400  The  Pharmacist  and  the  Microscope.  {^\l™i^m' 
necessary  in  the  prosecution  of  the  microscopical  work  by  the  phar- 
macist. It  is  necessary  for  him,  however,  to  have  mastered  the 
foundation  principles  of  physics,  botany  and  chemistry  in  order  to 
get  the  results  that  are  of  practical  value  to  him.  Some  of  our 
schools  and  colleges  of  pharmacy  are  now  prepared  to  give  their 
students  a  good  start  in  this  direction.  The  student  must  not  be 
dismayed,  but,  on  the  contrary,  expect  "  to  make  haste  slowly  "  at 
first.  He  must  exercise  patience  in  learning  to  section  drugs  and 
work  persistently  under  a  competent  instructor  until  he  understands 
the  principles  of  his  subject.  Nature  does  not  unfold  herself  unless 
you  work  patiently  and  incessantly  at  her.  When  one  problem  is 
well  worked  out,  the  next  is  easier,  so  that  by  the  time  the  student 
is  master  of  his  subject,  results  come  comparatively  easily. 
TIME  AND  PLACE  FOR  USE  OF  THE  MICROSCOPE. 
Having  shown  that  instruction  is  necessary  in  order  to  secure 
reliable  results  from  the  use  of  the  microscope  in  pharmacy,  the 
illusion  that  the  microscope  is  necessary  on  all  occasions  must  be 
dispelled.  While  it  is  an  indispensable  instrument  sometimes,  it 
does  not  follow  that  it  must  be  used  always,  any  more  than  because 
an  axe  is  used  to  chop  down  a  large  tree,  that  therefore  an  axe  is 
necessary  to  break  up  every  piece  of  wood.  The  microscope  has  its 
time  and  its  place  for  use  by  every  one  who  is  accustomed  to  using  it 
in  his  special  line  of  work.  It  is  as  superfluous  for  the  educated 
pharmacist  to  use  his  microscope  in  the  examination  of  each  lot  of 
nux  vomica  or  calumbo  that  he  buys  as  it  would  be  for  the  field 
botanist  to  require  to  make  a  microscopical  examination  before  he 
could  determine,  say,  Castanea  dentata  or  Quercus  alba.  In  fact,  it 
bespeaks  lack  of  knowledge  in  the  botanist.  It  likewise  reflects  on 
the  professional  pharmacist  who  wishes  to  make  sections  of  those 
drugs  which  are  so  characteristic  in  a  crude  condition,  and  which  by 
experience  he  ought  to  distinguish  at  once.  The  microscope  is  to  be 
employed  only  when  more  refined  tests  are  necessary. 
APPLICATIONS  OF  THE  MICROSCOPE  IN  PHARMACY. 
Upon  the  completion  of  a  proper  laboratory  course,  and  being 
well  grounded  in  the  various  sciences  necessary  for  the  use  of  the 
microscope  in  pharmacy,  we  must  also  recognize  that  in  the  use  of 
the  microscope  there  is  a  training  of  the  eye  (a  sharpening  of  it,  so 
to  speak),  so  that  the  trained  eye,  with  the  other  senses  (educated 
