50 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Jan.,  1887. 
that  about  10  per  cent,  was  subiodide.  On  motion  the  paper  was  referred  to 
the  publication  committee. 
The  actuary  read  a  short  paper  upon  the  change  of  color  noticed  in  a  mixture 
composed  of  syrup  of  wild  cherry  bark,  syrup  of  squill,  morphine  acetate  and 
sweet  spirit  of  nitre. 
After  a  short  conversation  the  meeting,  on  motion,  adjourned. 
T.  S.  Wiegand, 
Eegistrar. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Pharmaceutical  Education. — Nearly  twenty  years  ago  the  first  practical  steps 
for  pharmaceutical  legislation  in  the  United  States  were  inaugurated,  through 
a  resolution  offered  by  Dr.  Squibb  before  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation. The  late  John  Milhau,  who  was  then  President  of  the  Association, 
had  previously  interested  himself  in  favor  of  such  a  measure,  as  far  as  the  city 
and  state  of  New  York  were  concerned.  In  the  following  year,  1868,  a  report 
was  made  to  the  Association,  giving  all  the  laws  relating  to  pharmacy,  then  on 
the  statute  books  of  the  different  States ;  and  in  1869,  the  draft  of  a  law  was 
reported,  and  subsequently  communicated  to  the  governor  and  legislature  of 
each  state.  This  proposed  law  aimed  in  an  indirect  manner,  to  secure,  aside 
from  the  requisite  practical  experience,  the  proper  education  of  the  young 
pharmacists.  In  the  laws  which  have  been  enacted  since,  this  last  mentioned 
aim  has  been  more  or  less  lost  sight  of,  even  in  those  States  where  higher 
educational  institutions  are  maintained,  at  which  the  expenses  for  tuition  are  of 
mere  nominal  amount.  It  is  true,  that  some  of  the  laws  recognize  directly  the 
value  of  systematized  education  in  addition  to  shop  practice  ;  but  in  no  single 
instance  is  the  former  required.  Modelled  after  the  British  law,  but  without  the 
prerequisite  of  the  latter — education  prior  to  apprenticeship — our  pharmacy 
laws  are  necessarily  to  that  extent  less  efficient,  than  that  of  Great  Britain. 
It  is  but  natural  that  the  pharmacy  acts  in  force  in  the  different  colonies  of 
Great  Britain  should  be  framed  after  that  of  the  mother  country.  In  the  Aus- 
tralian colonies,  Tasmania  began  the  regulation  of  the  practice  of  pharmacy  as 
early  as  1842,  when  a  board  of  medical  examiners  was  created  for  the  purpose 
of  testing,  by  examination,  the  qualification  of  those  intending  to  embark  in 
business  as  a  pharmaceutical  chemist.  The  other  colonies  followed  with  enact- 
ments; but  the  pharmacy  boards  are  composed  of  pharmacists,  two  of  the 
Queensland  Board  being  medical  men,  but  registered  pharmaceutical  chemists 
of  Great  Britain,  and  in  New  South  Wales  the  board  is  composed  of  seven 
pharmacists  and  two  physicians.  These  boards  are  examiners,  but  they  have 
encouraged  the  establishment  of  Colleges  of  Pharmacy,  of  which  several  are 
in  existence.  With  the  view  of  harmonizing  pharmaceutical  education  in 
Australia,  an  intercolonial  conference  was  held  in  Melbourne,  October  27,  28 
and  29,  of  1886,  at  which  representatives  of  the  pharmaceutical  societies  and 
examining  boards  of  the  different  colonies  were  present,  namely :  three  from 
New  South  Wales,  two  each  from  New  Zealand,  South  Australia,  Tasmania  and 
Victoria,  and  one  from  Queensland. 
