IMPROPER  USE  OF  TITLES.  .  221 
water  upon  the  filter  until  thoroughly  washed  from  nitrate  soda, 
or  until  the  water  passes  tasteless ;  then,  after  draining,  trans- 
fer to  bibulous  paper,  and  dry  by  gentle  heat. 
Respectfully, 
Robert  W.  Gardner, 
Bergen  €ity^  New  Jersey^  April  16,  1869. 
IMPROPER  USE  OF  TITLES. 
By  Joseph  Harrop. 
[A  name  with  the  appendage  M.  D.  should  rightfully  belong  only  to  a 
regular  medical  graduate.  The  word  "  Doctor"  is  a  generic  term  legiti- 
mately applied  in  many  ways  with  wholly  different  significance  : — Thus 
we  have  Medicine  Doctors,  Divinity  Doctors,  Law  Doctors  and  Philosophy 
Doctors,  from  the  regular  school,  and  some  of  our  trans- atlantic  Horse 
and  Cattle  Doctors  have  diplomas  of  European  schools.  Each  of  such 
persons  no  doubt  feels  entitled  to  be  addressed  as  Doctor.  The  only 
doctorate  that  pharmaceutists  have  aspired  to,  (except  they  embrace 
Medicine)  is  the  Doctorate  df  Philosophy,  and  of  this  class  several  worthy 
examples  exist  in  this  country,  generally  educated  in  Germany,  and  such 
usually  attach  Ph.  D.  to  their  name  in  writing  articles.  Then  there  is  a 
class  of  apothecaries,  especially  in  the  rural  district  towns,  who,  taking 
advantage  of  the  tendency  of  the  public  to  accord  the  title  to  any  one 
connected  with  drugs — accept  it,  and  on  their  signs  and  labels  exhibit 
the  symbol  of  dignity  and  learning  as  of  right. 
This  is  all  wrong  and  contrary  to  the  ethical  views  of  our  Association 
and  Colleges.  Apothecaries  should  neither  use  the  title  nor  practice 
the  profession  of  the  Doctor.  So  much  in  obedience  to  the  last  sentence 
of  our  correspondent.  We  will  go  a  little  farther  and  say  that  it  is  no 
uncommon  occurrence  to  observe  original  articles  from  this  Journal  re- 
printed wholly  or  in  part  without  credit,  and  as  a  consequence  other  jour- 
nals quoting  them  from  such  journals.  It  is  due  to  honesty  and  truth  to 
give  credit  to  the  original  source  of  all  papers  worth  quoting,  when  possi- 
ble, and  we  ask  it  as  our  due. — Editor  Am.  Jour.  Ph.] 
Mr.  Editor, — I  am  under  the  necessity  of  noticing  an  occur- 
rence which  must,  I  think,  very  often  happen, — the  addition  of 
M.  D.  to  the  names  of  individuals  writing  pharmaceutical  papers. 
The  article  on  Fluid  Extract  of  Liquorice-root  as  an  Excipi- 
ent  for  Quinia,"  which  was  published  in  your  "Journal"  for 
March,  over  my  signature,  was  copied  •  by  several  journals  with 
the  addition  of  "  Dr."  to  the  name.  This  I  would  not  consider 
a  personal  discredit ;  but  it  is,  in  a  professional  point  of  view, 
