80 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



a higher standing for the College of Pharmacy ; it gives our degrees a 

 higher value in the eyes of the public ; it opens the College of Physi- 

 cians and Surgeons to our students and it brings several of the dis- 

 tinguished professors of the College of Physicians and Surgeons into 

 the Faculty of the College of Pharmacy. Our students may take 

 degrees from the Trustees of Columbia University. For instance, we 

 have the University Course for the degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist. 

 This degree is given at the Columbia Commencement. There is a 

 preliminary requirement of a full academic education (a four-year 

 course and graduation from a High School) and two full years in the 

 College of Pharmacy, several weeks longer than the ordinary course. 

 We hope that ultimately all our students will qualify to take this 

 course and receive the Columbia University degree. Then, we have 

 another degree which is awarded by Columbia University — the degree 

 of Doctor of Pharmacy. This is given to those who have pursued a 

 full year in post-graduate studies. This plan makes the pharmacist a 

 university man. 



A great many fail to appreciate the honorable position which the 

 pharmacist occupies, the important duties which he is called upon to 

 fulfill. He is an educated professional man who applies science and 

 experience to the benefit of the community in which he lives. His 

 pharmacy is a place of refuge for all who meet with accident or sudden 

 sickness in our streets. No one can fail to realize the importance of 

 the work of this College in its efforts to fit the rising generation of 

 pharmacists for their indispensable life work. In olden times it was 

 the custom for almost all professional men to get their education by 

 serving as apprentices. The man who wished to be a doctor of Medi- 

 an e was apprenticed to a physician and he generally began by stabling 

 and feeding his horse and doing wdiatever other things might be use- 

 ful to the physician. By-and-by the physician took him about with him 

 when he visited his patients, told him to use his eyes and his ears and 

 pick up whatever he could. It was the same with the pharmacist ; but 

 as we became more civilized, it was found that there is no record of 

 intelligent service that does not require a suitable preliminary educa- 

 tion. This education, which we give the pharmacist qualifies him for 

 his life work; gives him the self-respect which comes from a knowl- 

 edge of proficiency ; admits him to a club or fraternity ; makes him a 

 man of science. Now science is classified knowledge. It depends 

 primarily on accurate measurement. We have no real knowledge 



