496  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {A™'c£bS  Sos™' 
Commercial  Training  Applied  to  Laboratory  Work. 
By  H.  V.  Amy. 
The  author  considered  the  practical  application  of  the  fundamen- 
tal principles  of  commerce  to  the  Laboratory  Course  devoted  to 
the  manufacture  of  standard  chemical  preparations. 
Ingredients  for  some  16  chemical  preparations — such  as  Solution 
of  Soda,  Solution  of  Ferric  Sulphate,  etc. — are  collected  in  sets  and, 
at  beginning  of  Course,  are  supplied  to  students,  who  prepare  the 
necessary  commercial  paper — such  as  orders,  day  receipts  and  bills 
— and  who  finally  furnish  promissory  note  covering  invoice. 
Preparations  are  made,  are  assayed  as  per  U.  S.  P.  by  Senior 
students,  reports  of  analyses  furnished  the  individual  manufactur- 
ing student,  along  with  an  estimated  percentage  value  of  each 
product.  Bills  are  prepared  by  the  individual  student,  based  on 
market  and  quality  value  of  each  product  and  are  paid  by  checks 
which  are  deposited,  thus  giving  ideas  of  banking.  At  end  of 
Course,  the  bank  accounts  are  checked  up,  outstanding  notes  for 
original  goods  are  taken  up  and  the  bank  balance  of  each  student 
is  used  as  one  of  the  factors  in  his  grading.  With  each  step  of 
the  Course,  the  particular  business  detail  is  explained  in  a  short 
address. 
The  Teaching  of  Pharmacognosy. 
'By  Henry  Kraemer. 
Pharmacognosy  is  a  comparatively  new  branch  of  botanical 
science  and  is  still  in  a  state  of  evolution.  Its  value  heretofore 
has  not  been  well  understood,  but  with  the  progress  that  is  being 
made  it  is  coming  to  be  better  appreciated. 
In  view  of  the  problems  that  confront  us  and  that  are  constantly 
arising,  the  aim  in  the  study  of  pharmacognosy  first  should  be 
the  attainment  of  a  definite  and  working  knowledge  of  the  macro- 
scopic and  microscopic  characters  of  the  drugs  rather  than  a 
general  knowledge  of  them.  In  other  words,  the  student  of  pharma- 
cognosy should  be  taught  how  to  identify  vegetable  and  animal 
drugs  in  the  crude,  comminuted  or  powdered  condition,  to  deter- 
mine their  quality,  and  to  prevent  their  deterioration.  The  following 
general  principles  should  be  borne  in  mind  in  the  teaching  of  this 
branch. 
1.  It  is  necessary  that  the  student  acquire  not  only  a  good 
