104 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



as an award. The greatest award to the 

 truly scientific investigator, however, 

 comes from the work itself ; the satisfac- 

 tion of having ascertained a new truth, 

 of having accomplished a desired end. 



In one sense, then, it may be assumed 

 that the prize system in its original in- 

 tent to stimulate investigation is largely 

 a failure. This could be corrected. If 

 the money now spent for prizes could be 

 used for a foreigii or travelling fellow- 

 ship, it could serve the double purpose of 

 award and stimulus. As award, in as 

 much as the fellowship should be granted 

 not only for good scholarship but also for 

 original work embodied in a thesis or 

 dissertation. With a possible fellowship 

 in view many a graduate would, after 

 having completed the prescribed under- 

 graduate course, remain another year or 

 even longer at college to prepare a thesis 

 for competition. An American Pharnia- 

 ceiUical Association fellowship, with the 

 possibilities of studying abroad a year or 

 two, would certainly constitute an award 

 worth aspiring to, and, as already stated, 

 young men with high aspirations would 

 modify their plans accordingly. 



Such a fellowship would also serve as 

 a stimulus for advanced and original 

 work. Not only would the holder of the 

 fellowship devote all of his time and 

 strength to advanced and original work, 

 but as already indicated, young men in 

 this country would prepare themselves 

 for competition. In this way such a fel- 

 lowship would reach out much further 

 than to one person, its holder for a 

 given time. We are so sadly in need of 

 more advanced workers in pharmacy that 

 the American Pharmaceutical Association 

 certainly could do nothing better than to 

 aid in a practical manner to fill at least 

 in small part this great deficiency in our 

 profession. Besides, having set the ex- 

 ample, the various colleges now offering 

 prizes would soon see the great advant- 



ages to be gained from such a system that 

 they would sooner or later abolish their 

 prizes and offer fellowships in their 

 place. 



Such a fellowship should be a foreign 

 or travelling fellowship. A home fellow- 

 ship would under no circumstances be 

 advisable. Each college should look out 

 for its own fellowships. The knowledge 

 that a talented student would bring home 

 after a two years' stay at a German uni- 

 versity would certainly make the invest- 

 ment a profitable one. There are also 

 innumerable problems in pharmacognosy 

 that can be solved only by a thorough 

 study of the drug-yielding plant in the 

 country in which it is indigenous 

 or in which it is being cultivated. It 

 will readily be seen that the possibilities 

 for such a fellowship are innumerable 

 and inestimable. It is a pity that we 

 cannot have a dozen energetic and edu- 

 cated young men all over the world reap- 

 ing annually great harvests for the Pro- 

 ceedings of the American Pharmaceutical 

 Association and for American pharmacy. 

 The schools of pharmacy would also be 

 greatly benefited. In the course of time 

 they would be enabled to select thor- 

 oughly educated instructors very largely 

 from their own ranks. 



The details of such a fellowship sys- 

 tem ; of what character the previous 

 education and thesis of the applicant is to 

 be; whether the time of a fellowship is to 

 extend over one, two or even three years ; 

 whether the remuneration is to consist of 

 $400 or $600; whether the judges should 

 be or not be members of the Ameriian 

 Pharmaceutical Association, and whether 

 they are to be, e. g. , a chemist, a botanist, 

 and possibly a college president as chair- 

 man, etc., can only be discussed at a 

 meetinor of the American Pharmaceutical 

 Association, and are altogether minor 

 points. Here, then, is an excellent op- 

 portunity for the American Pharmaceutical 

 Association to lead in a good cause. Let 

 us hope that it may not only discuss the 

 matter, but take definite action as soon 

 as possible. — Pharm. Rund., 1894, 55. 



