362 
THE  STATE  OF  PHARMACY  IN  RUSSIA,  ETC. 
grains"  harmonizes  with  3ss.,  and  9ss.,  if  any  one  loves 
the  old  system  and  chooses  to  use  it.  Secondly,  that  out  of  the 
above  numbers  any  intermediate  number  can  be  formed.  And 
it  may  be  added,  thirdly,  that  the  custom  of  putting  weights  into 
the  scale-pan  in  regular  order  is  useful,  like  all  other  chemical 
processes,  as  a  means  of  teaching  exactness  and  order. — Lond. 
Pharm.  Jour.,  April,  1864,  from  Med.  Times  and  Gazette. 
THE  STATE  OF  PHARMACY  IN  RUSSIA  AS  COMPARED 
WITH  THAT  IN  ENGLAND. 
The  condition  of  the  pharmaceutical  profession  is  of  the 
greatest  public  importance.  After  the  medical  profession,  the 
pharmaceutical  commands  the  greatest  consideration,  not  of 
Government  alone,  but  also  of  the  public  at  large.  The  science 
of  "  pharmacy"  is  so  closely  linked  up  with  the  science  of  medi- 
cine, that  it  may  well  be  said  one  cannot  effectually  exist  with- 
out the  other  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  it  must  be  understood  that 
these  professions,  however  intimately  related,  must  be  kept  dis- 
tinctly separate.  The  branches  of  science  which  must  necessa- 
rily be  known  by  the  followers  of  these  professions  have  reached 
such  a  wide  spread  development,  that  should  they  continue  to 
progress  at  the  same  rate,  it  will  soon  be  impossible  for  one  in- 
dividual to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  of  them.  The 
fact  of  medical  men  possessing  a  full  knowledge  of  their  pro- 
fession, but  devoting  themselves  to  the  study  and  practice  of 
special  diseases  only,  shows  the  correctness  of  the  above  asser- 
tion. This  admitted,  and  it  becomes  evident  that  either  of  these 
professions  has  in  itself  sufficient  upon  which  a  man's  whole 
energies  should  be  devoted  ;  and  considering  also  the  progress 
of  science,  and  the  necessity  for  public  safety,  it  cannot  be  sur- 
prising that  the  feeling  is  daily  increasing  that  pharmacy  should 
be  raised  to  a  level  with  other  professions,  and  cease  to  be  a 
trade.  * 
On  the  Continent,  the  title  of  «  Apothecary,"  and  the  right 
of  selling  medicine,  is  limited  to  those  only  who  have  obtained 
the  degree  of  "  Apothecary  ;"  and  even  these  are  bound  by  oath 
to  adhere,  under  the  penalty  of  being  deprived  of  their  diploma, 
to  certain  laws,  the  object  of  which  is  the  safety  of  the  public. 
