Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.  \ 
January,  1904.  J 
John  Morgan. 
7 
no  doubt  impressed  on  him  during  his  travels  on  the  Continent, 
although  as  a  Licentiate  of  the  College  of  Physicians  of  Edinburgh 
he  would  have  been  expected  to  abide  by  the  adopted  rules  or  code 
of  ethics.  This  college  had,  as  early  as  1754,  adopted  an  Act  that 
prohibited,  their  Fellows  and  Licentiates  from  taking  upon  them- 
selves to  use  the  employment  of  an  apothecary,  or  to  have  or  to  keep 
an  apothecary  shop. 
How  thoroughly  he  was  imbued  with  the  expediency  of  his  plan 
is  well  illustrated  by  his  "  Discourse,"  while  the  title-page  of  this 
dissertation,  as  published,  indicates  the  opposition  that  his  remarks 
met  with  at  the  very  start. 
To  give  an  accurate  idea  of  the  earnestness  with  which  Morgan 
pleaded  his  case  we  cannot  do  better  than  quote  some  of  the  argu- 
ments as  he  presented  them.  In  speaking  of  the  desirability  of 
separating  the  several  branches  of  the  practice  of  medicine  he  says : 
"  We  must  regret  that  the  very  different  employment  of  physician,  surgeon 
and  apothecary  should  be  promiscuously  followed  by  any  one  man.  They 
certainly  require  very  different  talents. 
"The  business  of  pharmacy  is  essentially  different  from  either,  free  from  the 
cares  of  both,  the  apothecary  is  to  prepare  and  compound  medicines  as  the 
physician  shall  direct.  Altogether  engaged  in  this  by  length  of  time  he  attains 
to  that  skill  therein  which  he  could  never  have  arrived  at  were  his  attention 
distracted  by  a  great  variety  of  other  subjects. 
' '  The  wisdom  of  ages  approved  by  experience,  the  most  certain  test  of 
knowledge,  has  taught  us  the  necessity  and  utility  of  appointing  different  per- 
sons for  these  different  employments,  and  accordingly  we  find  them  prosecuted 
separately  in  every  wise  and  polished  country. 
"The  paying  of  a  physician  for  attendance  and  the  apothecary  for  his  medi- 
cines apart,  is  certainly  the  most  eligible  mode  of  practice  both  to  the  patient 
and  practitioner.  The  apothecar3%  then,  who  is  not  obliged  to  spend  his  time  in 
visiting  patients,  can  afford  to  make  up  medicines  at  a  reasonable  price,  and  it 
is  as  desirable  as  just  in  itself  that  patients  should  allow  fees  for  attendance — 
whatever  it  may  be  thought  to  deserve. 
"  They  ought  to  know  what  it  is  they  really  pay  for  their  medicine  and  what 
for  medical  advice  and  attendance." 
Morgan's  plan  of  confining  himself  exclusively  to  the  practice  of 
medicine  did  not  meet  with  the  approval  of  his  contemporaries, 
even  such  of  them  as  had  attained  a  medical  degree  abroad. 
It  was  not  until  1774  that  he  had  even  a  single  follower.  This 
first  physician  to  adopt  Dr.  Morgan's  plan  of  writing  prescriptions 
for  his  patients  deserves  more  than  passing  notice,  as  he  was  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  picturesque  of  the  historical  characters  of 
the  revolutionary  period  in  Philadelphia. 
