390 
PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE 
shop,  from  materials  it  must  necessarily  possess,  and  which  will  interest  the 
apprentice,  yet  the  safe  guard  which  analysis  offers  to  the  apothecary,  in  pro- 
tecting his  stock  of  chemicals  from  adulteration,  renders  it  less  important  to 
include  these  within  the  scope  of  his  laboratory. 
The  correspondence  with  apothecaries  before  alluded  to,  has  placed  the  Asso- 
ciation in  possession  of  many  facts  bearing  on  the  condition  of  pharmacy  and 
pharmaceutical  education  within  the  United  States.  It  appears  that  the  tenure 
of  apprenticeship  resting  on  the  simple  agreement  of  the  parties  apprenticed  has 
become  so  lax,  especially  in  the  western  States,  that  as  a  general  rule  very  little 
dependence  is  placed  upon  it.  Boys  are  taken  at  a  venture  by  the  year,  the  em- 
ployer making  the  best,  bargain  he  can,  feeling  assured  that  the  hoy  will  leave 
or  demand  clerk's  wages  before  he  has  been  with  him  half  a  regular  term.  From 
this  cause,  it  is  stated,  the  number  of  half  educated  assistants  is  quite  large,  and 
presents  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  prosecution  of  business  in  the  way  it  should 
be  conducted.  As  the  result  of  this  condition  of  things  it  has  been  found  that 
there  are  three  classes  of  individuals  engaged  in  pharmaceutical  pursuits  who 
claim  the  interest  of  the  Association,  and  to  whom  more  particularly  this  ad- 
dress is  directed,  viz.  :  First,  those  who  are  imperfectly  acquainted  with  phar- 
macy and  are  in  business  for  themselves  ;  secondly,  those  who  have  been  but 
half  educated  as  apprentices  and  who  are  now  assistants  receiving  salaries,  having 
the  responsibility  of  business  entrusted  to  them  ;  and  thirdly ,  those  who  are  now 
apprentices  or  beginners  under  circumstances  and  with  ideas  unfavorable  to  the 
acquirement  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  drug  and  apothecary  business.  Of 
course  all  those  instances,  which  happily  are  not  a  few,  where  individual  ambi- 
tion or  natural  talent  for  study  or  business  has  triumphed  over  the  difficulties 
alluded  to,  are  not  included. 
In  thus  addressing  the  individuals  composing  these  three  classes,  the  Asso- 
ciation disclaims  all  disposition  to  arrogate  to  themselves  as  a  body  any  superior 
claim  to  knowledge  or  skill.  They  have  associated  together  to  improve  them- 
selves, and  to  adopt  measures  to  improve  the  profession  of  pharmacy  at  large. 
They  know  that  these  classes  of  individuals  exist ;  they  feel  that  a  remedy  is 
loudly  called  for,  which,  whatever  it  may  be,  can  only  he  rendered  efficacious  by 
the  consent  and  co-operation  of  the  parties  interested.  It  is  therefore  earnestly 
hoped  that  this  address  will  be  received  in  the  kindly  spirit  in  which  it  is  of- 
fered, and  its  suggestions  examined  and  weighed  by  all  who  may  feel  themselves 
to  belong  to  the  classes  addressed. 
After  a  young  man  has  commenced  business  he  rarely  feels  disposed,  or  thinks 
he  has  time  for  systematic  study,  and  is  apt  to  discard  all  attempts  at  it,  depend- 
ing on  the  occasional  references  to  books  rendered  necessary  by  the  absolute 
demands  of  business.  This  is  a  mistake.  There  is  sufficient  time  if  it  is  rightly 
applied.  Let  the  young  proprietor  who  feels  his  deficiency,  make  it  a  rule  be- 
fore making  each  preparation,  as  required,  to  read  carefully  the  commentary  in 
the  Dispensatory,  and  afterwards  note  the  correspondence  or  difference  of  his 
results  with  those  laid  down.  This  will  cause  him  to  detect  errors,  if  they  exist, 
or  to  correct  his  own,  will  soon  give  a  useful  habit  of  observation  of  great  prac- 
tical value,  and  will  gradually  excite  an  interest  in  the  collateral  branches  of 
science,  chemistry  and  botany,  that,  if  pursued,  will  place  him  on  the  high  road 
to  professional  competency.  The  young  proprietor  should  adopt  at  first  an 
honorable  scheme  of  conducting  business  ;  he  should  determine  to  sell  good  drugs 
and  medicines,  come  what  will,  and  in  doing  so  he  will  have  a  right  to  the  best 
prices  whether  he  gets  them  or  not.  He  should  cultivate  a  good  feeling  to- 
ward the  medical  practitioners  of  his  neighborhood,  should  study  the  interest 
of  the  latter  so  far  as  the  efficiency  of  medicines  is  concerned,  and  physicians 
will  soon,  from  interest,  incline  towards  him.  He  will  aid  his  success  by  storing 
his  memory  with  general  information  useful  to  his  patrons,  and  render  himself 
as  necessary  to  the  comfort  as  he  is  to  the  health  of  his  neighborhood  by  his 
willingness  to  give  it  out. 
These  remarks  apply  to  the  dispenser  of  medicines  rather  than  to  one  doing  a 
mixed  or  wholesale  business;  on  the  former  mainly  depends  the  progress  of  phar- 
macy, and  remembering  his  own  imperfect  opportunities,  he  should  give  to  his  ap- 
