AlOcto£rPi9'S1'  }    Pharmaceutical  Corps  in  U.  S.  Army.  471 
In  the  United  States  Army  we  have  no  Pharmaceutical  Corps 
whatever.  We  have  no  pharmaceutical  supervision  of  medicines 
and  hospital  supplies.  We  have  no  governmental  manufacture  of 
medical  supplies  for  the  Army  under  the  supervision  of  trained  phar- 
macists. We  have  no  specially  trained  pharmacists  to  attend  to 
the  dispensing  and  compounding.  We  have  absolutely  nothing  that 
bears  any  semblance  to  a  modern  army  pharmaceutical  corps. 
We  have  it  officially  stated  that  in  the  United  States  Army  "  the 
dispensing  of  drugs  or  compounding  of  prescriptions  is  done  by  the 
non-commissioned  officers  of  the  Medical  Department."  Many  of 
these,  as  pointed  out,  could  not  qualify  to  practice  pharmacy  in  civil 
life.  Can  the  United  States  afford  to  have  an  Army  Medical  De- 
partment and  service  that  is  inferior  to  that  of  Spain  or  Japan? 
Can  those  in  authority  continue  to  ignore  the  value  of  the  services 
of  the  pharmaceutical  corps  in  foreign  armies  and  the  potent  lessons 
of  efficient  organization? 
An  order  has  just  been  published  by  the  adjutant  general  for 
the  reorganization  of  the  Army  of  the  United  States  in  conformity 
with  the  organization  of  the  French  Army.  If  we  find  the  French 
models  for  the  line  troops  worth  following,  it  is  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose that  we  should  likewise  follow  their  organization  in  the  Sani- 
tary Service,  including  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical  corps. 
Efficiency  of  the  Medical  Corps  Demands  Pharmaceutical 
Assistance. 
The  advice  of  Cicero  to  "  Let  each  one  exercise  himself  in  the 
art  which  he  knows  "  is  but  a  more  ancient  expression  of  the  doc- 
trine of  "  every  one  to  his  trade  and  the  right  man  in  the  right 
place."  This  principle  is  the  very  foundation  of  modern  efficiency 
which  is  now  demanded  in  every  occupation.  War  is  the  supreme 
test  of  a  nation's  efficiency  and  in  time  of  war  it  is  of  paramount 
importance  that  every  man  be  put  to  that  work  in  which  he  can 
render  the  most  useful  service  to  the  nation.  The  magnitude  of 
modern  warfare  demands  the  most  perfect  organization  and  the 
most  effective  service  and  nowhere  is  this  of  more  importance  than 
in  the  medical  service  of  the  Army  and  Navy. 
Each  line  of  activity  requires  specialized  education  and  training 
and  to  permit  one  branch  or  activity  to  encroach  upon  the  special 
field  or  duty  of  another  means  national  inefficiency,  if  not  actually 
