THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



129 



other departments is made subordinate 

 and subsidiary. By it, the aim is to make 

 a student expert in applying the funda- 

 mental knowledge and training elsewhere 

 gained to the practical work of phar- 

 macy, and this, so far as possible, pari 

 passu with the acquirement of the former. 

 Here, as in chemistry, there is no didactic 

 teaching, the sections in turn occupying 

 laboratory tables similar to those in the 

 chemical laboratory previously noticed, 

 but specially equipped for pharmaceutical 

 work. The work consists in learning 

 to make practical tests of the purity of 

 the substances to be employed' in 

 the pharmacy to make chemical assays, 

 to determine the comparative quality 

 of substances which may vary in 

 strength, to manufacture the simpler 

 substances which it is the business of a 

 pharmacist to manufacture, and to learn 

 the requirements of work at the prescrip- 

 tion counter. The method of teaching 

 is very similar to that pursued in the 

 chemical department, the operations be- 

 ing performed by student and professor 

 simultaneously, and competent instruct- 

 or uniting with the professor in scruti- 

 nizing the quality of the work per- 

 formed. The important element of the 

 system is in the immediate following of 

 the theoretical teaching by its practical 

 application, so that it is impossible for 

 an honest student to fail to so fix his 

 knowledge that it will be retained in his 

 memory, or at least readily recalled 

 when the occasion requires. It is more- 

 over incredible that the student, during 

 the time of receiving this instruction, 

 should not be stimulated to profit by the 

 opportunities for practice afforded by his 

 drug store attendance during the out-of- 

 college hours. The department is under 

 the charge of Virgil Coblentz, Ph. G., 

 A. M., Ph. D. {Berlin), whose equip- 

 ment consists of sixteen years' practical 

 experience in a drug store, as teacher in 



American institutions and as student in 

 German universities. His assistant is 

 Mr. W. H. Madison, Ph. G., who has 

 had a long experience in practical phar- 

 maceutical work. 



It will be seen that the preparation 

 thus afforded the student for entering in 

 his senior year upon the final details 

 pertaining to the work of pharmacy is 

 well nigh perfect, and it may be stated 

 that his fitness for advancement is most 

 regidly determined before admitting him 

 to the senior course. The senior work 

 differs from the junior only in the char- 

 acter of the subject matter and the 

 greater advantages which are offered. 

 The same practical methods are em- 

 ployed, although of necessity they are 

 worked out in a somewhat different 

 manner. In the department of chemis- 

 try the students enjoy the advantages of 

 instruction by Prof. Chas. F. Chandler, 

 Ph. D., M. D., LIv. D., F. C. S-, etc., 

 professor of chemistry also in the School 

 of Mines and in the College of Physi- 

 cians and Surgeons, not only one of our 

 most learned chemists, but one of the 

 most popular and accomplished lecturers 

 that the City of New York has ever 

 seen. His teaching is restricted to the 

 subject of organic chemistry, and his in- 

 structor, Mr. John Oehler, Ph. G., pos- 

 sesses an ability in quizzing and instruct- 

 ing which amounts almost to a genius. 



The work of the department ot materia 

 medica, also under the charge of the 

 writer, consists of thirty lectures of one 

 hour each, in which the natural order of 

 plants are considered in sequence, their 

 medicinal members classified and group- 

 ed as to the character of their constitu- 

 ents and their physiological action, after 

 which each member is considered indi- 

 vidually in all its details, a knowledge 

 of which is important in the daily work 

 of the drug store. 



In the department of senior pharma- 



