Am.  Jour.  Pharm. \ 
August,  1904.  J 
Entrance  Requirements. 
365 
dents  on  grammar  school  graduation,  or  less.  To  bring  the  mini- 
mum to  high-school  graduation  would  mean  an  increase  of  from 
three  to  four  years  of  academic  instruction.  Necessarily,  the  ad- 
vance requirement  must  be  made  gradually,  and  in  order  to  give 
those  who  are  now  in  school  preparing  for  a  pharmaceutical  career, 
or  who  have  left  school  and  are  employed  in  pharmacies,  the  neces- 
sary time  to  prepare  themselves  for  entrance,  some  notice  of  such 
advance  should  be  generally  diffused.  If  it  were  made  known  this 
year  that  no  student  could  obtain  entrance  into  a  good  school  of 
pharmacy  in  the  autumn  of  1905  unless  he  had  spent  one  year  in 
high  school,  or  had  fitted  himself,  through  private  study,  to  take  an 
examination  covering  the  same  work,  these  young  people  would 
have  time  to  prepare  themselves  for  entrance.  And  if  it  were  fur- 
ther announced  that  every  year  or  two  additional  high  school  work 
would  be  demanded,  students  would  fit  themselves  to  meet  the 
requirements.  It  will  be  contended  that  large  numbers  of  young 
persons  would  dodge  this  unwelcome  preparatory  study  and  content 
themselves  either  with  going  to  such  schools  of  pharmacy  as  kept 
their  doors  open  to  them,  or  would  eschew  college  altogether,  and 
trust  to  luck  in  getting  through  the  State  Board.  This  is  true, 
doubtless,  of  a  considerable  number;  but  on  the  other  hand  a  more 
desirable  class  of  persons  would  come  forward  to  seek  entrance  to  a 
calling  that  has  in  it  more  dignity  and  higher  public  appreciation. 
Some  years  ago  the  entrance  requirements  for  schools  of  pharmacy 
in  Great  Britain  were  somewhat  suddenly  and  greatly  advanced.  It 
was  expected  that  these  requirements  would  almost  empty  the 
schools.  To  the  astonishment  of  the  faint-hearted  ones,  the  very 
opposite  was  the  effect,  and  for  several  years  the  number  of  students 
in  pharmacy  was  greater  than  it  had  ever  been,  because  many  per- 
sons felt  that  pharmacy  would  be  on  a  higher  plane,  and  was,  there- 
fore, worthy  of  the  serious  attention  of  ambitious  young  men.  It 
goes  without  saying  that  the  intellectual  calibre  of  those  who  entered 
pharmacy  under  the  new  conditions  was  considerably  superior  to 
that  of  their  predecessors.  While  I  do  not  anticipate  an  increased 
number  of  students  under  advanced  entrance  requirements  in  this 
country,  I  believe  that  the  falling  off  would  only  be  for  one  or  two 
years,  and  that  the  moral  effect  of  the  new  conditions  would  ulti- 
mately benefit  the  schools  in  the  matter  of  attendance  by  causing 
every  one  that  would  enter  a  drug  store  with  a  view  of  following 
