53Q 
Status  of  Chemists. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
November,  191 7. 
the  unit  as  chemist — one  of  the  enlisted  men.  My  question  as  to  a  commis- 
sion was  met  with  the  reply  that  only  physicians  and  dentists  were  given  com- 
missions, but  the  possibility  was  mentioned  that  I  might  be  offered  a  civilian 
appointment  at  fifty  dollars  a  month. 
"  I  refused,  although  I  wanted  very  much  to  go.  I  had  minored  in  bac- 
teriology and  had  six  years  experience  in  health  department  laboratory  work, 
and  felt  able  to  do  good  work  with  the  unit.  My  refusal  was  for  two  rea- 
sons. The  money  borrowed  for  my  education  had  to  be  repaid  as  soon  as 
possible  and  that  was  impossible  on  a  small  salary  with  unknown  expenses. 
Also,  I  felt  that  expecting  to  get  a  university-trained  chemist  and  in  return 
offering  enlistment  with  orderlies,  cooks  and  barbers  was  insulting  to  the 
dignity  of  the  profession,  when  men  no  more  highly  trained — physicians  and 
dentists — were  granted  a  higher  rank.  I  have  written  thus  at  length,  partly 
on  the  urging  of  chemist  friends.  I  am  now  adjunct  professor  of  chemistry 
at  the  University  of   . 
"Although  disappointed  at  the  lack  of  recognition  accorded  chemists  by 
the  army  officials,  I  am  writing  you  not  in  a  spirit  of  complaint,  but  that  you 
may  have  the  facts  of  such  a  case,  in  the  event  that  it  should  become  advisable 
later  for  chemists  to  seek  recognition. 
"  Another  very  similar  case  has  just  come  to  my  attention  here  at  , 
where  a  unit  is  now  being  organized." 
The  situation  here  revealed  is  amazing.  We  incline  to  the  belief 
that  this  does  not  represent  the  deliberately  formulated  policy  of  the 
War  Department,  but  that  in  the  rush  of  unusual  organization  the 
matter  has  simply  been  overlooked.  If  ,  however,  these  surmises  are 
incorrect,  then  we  respectfully  urge  an  early  review  of  the  subject 
by  the  officials  in  charge. 
PHARMACOLOGIC  SUPERSTITIONS.1 
By  Horatio  C.  Wood,  Jr.,  M.D.,  Philadelphia. 
{Continued  from  page  460.) 
It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  science  lends  no  support  to  the  use 
of  lithium  in  medicine.  Any  judgment  in  favor  of  this  element 
must  be  based  solely  on  bedside  experience.  The  clinical  evidence 
in  this  disease  is  peculiarly  unreliable ;  Magnus-Levi  says,  "  Cool 
judgment  is  more  difficult  in  the  therapeutics  of  gout  than  of  any 
other  disease."  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  criterion,  save  pos- 
sibly the  percentage  of  uric  acid  in  the  blood,  which  can  serve  as  an 
index  of  improvement.    In  the  second  place,  the  disease  is  one 
1  Reprinted  from  the  Journ.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  Vol.  LXVI,  pp.  1067- 
1073. 
