41 8  Revision  of  Dispensing  Pharmacies.  {As™ptJemberi9o?" 
at  that  time,  and  also  indicate  the  marked  improvement  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  quality  of  drugs  and  medicines. 
From  the  recommendations  that  were  attached  to  these  several 
reports,  I  should  like  to  quote  from  the  report  by  Dr.  Robert  M. 
Huston,  of  Philadelphia,  published  in  1850  (Proc.  Am.  Med.  Assoc., 
vol.  3).  "  It  is  to  the  members  of  our  own  profession,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  respectable  druggists  and  apothecaries,  that  we  must 
look  for  whatever  reformation  is  to  be  accomplished. 
4'It  has  been  suggested  that  physicians  should  feel  it  to  be  their 
duty  to  inspect  the  medicines  in  the  drug  stores  from  which  they 
are  in  the  habit  of  obtaining  their  supplies,  for  themselves  or  their 
patients.  This  would  exercise  a  wholesome  influence  if  submitted  to 
by  the  apothecary  and  frequently  performed  by  the  physician." 
It  is  this  same  proposition,  that  was  thought  to  be  impracticable 
half  a  century  ago,  that  I  believe  could  be  put  into  operation  at  the 
present  time,  with  advantage  to  the  members  of  the  medical  as  well 
as  pharmaceutical  professions. 
Such  a  system  of  inspection  might  readily  be  inaugurated  in  con- 
nection with  the  work  of  local  or  county  medical  societies  and  might 
be  made  one  of  the  requisites  for  pharmaceutical  membership  of  the 
American  Medical  Association. 
The  local  medical  society  could  in  this  way  control,  not  alone  the 
class  of  drugs  and  medicines,  but  also  the  nature  and  kind  of  store 
at  which  it  would  recommend  the  prescriptions  of  its  several  mem- 
bers to  be  compounded.  In  larger  cities  particularly  such  an 
arrangement  would  be  of  inestimable  value  to  the  physician,  as  it 
would  relieve  him  of  any  possible  suspicion  of  favoring  any  one 
pharmacist,  and  at  the  same  time  give  him  a  reasonable  assurance 
that  his  prescriptions  would  be  compounded,  at  any  one  of  the 
recommended  pharmacies,  by  competent  men  and  in  the  best  pos- 
sible manner. 
It  is  true  that  the  requirements,  at  least  at  the  start,  should  not 
be  prohibitive,  but  they  can  readily  be  made  to  cover  a  wide  field 
and  can  be  made  more  stringent  as  occasion  permits. 
Among  the  factors  that  might  be  considered  in  this  direction  are: 
(1)  The  number  of  stores  to  be  recommended. 
(2)  The  arrangement  and  general  contents  of  the  store. 
(3)  The  class  of  analytical  and  manufacturing  work  that  should 
be  done  in  connection  with  the  dispensing  department. 
