566 
Pharmacy,  a  Profession. 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
December,  1910. 
ticular  individual,  than  to  grant  him  the  sole  right  to  his  writing 
or  discovery  for  a  limited  period  of  time." 
Scientists  in  every  line  take  the  position  that  "  Glory  is  the 
reward  of  science,"  and  refuse  to  recognize  as  a  scientist  any  person 
who  attempts  to  monopolize  the  results  of  his  observations  or  dis- 
coveries. It  is  said  that  the  true  scientist  works  for  pure  science, 
not  for  the  application  of  science  to  practical  purposes,  and  that  if 
the  medical  profession  wishes  to  be  a  truly  scientific  body,  physi- 
cians must  not  only  refrain  from  patenting  their  inventions  and  dis- 
coveries, but  refrain  from  commerce  in  materia  medica  inventions 
and  discoveries. 
The  professional  ideal  of  the  vocation  is  represented  by  a  class 
of  pharmacists  who  believe,  with  me,  that  those  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  pharmacologic  arts  should  be  supported  by  com- 
merce in  materia  medica  products,  but  that  such  commerce  should 
be  conducted  as  a  professional  (not  commercial)  vocation. 
Carried  to  a  logical  conclusion,  strict  enforcement  of  the  scientific 
ideal  would  exclude  authors  of  medical  books  who  take  advantage 
of  copyright  law  to  secure  monopolies  of  the  products  of  their  brains. 
The  copyright  law  has  been  found  necessary  in  order  to  protect 
capital  engaged  in  the  business  of  publishing  medical  books;  and, 
without  danger  to  science,  the  patent  law  can  be  applied  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  materia  medica  supply  business.  The  patenting  of  proc- 
esses and  apparatus  for  manufacturing  products  promotes  progress  in 
pharmacologic  science  and  arts  so  long  as  the  patents  do  not  cover 
the  products  made  thereby.  If  the  sale  of  the  products  themselves 
is  monopolized,  then  the  tendency  is  to  force  them  on  the  market 
by  misleading  advertisements ;  and,  as  the  errors  of  commercial 
exploitation  cannot  be  corrected  by  impartial  discussion,  owing  to 
the  influence  exerted  by  the  manufacturers  of  controlled  products 
upon  the  entire  press  of  the  country,  medical,  secular,  and  religious, 
the  monopoly  is  disastrous  in  its  effects  upon  pharmacologic  science 
and  practice. 
THE  INTRODUCTION  OF  NEW  BRANDS  OF  MATERIA  MEDICA  PRODUCTS 
TO  COMMERCE. 
Introducing  new  products  to  science  differs  greatly  from  intro- 
ducing new  brands  of  manufacture  to  commerce ;  the  former  requires 
scientific  methods,  the  latter,  commercial  ones.  But  it  should  be 
remembered  that  "  Commercialism  is  not  a  word  in  good  repute  in 
