AmMarch,?907^m'}     Standards  in  Pharmaceutical  Education.  103 
manhood,  and  at  the  same  time  special  educational  equipment  and 
intellectual  acumen.  Being  largely  answerable  to  himself  in  the 
conduct  of  his  business,  it  is  plain  that  the  pharmacist  must  be  of  a 
high  moral  type,  and  if  he  is  of  the  type  that  he  should  be  to 
assume  such  a  responsible  calling,  he  will  first  see  to  it  that  his  gen- 
eral education  warrants  him  in  undertaking  its  pursuit.  But  if  there 
are  those  who  have  not  the  moral  sense  to  conscientiously  qualify 
themselves  by  obtaining  the  necessary  preliminary  education,  then 
the  teaching  bodies  should  exercise  their  power  to  eliminate  them. 
Here  is  where  the  highest  obligation  of  the  schools  and  colleges  of 
pharmacy  rests,  and  here  is  where  the  supreme  test  of  their  sense  ot 
their  obligation  to  the  public  comes  in. 
Certainly  those  applicants  for  entrance  who  have  had  opportuni- 
ties for  obtaining  an  education  and  have  been  so  indifferent  as  not 
to  improve  them,  can  hardly  be  considered  fit  candidates  for  the 
practice  of  pharmacy.  Entrance  to  a  college  presupposes  a  good 
general  education ;  the  studies  to  be  mastered  require  it,  and  to 
admit  the  unqualified  reacts  on  all  those  engaged  in  the  practice  of 
pharmacy  and  in  the  teaching  of  pharmacy.  It  also  does  harm  to 
those  who  are  still  in  the  public  schools,  for  instead  of  finishing  their 
courses  they  discontinue  their  studies  knowing  that  they  can  fit 
themselves  by  short  cuts.  It  lowers  the  standard  of  the  schools  of 
pharmacy  and  so  tends  to  keep  away  those  who  are  qualified  to 
pursue  the  work.  In  short,  it  lowers  the  tone  of  pharmacy  at  every 
point.  And  who  can  say  that  it  does  not  eventually  make  an  im- 
pression on  the  general  public  and  influence  them  in  withholding 
their  support,  both  moral  and  financial  ? 
I  know  of  a  young  man  who  desired  to  study  law,  but  who  had 
not  gone  further  than  the  grammar  school.  When  he  came  to 
inquire  about  the  terms  of  admission  to  the  bar,  he  found  that 
graduation  from  a  high  school  was  required.  He  then  decided  to 
enter  school  again  and  go  through  the  high  school.  Can  any  ore 
doubt  the  advantage  of  such  a  course  to  this  young  man  or  to  the 
profession  of  law  in  requiring  him  to  complete  his  preliminary 
education  ? 
There  are  those  who  incline  to  take  pity  on  those  applicants  in 
pharmacy  who  have  not  the  desired  amount  of  preliminary  educa- 
tion and  who  argue  that  they  should  be  given  a  chance.  But  this 
is  a  false  kind  of  charity ;  if  the  applicants  are   sincere  and  have 
