STATE  OF  PHARMACY  IN  GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 
325 
a  kind  of  medical  board,  appointed  by  the  minister.  In  this  board 
all  the  medical  sciences  are  representedj  and  it  is  presided  over  by 
a  superior  medical  functionary. 
Similar  boards,  under  the  name  of  medical  colleges,  are  located 
in  the  principal  towns  of  each  province  in  the  kingdom.  The 
members  of  these  colleges  are  charged  with  the  examination  of 
surgeons,  sanitary  officers,  and  mid  wives.  They  are,  moreover, 
called  upon  to  give  their  advice  in  all  difficult  cases  of  medical  and 
chemical  jurisprudence,  as  well  as  in  all  instances  where  the  local 
authorities  consider  it  necessary  to  have  recourse  to  their  guid- 
ance. The  higher  administrative  body  is  thus  made  perfectly 
familiar  with  all  the  facts  which  it  is  necessary  they  should  be 
acquainted  with,  and  upon  which  they  may  be  called  upon  to  give 
a  decision.  It  will  readily  be  understood  how  much  this  system 
of  centralization  tends  to  facilitate  the  better  co-ordination  of 
medical  services  by  the  administration,  and  what  a  much  greater 
power  it  gives  them  of  introducing  such  modifications  or  improve- 
ments as  may  be  considered  necessary  or  practicable.  Such  then 
is  the  general  character  of  the  medical  organization  in  Prussia; 
and  it  will  now  be  necessary  to  see  in  what  manner  the  practical 
application  of  the  system  is  carried  out  wTith  regard  to  matters 
particularly  connected  with  pharmacy. 
CONDITIONS  OF  THE  EXERCISE  OF  PHARMACY  IN  PRUSSIA. 
In  Prussia  and  in  the  several  German  states  it  is  necessary,  in 
order  to  exercise  the  profession  of  a  pharmaceutist,  to  possess  the 
following  qualifications : 
1.  An  adequate  education  proved  by  preliminary  studies  and 
special  examinations. 
2.  An  authority  to  open  a  shop,  or  to  undertake  the  management 
of  one  already  established. 
STUDIES  AND  RECEPTION  OF  PHARMACEUTICAL  CANDIDATES. 
A  young  man  who  is  desirous  of  entering  a  pharmacy  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  business,  must  but  be  at  least  14  years  of 
age.  He  must  have  a  sufficient  knowledge  of  Latin  to  be  able  to 
translate  the  Pharmacopoeia  at  sight ;  and  further,  he  must  be 
acquainted  with  the  first  elements  of  the  physical  and  natural  sci- 
ences. He  shows  that  he  is  possessed  of  these  qualifications  by  an 
examination,  which  is  made  by  the  "physicus"  of  the  district. 
