54 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS fxxxii, '21 



There were those who knew only too well the financial 

 difficulties encountered, yet felt themselves entirely out of 

 sympathy with the action of their associates and were dimly 

 conscious that a stimulating ideal had been thrown overboard. 

 While they knew that "cloistered virtue" or the holier-than- 

 thou attitude has no place in modern professional life, yet 

 they felt that the way of true progress does not consist of 

 throwing on the scrap heap all that the word "profession" 

 stands for. 



The situation becomes clearer with time. The move is now 

 recognized as part and parcel of the all too general reaction 

 which followed the armistice and the almost universal turning 

 away from high ideals and generous impulses a condition 

 not without its influence even on liberally educated and pre- 

 sumably thinking men. 



It will contribute to a better understanding of the re- 

 actionary nature of this move to compare it with the history 

 of Pharmacy. To quote again from Stewart's interesting 

 paper : 



The apothecaries in those days (about 1200 A. D.) were members 

 of the Guild of Grocers and the vocation did not partake of a profes- 

 sional character. The apothecary, however, commenced to perfect him- 

 self in chemistry and pharmacy, because of its complexity gradually 

 separated itself from the practice of the physician and was relegated 

 to the apothecary. In the reign of James I, the apothecaries separated 

 from the grocers and received the first charter of their own. 



This vocation has since lost all the character of a Guild 

 and the leaders have steadily striven and are still striving to 

 put it on a true professional basis and obtain professional 

 recognition. 



The scientific section of the Federal Employees Union has 

 reversed the process and assumed a status similar to that 

 which the apothecaries outgrew some 400 \cars ago. They 

 have wilfully and thoughtlessly given up that high standing 

 and recognition which pharmacy has been striving for cen- 

 turies to attain. 



"Hut what shall we say of those who are free yet choose 

 littleness and bondage?" And what shall it profit the pro- 

 fession if it gain a compensation equal to that of a plumber 

 but lose a certain greatness of character? 



