476 
EDITORIAL 
d;Mtonal  Slcpartmcnt. 
Pharmaceutical  Education. — In  times  like  the  present,  when  the  re- 
gular routine  of  Society  is  threatened  with  convulsion,  and  the  arrange- 
ments of  to-day  may  be  soon  altered  by  the  pressure  of  circumstances,  it 
behoves  the  rising  generation  to  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  the  evil  results  by 
securing  a  business  education,  fitting  them  to  meet  the  exigencies  which 
may  surround  them  on  their  entry  into  manhood.  This  education  becomes 
an  indestructible  capital,  ready  at  all  times  to  aid  the  possessor.  The  able 
mechanic,  the  thorough  book-keeper,  the  earnest  physican,  and  the  qualified 
pharmaceutist,  are  much  more  likely  to  find  employment  than  the  pretender 
or  half  educated.  Especially  is  the  truth  of  this  in  pharmacy  illustrated 
every  day  by  the  difficulty  of  procuring  well  qualified  clerks  for  responsible 
positions.  So  long  as  a  clerk  holds  a  subordinate  position,  there  are  many 
imperfections  which  may  be  submitted  to  whilst  he  is  constantly  associated 
with  an  abler  hand  ;  but  where  the  whole  guidance  of  a  business  devolves 
on  a  clerk,  it  is  expected  that  he  will  be  able  not  only  to  meet  the  ordinary 
demands  on  his  knowledge,  but  that  he  will  be  capable  of  acting  in  all  the 
emergencies  arising  at  the  counter.  The  pharmaceutical  student  cannot 
too  earnestly  attend  to  the  details  of  the  shop — fortunate,  if  he  be  placed 
with  an  employer  the  scope  of  whose  business,  and  the  arrangements  of 
whose  shop,  are  such  as  to  afford  a  wide  range  of  experience,  and  ample 
means  of  preparation.  With  a  clear  sense  of  the  importance  of  knowledge 
derived  from  College  instruction,  we  are  quite  sincere  in  the  belief  that  it 
will  not  substitute  the  practical  tuition  of  the  Counter  and  Laboratory, 
which,  indeed,  it  is  intended  to  illustrate  and  extend  rather  than  to  replace. 
But  the  apothecary  who  has  had  his  education  solely  at  the  counter,  though 
generally  well  posted  in  the  practical  part  of  his  profession,  and,  where  his 
duties  included  the  manufacturing  of  preparations,  shows  an  aptitude  to- 
wards mere  routine,  yet  he  is  often  greatly  perplexed  by  chemical  impedi- 
ments in  pro(;esses  that  are  as  Greek  to  him  in  the  absence  of  book  knowl- 
edge and  study.  When,  however,  he  is  able  to  combine  the  theoretical  in- 
struction of  the  College  with  the  practical  duties  of  the  shop,  the  stu- 
dent is  in  the  position  best  calculated  to  educate  himself  thoroughly  ;  the 
difficulties  which  arise  in  practice  are  cleared  up  and  explained  or  remedied 
where  possible,  new  methods  are  suggested,  and  like  a  mariner  with  a 
compass,  he  is  not  afraid  to  strike  out  into  the  obscure  or  unknown  where 
he  has  chemistry  as  his  friend  and  guide. 
The  season  for  study  is  approaching,  and  unfavorable  as  are  the  times 
