‘The Night Before the “Major”‘, 1890

Pen and ink drawing, entitled ‘The Night Before the “Major”‘, by the artist Richard Freshfield (“Fred”) Reynolds in 1890.

This caricature represents the examination nerves of a student lying in bed the night before his pharmacy major exam. His face peeps out from over the bedclothes. Around him hovers a nightmarish swirl of chemical formulas and various words including ‘Theory’, ‘Practice’, ‘Research’, ‘Volumetric’; and various objects relating to pharmacy are strange creatures.

The Pharmaceutical Society’s School of Pharmacy building with a monstrous head, arms, and legs protruding. The revision books on his bedside table have come alive and each sprouted a head, arms, and legs.