Amjtii?uri 9^7 arm" }  Commercial  Training  for  Pharmacists.  311 
an  apology  for  taking  up  valuable  time  that  might  better  be  devoted 
to  a  discussion  of  business  problems  and  financial  profit  possibilities. 
What  the  whole  situation  requires  is  the  acceptance  of  a  common- 
sense  viewpoint  on  the  part  of  teachers,  retailers,  students  and  others 
who  are  interested  in  the  practice  of  pharmacy  of  to-day.  I  am  not 
in  sympathy  with  those  who  wish  to  displace  a  large  portion  of  the 
present  minimum  pharmaceutical  curriculum  with  business  training 
any  more  than  I  am  in  sympathy  with  those  who  begrudge  even  the 
small  period  of  time — about  60  hours — that  the  better  schools  of 
pharmacy  are  devoting  to  the  subject. 
There  must  be  a  willingness  to  give  and  take  in  this  matter  if 
pharmacy  is  to  be  served  properly. 
We  all  recognize  what  pharmacy  is  to-day  and  it  is  foolish  to  try 
to  make  ourselves  believe  that  it  is  on  a  higher  plane  than  actual 
conditions  demonstrate. 
Our  colleges  of  pharmacy  are  attempting  to  elevate  the  profes- 
sion of  pharmacy  to  their  high  standards  and  practical  men  every- 
where are  trying  to  make  the  colleges  recognize  the  fact  that  in  order 
to  really  serve  the  profession  the  colleges  should  take  cognizance  of 
conditions  in  the  trade  and  adapt  their  curriculum  to  the  situation 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  turn  out  men  who  would  be  trained  and 
valuable  for  the  present-day  drug  store.  That,  in  a  nutshell,  is 
the_ situation  and  thus  far  many  of  the  colleges  have  responded  by 
instituting  short  courses  in  commercial  training — with  emphasis  on 
the  short. 
It  is  expecting  too  much  of  both  student  and  instructor  in  com- 
mercial pharmacy  to  feel  that  just  because  a  college  gives  a  short 
course  in  commercial  training  its  graduates  should  make  good  as 
business  men.  To  be  sure  they  are  much  better  prepared  for  busi- 
ness life  after  having  taken  such  a  course  than  they  are  without 
having  taken  it,  but  the  other  learned  professors  on  the  pharma- 
ceutical faculties  must  also  help  to  make  our  191 7  graduates  and 
those  who  follow  them  good  assistants  to  the  average  retail  drug- 
gist of  to-day  or  good  business  men  in  their  own  stores. 
Those  who  advocate  discontinuing  some  of  the  scientific  instruc- 
tion given  in  the  present  pharmacy  course  and  substituting  more 
commercial  training  for  the  same  are  often  asked  what  branch  of 
the  curriculum  may  be  eliminated  or  curtailed.  Invariably  the  first 
subjects  mentioned  are  botany  and  pharmacognosy. 
Yet  a  knowledge  of  the  habitat  and  characteristics  of  vegetable 
