ANovemrbe?,hf9o"- }        The  Apprentice  of  Former  Days.  5  3  5 
being  that  the  colleges  were  about  five  years  behind  the  manufac- 
turer. 
A  look  at  some  of  the  well-sanded  writing  of  a  few  invoices  pur- 
chased in  my  first  years  of  business  will  remind  one  of  many  changes 
in  the  character  of  goods  now  stocked. 
The  drug  store  of  early  days  was  well  described  by  Daniel  Rob- 
bins  (McK.  &  R.)  who  said:  "His  experience  was,  the  druggist 
who  sold  the  most  paint  usually  bought  the  best  drugs  for  use  in 
his  prescription  department." 
Centennial  year  was  great  in  that  the  people  were  made  aware  of 
what  a  really  great  nation  this  is,  and  individual  responsibility  was 
set  forth  in  highest  terms.  Dr.  Frederick  Hoffmann  improved  the 
opportunity  and  agitated  the  proprietary  medicine  question  and 
helped  the  druggists  begin  aggressive  work  with  the  public  to  cor- 
rect the  false  impression  of  their  alleged  curative  powers  and  dispel 
the  assurance  that  natural  death  would,  as  it  were,  become  impos- 
sible unless  incurred  by  violence  or  failure  to  employ  the  proper 
nostrum.  Druggists  under  his  advice  issued  "  Popular  Health  Al- 
manacs." Publish  the  formula  by  law,  was  urged.  A  distinguished 
member  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Mr.  Samuel 
Colcord,  set  this  method  at  rest.  Let  me  say,  "just  so  long  as  the 
Donald  Kennedys  go  scouring  the  hills  of  New  England  and  dis- 
cover plants  that  never  grew,  so  long  will  it  be  impossible  to  look 
for  curtailment."  From  the  hills  let  us  take  to  the  swamps  and  see 
how  true  this  is  just  now. 
The  accepted  thought  of  to-day  seems  to  be  that  secret  formulas 
between  physicians  and  pharmacists  are  particularly  to  be  discoun- 
tenanced ;  and  as  to  proprietary  articles,  even  the  pharmacy  laws  are 
made  so  as  not  to  curtail  the  right  to  their  indefinite  production. 
A  member  of  th^  New  York  Board  of  Trade,  Drug  Section,  has 
said:  "It  is  the  business  of  the  retail  druggist  to  retail  drugs." 
However  I  may  differ  from  this  statement,  I  am,  nevertheless,  con- 
fronted with  the  condition  of  difficulty  in  doing  anything  else. 
And  when  I  see  one  of  my  friends  on  his  bicycle,  he  having 
gathered  up  several  pounds  of  absorbent  cotton  for  a  hurried  quan- 
tity sale,  I  am  sure  others  labor  under  like  difficulties,  and  can  join 
in  the  sentiment  of  an  observer,  who  said:  "Mister,  thee  needs  a 
wheelbarrow !" 
Pending  the  struggle  between  ethical  pharmacy  and  the  business 
