  as  a  proven  fact  that  very  few  appren- 
tices do,  or  even  can,  qualify  themselves  during  their  term.  The 
range  of  studies  has  become  so  wide  that  very  much  must  be  done 
either  before  or  after,  and  the  advantages  of  doing  it  first  appear 
to  me  many  and  great.  A  boy  who  had  received  sound  ele- 
mentary instruction  in  chemistry,  botany  and  materia  medica 
