132 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



reams of paper have been given to airing 

 the grievances of dispensing by physi- 

 cians, the encroachment of large manu- 

 facturing houses, the rivalry of depart- 

 ment stores and the grocer pharmacist, 

 the annoyance of the bar sailing under a 

 drug license, and retailing by whole- 

 salers. 



Yet some are still found who accept 

 the situation as an inevitable product of 

 our social condition and pursue their on- 

 ward course, perfecting processes, en- 

 larging their fund of knowledge and 

 striving after a faithful performance of the 

 duties of their calling. 



They recognize that in place of half a 

 score of manufacturing pharmacists and 

 chemists and a tew hundVed manufac- 

 turers of nostrums we now have nearly six 

 thousand of the two combined, that the 

 number of stores has constantly increased 

 until we now have one to every eighteen 

 hundred and sixty of the population in 

 the entire country and one to eight 

 hundred and fifty in some of our older 

 sections. 



Place this against one to to twenty- 

 eight hundred in Italy, one to fifty-three 

 hundred in France, one to fifty-five hun- 

 dred in Switzerland and about one to 

 ten thousand three hundred in Germany, 

 and we see the necessity for the struggle 

 for maintenance and the cause of the 

 artificial cultivation of the medicine 

 craze, encouraging the consumption of 

 drugs and remedies that oftener outrage 

 than assist nature. 



There is no doubt that one third the 

 number of drug stores and one-sixth the 

 number of physicians would be a greater 

 benefit to the public health than the 

 number we have. Could we wisely dif- 

 ferentiate, particularly when we bear in 

 mind the fact that in spite of the marvel- 

 ous advance in surgery, medication is 

 still a process of uncertain experimenta-' 

 tion, but socialism has not yet issued its 



dictum in these matters, and crowded 

 out of mechanical pursuits by the sacri- 

 fice of personal independence and the 

 prohibition of personal excellence which 

 labor organizations enforce, young men 

 of any individuality will continue to en- 

 ter professional, semi-professional and 

 mercantile life. 



We must then be willing to divide and 

 accept the conclusion that a modest com- 

 pensation is all we may look for. 



As president of this body, associated 

 with Dr. Charles Rice and Prof. A. B. 

 Prescott. I was called upon to judge the 

 papers in the Merck contest. 



The competition was restricted to 

 ' ' proprietors or clerks actively engaged 

 in pharmacy as a commercial business, 

 and excluding teachers, instructors and 

 students as such." 



It may not be wise to generalize and 

 conclude that the product is truly repre- 

 sentative of American pharmacy, for we 

 know some of the best trained and suc- 

 cessful men cannot be prevailed upon to 

 give the benefit of their observation and 

 training to their fellows, either through 

 the medium of this Association or that of 

 their local organization. 



Yet it may be proper to present the 

 facts as they appear. 



First. Observe that although the ofier 

 was a munificent one only one hundred 

 and thirty of the nearly one hundred 

 thousand associated with pharmacy 

 found in it an inspiration to compete. 



Several of the papers presented fell 

 outside the plan of competition, but one 

 hundred and thirteen were carefully con- 

 sidered. Most of you are familiar with 

 the fifteen topics presented. Five per- 

 mitted valuable original work. 



Query 2. Articles to be prepared to 

 advantage by the druggist. 



Query 3. Our native medicinal plants. 

 Query 5. Adulterations and sophisti- 

 cation. 



