ABSTRACT
To become a Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries, an applicant had to be over twenty-one, of good moral character, have completed a five-year apprenticeship, and then have assisted for six months at a hospital or dispensary. This was exactly the course pursued by one of our whaling surgeons, a Scot by the name of James Brown. On November I 9, I 8 I 8, James signed articles with Messrs. Stewart and Jordan of Manchester for an apprenticeship of five years. Initially, his time would have been taken up with necessary but trivial tasks like rolling pills and capping bottles, keeping the books, and running errands, but as he gained experience he would have taken over some of the minor surgery, like drawing teeth and lancing boils.
