EDITORIAL. 
It  has  been  suggested  that  the  regulation  of  retail  prices  would  be  a  proper 
subject  for  the  action  of  this  College.  The  subject  is  not  a  new  one,  and  has 
been  unsuccessfully  tried  by  this  College  in  its  early  days,  and  it  has  been 
deemed  inexpedient  to  legislate  on  this  subject  by  all  similar  institutions.  But 
your  committee  are  of  opinion  that  the  present  retail  prices  are  too  low,  and 
would  recommend  raising  a  committee  to_.  form  a  scale  and  consider  the  whole 
subject  of  prices. 
The  interest  manifested  in  our  institution  by  the  medical  faculty  all  over  New 
England,  leads  us  to  hope  that  we  may  receive  their  cordial  co-operation:  and 
we  have  no  doubt  that  any  advancement  by  us  would  be  most  cordially  met  by 
them  ;  and  it  is  suggested  whether  it  would  not  be  for  our  mutual  interest,  as 
well  as  a  benefit  to  community,  to  furnish  suitable  paper  upon  which  to  write 
prescriptions,  with  the  names  of  our  members  in  Boston  and  vicinity  printed 
upon  it,  and  all  physicians  who  desire  it,  be  furnished  with  it  gratis. 
Wines  and  spirituous  liquors  are  articles  of  Materia  Medica,  and  used  in 
pharmacy  to  a  greater  extent  than  any  other  article  or  class  of  articles  ;  and  as 
at  present  understood  and  practised,  pharmacy  could  not  dispense  with  the  use 
of  alcohol  in  some  form.  As  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  it  is  very  seldom, 
in  a  well-regulated  apothecary  store,  that  liquors  are  sold  except  for  medicinal, 
manufacturing,  or  mechanical  purposes,  and  it  is  our  opinion  that  their  sale  should 
be  placed  on  the  same  ground  as  any  powerful  article  of  medicine.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  College  should  be  exempt  from  the  operation  of  the  prohibitory 
laws,  so  far  as  relates  to  their  sale  for  the  above-mentioned  purposes  and  no 
other.  This  course  would  certainly  provide  a  number  of  suitable  persons  for 
all  legitimate  purposes  in  large  places,  who  would  always  be  responsible  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees  ;  for  by  a  provision  in  our  by-laws,  no  member  can  hold  his 
certificate  of  membership,  if  he  ceases  to  become  a  member  from  any  cause ; 
and  if  he  refuses  to  give  it  up  when  called  upon  to  do  so,  the  Board  of  Trustees 
are  required  to  publish  a  statement  of  the  circumstances,  with  his  written  agree- 
ment, that  it  may  be  reclaimed  by  the  College.  Therefore,  if  a  member  be  ex- 
pelled, he  would  not  be  exempt  from  the  operation  of  the  Law  ;  and  we  feel 
sure  that  no  member  would  turn  his  store  into  a  dram-shop,  nor  could  he  remain 
a  member  if  he  did.  This  would  give  what  is  equivalent  to  a  standing  com- 
mittee of  fifteen  on  licenses,  for  those  purposes  only  ;  whose  duty  is  to  look  af- 
ter the  moral  deportment,  as  well  as  pharmaceutical  qualifications  of  its  mem- 
bers, with  the  power  to  suspend  members  until  the  action  of  the  College  is 
known. 
We  already  number  a  very  large  majority  of  all  the  pharmaceutists  in  Boston 
of  good  professional  standing.  Those  interested  in  professional  advancement 
are  seeking  admission  from  the  principal  cities  and  towns  in  New  England. 
We  should,  then,  be  very  careful  who  we  allow  to  become  possessed  of  our  cer- 
tificate of  membership.  We  should  endeavor  to  form  a  correct  public  opinion, 
to  embrace  only  those  of  known  professional  attainments,  that  the  public  may 
have  confidence  in  the  institution,  and  that  our  certificates  and  diplomas  shall 
be  a  guarantee  of  qualification. 
We  should  aim  to  be  the  organ  of  communication  between  the  government 
and  the  people — between  the  government  and  the  dealers  in  drugs ;  to  form  a 
repository  of  statistics,  and  a  record  of  all  things  pertaining  to  medicine  as  re- 
lating to  science  and  art ;  to  educate  our  assistants,  and  make  them  adepts  in 
the  business  ;  to  collect  a  cabinet  of  all  things  that  may  be  useful  as  standards 
and  for  comparison;  to  fix  standards  of  quality;  to  diffuse  a  general  information 
of  all  things  pertaining  to  the  business  to  those  engaged  in  it ;  to  collect  a  li- 
brary worthy  of  the  name,  for  information  and  reference,  on  all  subjects  con- 
nected with  the  profession  ;  and,  generally,  to  create  an  interest  and  elevate  the 
standard  of  pharmacy,  as  well  throughout  the  country  as  within  our  own  body. 
Although  it  may  seem  against  the  interest  of  our  better  educated  apotheca- 
ries, to  assist  their  less  favored  competitors  to  the  means  of  getting  a  better 
pharmaceutical  education,  to  divide  or  make  common  stock  of  any  peculiar  im- 
provement in  the  art  they  may  have,  we  hold  it  a  duty  to  humanity  to  do  the 
best  in  our  power  to  repress  the  abuses  in  the  preparation  and  dispensing  of 
4T<3 
