ON    AMERICAN  PHARMACY. 
215 
ries  than  those  who  do  not.  The  position  of  the  writer,  enables 
him  to  come  to  this  judgment  intelligently.  As  an  agent  of  the 
College  of  Pharmacy  in  procuring  situations  for  its  graduates 
and  others,  he  has  become  aware  of  the  immense  advantage  of 
its  diploma  to  those  who  possess  it ;  as  a  general  rule  it  is  a  suf- 
ficient passport  to  any  station  in  the  business,  which  may  be 
vacant,  so  that,  although  a  diploma  is  perhaps  sometimes  overra- 
ted, yet  no  young  man  who  expects  to  devote  himself  to  the  drug, 
and  especially  the  apothecary  business,  should  think  of  dispen- 
sing with  so  important  an  aid  to  his  success. 
In  connection  with  this  subject  of  education,  the  question  will 
soon  arise,  how  far  the  multiplication  of  Colleges  of  Pharmacy 
will  conduce  to  the  advantage  of  the  cause.  The  expense  to  the 
student,  residing  in  a  distant  locality,  of  a  long  journey  and 
residence  for  two  winters  in  Philadelphia  or  New  York,  in  attend- 
ance on  lectures,  constitutes  a  great  obstacle  to  the  extension  of 
this  advantage.  Candidates  for  the  drug  business  are  very  often 
in  the  humble  walks  of  life,  and  unable  to  meet  so  heavy  a  drain 
upon  their  slender  resources  in  anticipation  of  any  means  of 
revenue  from  their  business  ;  and  yet  as  an  encouraging  sign  of 
the  times,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  rapidly  increasing  numbers 
annually  seek  these  advantages  in  Philadelphia.  Against  the 
establishment  of  numerous  schools  of  Pharmacy,  at  present,  their 
lie  many  objections,  founded  upon  the  difficulty  of  maintaining 
them  as  yet,  and  upon  the  almost  inevitable  lowering  of  the 
standard  of  graduation  consequent  upon  this  kind  of  competition ; 
but  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  in  the  future,  should  the  stimu- 
lus of  our  national  and  subordinate'  organizations  be  steadily 
maintained,  the  demand  for  pharmaceutical  education  will  require 
the  services  of  numerous  scientific  teachers  in  different  and  widely 
separated  localities. 
In  connection  with  pharmaceutical  education,  there  are  many 
subjects  which  will  be  found  to  press  themselves  on  the  attention 
of  our  organizations.  The  selection  of  suitable  candidates  for 
apprenticeship,  with  the  requisite  preliminary  education  ;  their 
careful  training  in  the  shop,  the  course  of  reading  upon  element- 
ary science,  which  will  be  best  adapted  to  prepare  them  for  the 
College,  should  all  be  determined  upon,  with  the  best  lights  we 
can  command.    The  establishment  of  preliminary  schools,  labora- 
