602  Proposed  Organization  of  Units.     { ADeCemberP?9™* 
and  chemical  examinations  for  the  medical  corps.  In  reality  these 
pharmacists  are  the  chemists  of  the  military  service,  as  well  as  of 
the  sanitary  service. 
For  further  information  on  this  subject  I  beg  to  refer  you  to  a 
paper  by  Mr.  George  M.  Beringer,  entitled  "  Pharmaceutical  Service 
in  the  French  Army,"  published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Phar- 
macy, November,  1917,  page  514. 
As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  War  Defense  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania Pharmaceutical  Association,  I  have  had  occasion  to  confer 
with  prominent  medical  officers  in  the  Army  and  Navy  and  find  one 
of  the  objections  raised  against  the  establishment  of  a  pharmaceu- 
tical corps  is  that  it  will  give  dignity  to  the  nostrum  business  and 
also  extend  the  evils  of  self-medication,  much  to  the  detriment  of 
the  public  health.  I  do  not  believe  this  objection  valid.  On  the  con- 
trary I  think  the  establishment  of  a  pharmaceutical  corps  with  char- 
acter and  duties  as  described  in  the  Edmonds  Bill  would  have  the 
very  opposite  effect. 
It  is  also  urged  that  the  establishment  of  such  a  corps  would  dis- 
turb the  relations  now  existing  between  the  medical  men  in  the 
service  and  the  hospital  corps.  This  relation  is  now  very  satisfac- 
tory to  the  medical  men.  I  am  informed  that  the  hospital  corps  men 
act  as  physicians'  assistants  and  cheerfully  do  more  or  less  menial 
work,  for  which  college  graduates  are  unfitted  because  of  their 
superior  education  and  social  standing.  This  objection  is  taken  care 
of  in  the  Edmonds  Bill.  It  is  not  the  intent  of  the  bill  to  provide  an 
easy  road  to  learning  or  a  short  cut  to  commissions.  Those  who 
enter  the  corps  must  work  their  way  up.  The  bill  provides  edu- 
cational prerequisites  for  entering  the  corps,  outlines  the  character 
of  the  services  required,  and  insures  a  better  class  of  men  to  per- 
form such  services. 
In  conclusion,  therefore,  I  again  present  for  discussion  the  sug- 
gestion in  regard  to  organizing  local  pharmaceutical  corps  units  for 
promoting  the  Edmonds  Bill  in  the  manner  above  described  and  on 
the  lines  already  inaugurated  in  the  scientific  departments  of  Temple 
University. 
