S4 ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATES OF THE 
The occupation which you, Gentlemen, have chosen, is 
Pharmacy. It is no ordinary one. It deals not with the 
gross materials of which this earth is fashioned, but is oc- 
cupied with the rarest and most subtle products derivable 
from the vast storehouse of Nature. It employs them not 
to please the senses, to enhance the zest for external indul- 
gence, to cast around existence a halo of pleasureable per- 
ceptions, and to gratify those tastes which elevate the 
human character ; but applies them to meliorate the ills 
that are inseparable from our frail and perishable organiza- 
tion. It serves not man in vigour, hope and high enjoy- 
ment, but comes to him when prostrate and helpless, and, 
like an angel of mercy, bids him not despair. It is devoted 
to soothing the anguish of the body, and quiets the fears 
and apprehensions of the mind. Surely it is no ordinary 
occupation. 
Nor is it one of easy acquisition. Extensive information 
is required to qualify the candidate for public confidence. 
A vast array of facts must be crowded on the memory, 
through which the eye of science must penetrate, to adjust 
and understand them. The perceptive faculties must be 
sharpened, the mind aroused in the observation of pheno- 
mena, the judgment cool and nice in its discrimination. 
The substances, with which the pharmaceutist must una- 
voidably manipulate, are full of good, or capable of irrepa- 
rable injury. He may be the instrument of restoring to 
health the sufferer, and bestowing happiness upon himself 
and family, by faithfully and dexterously performing the 
task assigned him ; or he may ruin both, by the committal 
of an error. To master all the details of the pharmaceutic 
art, to become an adept, efficient, safe, and trustworthy, 
requires a long apprenticeship, a profound and systematic 
course of study, and instruction in several branches of natu- 
ral and physical science. Surely then it is not an easy 
occupation. 
Your novitiate has been well accomplished; you have 
