Am.  Jour.  Phai  m.  \ 
October,  1897.  J 
Editorial. 
547 
EDITORIAL. 
READ  BY  TITI,E. 
The  custom  of  reading  papers  by  titles  before  the  sections  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  is  a  growing  one,  and,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  one 
much  to  be  deplored.  For  what  purpose  is  a  paper  presented  to  a  scientific 
body  unless  it  be  for  the  discussion  ?  The  matter  of  publication  is  a  secondary 
one  ;  for,  if  valuable,  the  paper  finds  its  way  into  print  rapidly  enough,  either 
in  part  or  in  abstract.  From  the  journals  in  which  it  appears  it  is  copied  by 
foreign  periodicals,  and  thus  it  becomes  distributed  over  a  large  part  of  the 
world.  Bxcept  for  purposes  of  reference,  the  paper  has  served  its  purpose  long 
before  the  bulky  Proceedings  appear.  If,  for  any  reason,  the  title  is  the  only 
accessible  part  of  a  paper  at  the  meeting,  and  thereby  the  journals  fail  to  print 
it,  it  takes  a  short  cut  to  oblivion;  for  neither  journals  nor  individuals  ever 
attempt  to  do  anything  with  papers  after  they  appear  in  the  Proceedings;  they 
are  considered  stale  by  that  time,  and  certainly  foreign  journals  never  abstract 
from  such  a  source  ;  they  would  be  pretty  sure  to  be  reprinting  old  matter,  and 
avoid  it. 
At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  over 
twenty  papers  were  presented  to  the  Scientific  Section,  yet  something  like  half 
of  these  were  read  by  title  and  passed  on  to  obscurity.  Some  others  were 
crowded  into  the  Section  on  Education  and  legislation,  and  one  has  appeared  in 
full  in  at  least  one  drug  journal  as  having  been  presented,  which  was  only  read 
in  abstract  by  the  author,  he  having  decided,  after  reaching  the  meeting,  to 
withhold  part  of  it  for  one  year. 
Presumably  the  sessions  of  the  Association  lasted  a  week.  The  work,  how- 
ever, was  condensed  into  parts  of  five  days;  still  there  was,  apparently,  not  time 
to  read  and  discuss  the  papers  presented  to  the  two  sections,  amounting  to  some- 
thing over  thirty.  It  has  been  said  that  this  was  due  to  an  accident,  whereby 
certain  social  features  occurred  concurrent  with  the  sessions  of  the  Scientific 
Section,  but  such  accidents  occur  almost  every  year.  Members  must  naturally 
ask  themselves  whether  attendance  at  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association 
is  to  listen  to  and  discuss  papers  or  to  take  trolley  rides.  In  the  case  referred  to, 
the  members  elected  in  favor  of  the  trolley,  and  the  work  which  was  mapped 
out  for  three  sessions  was  crowded  into  one  and  continued  past  the  midnight 
hour,  with  everybody  tired  out  after  a  day  of  sightseeing.  Naturally,  the  man 
who  travelled  i, coo  or  2,000  miles  to  attend  the  meeting  was  disgusted. 
The  fact  has  been  deplored  that  the  retail  pharmacist  is  every  year  becoming 
more  conspicuous  by  his  absence  from  the  meetings.  He  attends  the  sessions 
for  the  purpose  of  learning  something  that  will  be  of  value  to  him  in  his  busi- 
ness. In  what  part  of  the  programme  will  he  find  it  ?  Certainly  not  in  that 
devoted  to  social  features. 
The  real  earnest  members  are  not  unreasonable  in  requesting  that  no  social 
features  he  introduced  until  all  the  business  has  been  transacted,  or  else  that 
there  be  no  simultaneous  meetings  for  business  and  pleasure.  Papers  should 
be  in  the  hands  of  the  chairman  of  the  section  to  which  they  are  to  be  pre- 
sented, at  least  ten  days  before  the  meeting,  and  an  abstract  only  should  be 
read  by  the  author ;  this  would  help  to  do  away  with  the  custom  of  some 
