A Respectable Occupation: - University of Hertfordshire Research ...

―We know that the assistants' examination is 1/10 the value of the
‗minor‘.‖ 207 An alternative view was given by an apothecaries‘ assistant in
the same edition. He claimed that the ‗minor‘ examination tested applicants
on a lot of scientific and irrelevant material, whereas the assistant‘s
examination concentrated on the knowledge and skill required in day-to-day
practice. He accepted that the assistant‘s examination could be improved by
increasing its scope to include: children's ailments, the markets, counter
prescribing, exposure to quack remedies and how to combat them. However,
he felt that knowing seven processes for extracting silver, as required by the
‗minor‘ exam, was unnecessary. 208
An assistant wrote to the Pharmaceutical Journal stating that the
assistants found the Pharmaceutical Society‘s ‗preliminary‘ examination too
difficult and suggested that they should be exempted. 209 This shows that
the assistants were still well behind the chemists and druggists in respect of
secondary education, and this was in 1919. Another assistant, Miss
Wolseley, experienced difficulty in finding an institutional appointment on
returning to this country after working abroad, as all the vacancies were for
those who had passed the ‗minor‘ examination. She thought that, ―… the
Hall Certificate is adequate when given some practical experience and that
the ‗minor‘ qualification only improves on it in that it gives a lot of
207
Letter Auger to the Editor, Pharmaceutical Journal, series 4, 102, 2903, (7 Jun. 1919) 380.
208
Letter „Possessor of the Key of the Secret Door‟ (273/17) to the Editor, Pharmaceutical Journal, series
4, 102, 2903, (7 Jun. 1919) 381.
209
Letter, „Apothecaries Hall Assistant‟ (272/37) to the Editor, Pharmaceutical Journal, 102, 2903, (7
Jun. 1919) 380-381.
144