5* 
Martin  I.  Wilbert. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
February,  19 17. 
firmly  convinced  that  this  science  would  become  a  requisite  for  a 
modern  hospital,  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  German  Hospital 
created  a  department  of  Roentgenology,  and  elected  him  the  director 
thereof.  He  still,  however,  retained  his  position  of  chief  apothecary. 
Besides  being  one  of  the  pioneers  in  this  work  in  this  country  he  was 
also  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  literature  that  this  wonderful 
science  has  evolved. 
Strangely  enough,  while  many  of  the  pioneer  workers  were  af- 
fected by  constant  exposure  to  this  phenomenon  of  electricity,  and 
some  even  lost  their  lives  therefrom,  Dr.  Wilbert  himself  never 
seemed  to  have  developed  those  insidious  burns  from  which  nearly 
all  the  early  workers  subsequently  suffered.  While  some  of  these 
early  workers  scoffed  at  any  possibility  of  danger,  he  was  always 
careful  to  so  conduct  his  work  as  to  reduce  personal  exposure  to  a 
minimum.  His  common  sense,  which  he  had  a  good  share  of,  is 
best  illustrated  by  the  reasons  he  gave  for  his  carefulness  in  not 
permitting  himself  to  be  subjected  to  any  unnecessary  exposure. 
He  said :  "  If  this  phenomenon  of  electricity  is  so  very  potent  for 
good,  it  may  in  an  equal  measure  be  potent  for  extreme  harm." 
Our  present  positive  knowledge  on  this  subject  proves  him  to  have 
been  right. 
It  would  be  impossible  within  the  brief  scope  of  this  memoir  to 
go  very  deeply  into  his  career  as  apothecary  at  the  hospital.  When 
the  beautiful  and  imposing  front  had  been  added  to  the  hospital  in 
1894,  he  was  given  permission  to  arrange  and  thoroughly  equip  a 
complete  hospital  pharmacy.  To  this  day  the  German  Hospital 
pharmacy  is  ample  testimony  to  the  capable  and  thorough  manner 
in  which  he  carried  out  this  mission.  From  the  day  he  came  here, 
and,  we  are  happy  to  say,  to  the  present  time,  pharmacy  has  been 
practiced  as  the  leaders  with  ideals  in  American  pharmacy  have  al- 
ways wished  it  to  be  practiced.  Dr.  Wilbert  always  held  that  the 
tendency  of  the  average  pharmacist  to  be  satisfied  to  be  a  mere  dis- 
penser was  a  very  regrettable  one  and  if  not  checked  would  indefi- 
nitely postpone  the  day  when  pharmacy  would  be  generally  regarded 
as  a  profession. 
He  always  held  the  opinion  that  the  pharmacist  was  morally  re- 
sponsible for  all  medicines  dispensed.  He  continued  to  hold  to  this 
to  the  end.  It  was  a  principle  that  he  always  fought  valiantly  for, 
and  in  return  he  was  subjected  to  return  fire  from  others  who 
sometimes  neglected  to  fight  like  gentlemen.    However,  those  who 
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