THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



I01 



trade — than the licentiate or non- 

 graduate. It is with sincere regret that 

 we must acknowledge that this statement 

 is not without some truth as far as true 

 qualification is concerned. 



Now and then, editors and correspon- 

 dents of our numerous drug journals ad- 

 vise their friends, the druggist, " 7iot to 

 make staves of themselves,'" but to leave 

 the stamping of envelopes to others and 

 to seek more professional pursuits in 

 chemical and pharmaceutical manufac- 

 ture and in analytic work. Why do not 

 more follow this good advice ? Simply 

 because they are not prepared for such 

 "work even though they have attended a 

 ■college of pharmac}' and are graduates in 

 pharmacy. 



No doubt it is easier to criticise than to 

 correct, and it ma}' be a practical impos- 

 sibility for most colleges to improve their 

 •courses very materially. The point to 

 which their attention was called by Dr. 

 Hoffmann at the meeting of the American 

 Pharmaceutical Association in the White 

 Mountains, and to which I again invite 

 their attention, is that many colleges are 

 wasting money where it could be spent 

 much more profitabl}- by assisting the 

 trul}' deserving student in his honest de- 

 sire for a deeper insight into the sciences 

 of his profession. The brilliant yet often 

 times superficial student who passed the 

 examinations with ease, or the falsely 

 ambitious student who crammed for the 

 examination may have their vanitj' flat- 

 tered by the award of a medal or other 

 prize, but little or no practical good will 

 come from it, neither to the student, nor 

 to the cause of pharmacy, in the name of 

 which the prize was ostensibly given. 



Our national association is looked upon 

 by many as the exponent of the most ad- 

 vanced pharmaceutical ideas. Yet it has 

 been stated more than once and by good 

 authority that there is much sham in its 



(') Rinidsclniii, 1893. p. 25S. 



proceedings, both verbal and printed. 

 Those who look below the surface will 

 confess that this is in a great measure 

 true. It is all well and good to discuss 

 the advisabilit}- of establishing longer 

 courses, or whether pharmacists should 

 fill the positions of public analysts, etc., 

 etc. But it would be better bj' far to 

 lengthen and strengthen courses than to 

 talk about possible changes and improve- 

 ments 3'ear after year. To do a thing is 

 to do it, not to talk about it ad infinitum 

 and then denounce as ideal and impracti- 

 cable a change when such is ventured. 

 How can we expect State or city officials 

 to appoint pharmacists as State chemists 

 or city analysts if the}- are in no wa}' pre- 

 pared for such work, if most colleges of 

 pharmacy do not even give their students 

 an opportunit}- to fit themselves for such 

 work ? The duty of pharmaceutical 

 teachers is not so much to ventilate their 

 ideas on this subject at the annual meet- 

 ings of the American Pharmaceutical 

 Association, but to put their convictions 

 into actual practice at home, in their 

 respective colleges, by offering special 

 courses in analytical work and urging 

 their graduates to pursue advanced 

 studies. If then the State or municipal- 

 ity is in need of anj' analj^tical work it 

 will find the analj^st. 



Can the American Pharmaceutical 

 Association do no more than offer a mere 

 battle ground for ideas ? Can it not take 

 the initiative ? Our national association 

 is not poor and offers from its accumulat- 

 ing wealth a number of money prizes for 

 papers. It may have done some good 

 thereby in stimulating investigation. 

 However, it may be reasonably assumed 

 that most investigations were fairly well 

 advanced or that even the papers were 

 written before the idea of handing in the 

 latter for competition occurred to the in- 

 vestigator or writer. The prizes, there- 

 fore, have acted less as a stimulant than 



