348  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.    { ^mjJu0iyri9PoSarm' 
THE  PHILADELPHIA  BRANCH  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
The  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  American  Phar- 
maceutical Association,  held  on  the  evening  of  May  5,  1908,  was 
devoted  to  a  discussion  of  "  Pharmaceutical  Associations  and  Their 
Uses." 
Mr.  M.  L  Wilbert  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Status  of  Pharmacy  and 
Pharmacists  in  Europe,"  in  the  course  of  which  he  reviewed  some 
of  the  achievements  of  the  earlier  pharmacists  abroad  and  outlined 
some  of  the  aims  and  objects  of  pharmaceutical  societies  in  the 
several  countries  of  Europe.  He  asserted  that,  from  a  scientific 
point  of  view,  it  was  unfortunate,  indeed,  that  pharmaceutical  as 
well  as  medical  training  and  practice  in  the  United  States  should 
be  based  on  the  antiquated  and  undeveloped  system  in  vogue  in 
Great  Britain  a  century  or  more  ago.  The  precedent  thus  estab- 
lished has  severely  handicapped  the  progress  of  the  science  of  phar- 
macy in  this  country,  and  it  will  be  many  years  before  we  can 
entirely  eliminate  the  hampering  influences  of  the  old-time  affiliations 
that,  at  times  at  least,  appear  to  all  but  overshadow  the  true  voca- 
tion of  the  pharmacist. 
In  concluding,  he  expressed  the  belief  that  the  work  that  is  being 
done  in  Europe,  and  even  the  work  that  is  being  done  in  connec- 
tion with  the  American  Medical  Association,  will  be  of  but  indif- 
ferent value  to  American  Pharmacy  unless  pharmacists  themselves 
are  able  and  willing  to  assist,  in  a  practical  way,  by  perfecting  them- 
selves in  the  science  of  their  calling  and  by  insisting  that  future 
generations  of  pharmacists  receive,  and  are  able  to  profit  by,  a  more 
complete  and  better  form  of  pharmaceutical  education  than  has  been 
offered  them  heretofore. 
Mr.  Thomas. H.  Potts,  the  president  of  the  National  Association 
of  Retail  Druggists,  presented  a  communication  entitled,  "  The 
N.A.R.D.  as  a  Factor  in  the  Progress  of  Pharmacy." 
After  briefly  outlining  the  conditions  as  they  existed  a  decade  or 
more  ago,  before  the  founding  of  the  N  A.R.D.,  Mr.  Potts  recounted 
some  of  the  benefits  that  have  been  secured  by  organization  along 
business  lines. 
One  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  N.A.R.D.,  he  believes, 
has  been  to  make  the  business  ot  the  retail  druggist  pay  him  better, 
and  in  this,  he  asserted,  the  N.A.R.D.  has  been  eminently  successful. 
