AmMi?ch,i9wmJ"}     The  Opsonins  and  Bacterial  Vaccines.  141 
Prof.  I.  V.  S.  Stanislaus,  in  opening  the  general  discussion,  gave 
it  as  his  opinion  that  the  pharmacist  of  the  future  would  again  hold 
the  same  relative  position  to  the  public  as  did  the  apothecary  of  old. 
The  pharmacist  of  the  future  will  be  the  chemist  of  the  people,  the 
food  and  drug  analyst,  the  assistant  and  adviser  of  the  physician, 
in  all  matters  relating  to  materia  medica  and  chemistry,  and  will, 
therefore,  practically  be  the  sanitarian  of  the  community. 
The  subject  was  further  discussed  by  Messrs.  John  K.  Thum, 
Franklin  Apple,  Jacob  Eppstein,  M.  I.  Wilbert,  H.  C.  Blair,  E.  Ful- 
lerton  Cook,  John  Hahn  and  Dr.  F.  E.  Stewart.  From  the  general 
trend  of  this  discussion  it  was  plainly  evident  that  the  better 
informed  retail  pharmacists  deeply  appreciate  their  responsi- 
bility to  the  public,  and  are  willing  and  even  anxious  to  meet  their 
obligations  fully.  At  no  time  in  the  history  of  pharmacy  in  this 
country  has  it  been  so  evident  that  the  mentally  and  morally  poor 
man  should  not  be  allowed  to  jeopardize  the  health  and  even  the 
lives  of  his  fellow  beings  as  now. 
It  is  clearly  evident  that  pharmacists  are  beginning  to  realize  that 
a  full  and  complete  appreciation  of  their  duties  to  society  at  large 
must  of  necessity  react  to  their  own  pecuniary  advantage  and  will 
in  addition  procure  for  them  the  respect  and  the  admiration  of  their 
fellow  men.  M.  I.  Wilbert, 
Secretary, 
A  REVIEW  OF  THE  OPSONINS  AND  BACTERIAL 
VACCINES.1 
By  E.  M.  Houghton. 
As  requested  by  the  Therapeutic  Gazette,  I  shall  attempt  to  de- 
scribe as  succinctly  as  possible  the  theory  of  the  opsonins  and  the 
therapeutic  results  that  have  been  obtained  by  the  application  of  the 
new  theory.  As  the  years  go  by  we  realize  more  thoroughly  the 
correctness  of  the  prophetic  belief  of  the  "  Immortal  Pasteur,"  that 
the  day  would  come  when  it  would  be  possible  to  eradicate  the  in- 
fectious diseases  by  vaccination. 
We  are  indebted  to  Metchnikoff  for  calling  attention  to  and  ex- 
plaining the  role  of  the  white  blood  cells  in  the  defence  of  the  body 
against  bacterial  invasion,  but  the  phenomenon  of  phagocytosis  is 
1  Reprinted  from  Therapeutic  Gazette,  January  15,  1907. 
