I30 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



possibilities of American pharmacy and 

 the attainments to be reached by one 

 who persistently, with singleness of pur- 

 pose pursues a high ideal, should be an 

 inspiration to many young men at the 

 threshold of their careers. 



In addition, the proceedings of 1893 

 bear witness to the presence among us, 

 at our last meeting, of distinguished 

 pharmacists from abroad and in the ad- 

 dresses and discussions of Messrs. Car- 

 teighe, Martindale, and others we find 

 much that is helpful and interesting. 



Every honest seeker after improvement 

 has courage to occasionally pray with 

 Burns, 



"O wad some power the giftie gie us 

 To see ourselves as others see us, ' ' 



and in the pleasant criticisms of our 

 method of conducting business, and of 

 the wide latitude we allow to irrelevant 

 debate which some of us heard at Chi- 

 cago, this prayer was partially answered, 

 while in the report of Mr. N. H. Martin 

 to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great 

 Britain we are permitted to see a profile 

 of American pharmacy cut with all the 

 precision of the scissors artist who "does 

 one in black while he waits." 



Such eflforts may be measured by the 

 size of the cardboard and not considered 

 true to nature by the subject, neverthe- 

 less there are dim points of resemblance 

 that permit recognition by impartial 

 and observing friends. 



Some of the peculiarities or defects 

 might be largely modified by a full face 

 view, but the most patriotic would be 

 remiss if they professed satisfaction with 

 the best portrait a camera could pro- 

 duce. 



We are quite aware that there is an 

 unlimited field for improvement in phar- 

 macy here as in Great Britain,. and are 

 not surprised that our defects should be 

 manifest to an interested and critical 

 observer from abroad. Nevertheless, it 



affords any of us who have an active 

 interest in pharmaceutical education the 

 deepest satisfaction to observe the great 

 improvement in the quantity and quality 

 of education oflfered to the American 

 pharmacist and to predict that our van- 

 tage ground is so well fortified and main- 

 tained that future progress must be more 

 rapid. 



In my own experience, entering phar- 

 macy as a stepping stone to the study of 

 medicine, and matriculating at a college 

 of pharmac}^ I was much disappointed 

 at the superficial character of the in- 

 struction, materia medica, botany and 

 theoretical chemistry and pharmac}^ each 

 year being a practical repetition of the 

 previous course, while no opportunity 

 was given for a moiet)^ of laboratory ex- 

 perience. 



But our friend Mr. Martin is sadly 

 mistaken when he assumes that this is 

 the state of affairs to-day. Of the thirty- 

 six pharmaceutical schools only one is in 

 this condition. 



In the brief time since my graduation 

 the particular college referred to has 

 come to be the possessor of a building 

 and laboratories valued at over one hun- 

 dred thousand dollars, its facilities for 

 practical instruction are very extensive 

 and elaborate, its course carefully graded 

 and its instruction largely consists of 

 laboratory work. It more than fulfills 

 the ideal of the most hopeful dreamer of 

 twenty years ago, although he may to- 

 day be as unsatisfied as he was then, the 

 possibilities of the future being so much 

 greater. 



And what is true of this institution is 

 true of many of the schools of pharmacy 

 of our country. Boston, New York, 

 Philadelphia, Baltimore, Chicago, Buf- 

 falo, St. Louis, Toronto, and many other 

 American cities, have erected costly 

 buildings and equipped departments for 

 practical work in manufacturing and dis- 



