I02 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



to take the initiative on condition that 

 others will likewise do handsomely. 

 Most of our larger colleges of pharmacy 

 have this persuasive power already with- 

 in themselves. If they were to offer their 

 buildings and apparatus, in one word, 

 their entire machinery to the State on 

 condition that the State would pledge it- 

 self to properly support and maintain the 

 school thereafter, thus placing it on a 

 basis independent of the munber of stu- 

 dents and the tuition the}^ pay, much good 

 could be accomplished. 



It is not at all necessary to wait for 

 the millennium when wealthy wholesale 

 druggists oreven patent and proprietary 

 medicine manufacturers will liberally sup- 

 port and endow schools of pharmacy. If 

 the numerous colleges of pharmacy desire 

 to remove the stigma of seeking the favor 

 of the average drug clerk rather than 

 raising the tone of pharmaceutical educa- 

 tion unless forced from without, they can 

 make an effort in this direction at au}^ 

 moment by abolishing their prizes and 

 using the money for nobler and better 

 purposes. 



At the meeting of the American Phar- 

 maceutical Association in the White 

 Mountains, Dr. Fr. Hoffmann suggested 

 the establishment of fellowships." The 

 money which is now spent for medals 

 and prizes could be much more profitably 

 spent by assisting a talented student in 

 the pursuance of advanced study after 

 graduation from the prescribed college 

 course. This is a worthy object in itself, 

 but Dr. Hoffmann also pointed out an- 

 other, and this is a very practical gain. 

 There certainly is no reason why the 

 pharmaceutical profession should not 

 choose most of its teachers from its own 

 ranks. At present this appears to be 

 impracticable to a deplorable extent. 

 The reason, no doubt, is to be sought in 



(-') Proceed, .inter. Pharm. .-Issocia/io/i, vol. 40, p. 324, 

 326. 



the almost vanishing number of pharma- 

 ceutical graduates who pursue advanced 

 studies. 



Dr. Power's remarks made in an ad- 

 dress last summer^ are only too true : 

 "The greatest need of pharmacy to-day, 

 as of other professions, is meji, and by this 

 I mean not only intelligent and educated 

 men, of whom we have a good proportion;: 

 but those who have sound and just con- 

 victions, which they are /ear/ess to express, 

 and are willing to openly confront the 

 evils which tend to nullify the best edu- 

 cational efforts, or even undermine the 

 very foundations upon which all hope for 

 progress may rest." 



The ideal, which Prof. J. A. Buchner, 

 held up at the beginning of this century, 

 viz., that the pharmacist should not only 

 be able to carefully examine chemically 

 and botanically the materials he employs 

 and dispenses, but that he should be a 

 " Naturforscher im vollsten Sinne des 

 IVortes" is one to which we in this 

 country can hardly aspire even now at the 

 close of this much lauded century. 



At the so-called International Pharma- 

 ceutical Congress much was said about 

 improving the status of pharmacy by 

 better legislation and a set of resolutions 

 was adopted. Well and good. But can 

 we expect legislators to do much for the 

 advancement of pharmacy if our ideals 

 are low, or :f we are so willing to sacri- 

 fice our ideals for small practical gain ? 

 Let pharmaceutical schools demonstrate 

 to the people of their vState at least in a 

 somewhat adequate measure what phar- 

 maceutical education ought to be. 

 Ninety per cent, of the druggists of this 

 country have themselves but the faintest 

 idea of what it should be. The number 

 of those is not small who ' ' see no use in a 

 college course,^' because in most cases the 

 college graduate appears to them not 

 better qualified to pursue his profession 

 — or rather make a fortune out of his 



