A™ctobeM907!m'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  465 
of  California,  who  were  victims  of  the  earthquake,  feel  toward  the 
druggists  of  the  country  for  their  generous  assistance. 
Thomas  F.  Main,  of  New  York,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Credentials,  reported  that  sixty-one  organizations  were  represented 
by  duly  accredited  delegates. 
President's  Address. — Vice-president  C.  S.  N.  Hallberg  occupied 
the  chair  while  the  president  read  his  annual  address. 
The  address  contained  several  recommendations,  which  for  the 
most  part  centered  around  the  Pure  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  and 
were  presented  "  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pharmacist  in  actual 
practice."  The  following  extracts  have  been  selected  as  showing 
the  trend  of  the  address  : 
"  Without  a  doubt,  the  most  important  event  of  the  past  year  was 
the  enactment  of  the  Pure  Food  and  Drugs  Act.  For  the  first  time 
since  the  establishment  of  this  Government,  has  there  been  a  law 
put  on  the  national  statutes  which  undertakes  to  control  the  truth- 
ful branding  of  foods  and  medicinal  products,  at  least  so  far  as  their 
contents  of  certain  substances  are  concerned.  This  Act  is  so  far- 
reaching  that  it  will  not  be  possible  at  this  time  to  venture  a  predic- 
tion as  to  final  results. 
"  One  of  the  most  beneficial  and  immediate  results  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  Act  will  be  a  recrudescence  of  that  commercial  honesty 
and  integrity  which  is  so  necessary  to  establish  that  perfect  faith  in 
all  commercial  transactions. 
"  As  a  natural  sequence  of  this  Act,  there  should  be  organized  a 
National  Department  of  Health. 
"  One  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  all  civilized  countries 
should  be  the  preservation  and  care  of  the  public  health. 
This  association  should  re-emphasize  its  position,  as  being  in  favor  of 
such  a  department,  and  should  appoint  a  committee  to  join  the 
American  Medical  Association,  to  aid  in  obtaining  the  necessary 
legislation.  We  should  go  still  further  and  demand  representation 
in  this  department,  since  ours  is  the  first  national  association  to 
concern  itself  about  public  health.  Protest  against  the  importance 
of  adulterated  drugs  and  medicine  was  the  immediate  cause  for  the 
organization  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  here  in 
this  city  (New  York)  in  185 1,  and  its  investigation  and  reform  wTas 
the  most  important  work  during  the  first  decade  of  its  existence. 
"  State  Boards  of  Health,  as  at  present  constituted,  do  not,  in 
