Am.  Jour.  Pharro. 
June,  1902. 
Editorial. 
305 
EDITORIAL. 
THE  AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
The  attainment  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  usually  furnishes  an 
occasion  for  congratulation,  whether  it  be  by  a  nation,  a  state,  an 
association  or  an  individual.  As  we  watch  the  careers  of  individ- 
uals with  interest,  so  with  organizations  and  societies,  we  not  only 
contemplate  their  immediate  aims  and  purposes,  but  ask  ourselves 
what  they  will  stand  for  in  years  to  come.  And  if  they  have  stood 
the  test  of  years,  we  are  warranted  in  concluding  that  their  endur- 
ance was  due  to  some  inherent  force  or  underlying  principle  of  action 
that  received  not  only  the  support  of  the  individual  members  but 
was  approved  by  the  highest  and  best  sentiment  of  the  time.  That 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  has  stood  this  test  stands 
to  the  credit  of  American  pharmacy. 
The  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  began  its  history  on  a 
plane  that  was  intended  to  benefit  the  pharmacists  of  America  for  all 
time.  How  much  the  practice  of  pharmacy  has  drifted  from,  and  how 
much  it  has  been  guided  by,  those  cardinal  principles  as  contained 
in  the  earlier  Proceedings  of  the  Association  would  require  a  master 
hand  to  treat  with  justice.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  this  Association  has 
enrolled  in  its  membership  every  one  of  those  master  minds  who 
have  contributed  so  much  to  the  elevation  of  American  pharmacy. 
Beginning  with  the  names  of  men  like  Procter,  we  find  extending 
down  to  our  own  time  men  of  the  character  of  Squibb  and  Rice. 
Verily  there  is  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Association  a  hall  of  fame 
with  its  immortals  that  we  leave  to  others  to  treat  at  the  time  of 
the  celebration  of  the  golden  anniversary  by  the  Association  on 
September  8th.  If  only  something  could  be  done  to  reach  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  pharmacists  of  America,  to  enthuse  them 
with  the  spirit  of  the  founders  ol  this  Association,  and  to  show 
them  that  this  spirit  is  still  manifest  in  the  work,  we  cannot  but 
believe  that  there  are  many  who  are  not  members  now  who  would 
become  affiliated  with  the  organization. 
Since  the  organization  of  the  Association  in  185 1  and  1852  the 
world  has  made  greater  advances — particularly  in  science — than  in 
the  thousand  years  preceding.  Pharmacy  and  medicine  each  have 
profited  by  the  advances  of  the  sciences,  and  while  we  may  well  be 
discouraged  with  the  condition  of  pharmacy  in  some  quarters  we 
