530  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry.  { ^ovembe^ww0, 
of  medicine,  pharmacy  and  law  were  and  remained  true  professions 
in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word.  No  prospective  pharmacy  stu- 
dent could  enter  any  of  the  three  schools  of  pharmacy  in  the  Philip- 
pines if  he  had  not  passed  through  a  high  school.  Then  follows 
four  years'  active  application  to  the  fundamental  studies  of  chemis- 
try, inorganic,  organic  and  analysis ;  pharmacy ;  theory  and  prac- 
tice, botany,  physics,  materia  medica.  During  the  four  years' 
course  he  also  practices  two  years  in  the  store  before  he  may  appear 
before  the  board  of  examiners.  In  the  main  center  of  education, 
Manila,  two  schools  are  found,  the  most  important  being  the 
department  of  the  University  of  San  Tomas,  having  a  faculty  of 
eight  professors  and  150  students. 
Drug  stores  are  not  found  on  every  corner  in  Manila ;  in  fact,  fifty 
stores  supply  the  450,000  people  of  the  metropolis  and  suburbs  with 
their  drugs.  It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  many  are  the 
natives  that  gather  their  home  remedies  in  the  jungle,  and  that  one 
store  to  every  9,000  people  is  not  excessive.  Still  druggists  are 
prosperous ;  they  are  very  important  men  of  the  community,  being 
professional  men. 
What  do  you  think  of  the  old  proposition  that  a  druggist  cannot 
prescribe  a  remedy  ;  that  a  doctor  may  not  fill  a  prescription  ?  This 
wise  rule  is  strictly  enforced  in  the  islands;  at  least,  it  was  under 
Spanish  rule.  So  far  was  it  carried  that  a  doctor  could  not  even  be 
an  owner  or  part  owner  of  a  pharmacy,  while  a  druggist,  becoming  a 
doctor,  had  to  dispose  of  his  store  before  he  would  be  granted  the 
right  to  practice  medicine.  This  may  look  absurd ;  but  how  many 
are  the  doctors  that  send  their  patients  to  a  store  in  this  country 
where  a  doctor  stands  behind  the  counter,  or  even  owns  the  store? 
They  do  not  send  them  there  if  they  can  help  it.  This  division  un- 
doubtedly adds  to  the  friendly  feeling  that  should  exist  between  the 
prescriber  and  the  compounder,  and  adds  greatly  to  the  security  of 
the  patient. 
The  drug-store  is  called  a  botica  or  Farmacia.  They  are  usually 
spacious  stores  on  the  European  plan.  Cases  are  displayed  about 
the  walls ;  the  laboratory  is  in  the  rear,  separated  from  the  store 
proper  by  a  railing.  Everything  looks  solid  ;  the  floors  are  of  mar- 
ble, and  everything  is  kept  scrupulously  clean.  At  present  Manila 
boasts  of  an  American  drug-store ;  likewise  the  great  English  firm 
of  A.  S.  Watson  &  Co.  have  a  branch  here  as  well  as  in  other  East- 
ern centers,  such  as  Hong  Kong. 
