1 42  Editorial.  {Amifcs7h8ann- 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
State  Pharmaceutical  Societies. — We  are  much  pleased  that  our  suggestion  as 
to  the  advisability  of  calling  a  convention,  with  the  view  of  organizing  an  associa- 
tion embracing  all  the  reputable  pharmacists  and  druggists  of  Pennsylvania,  has  been 
promptly  acted  upon,  as  will  be  noticed  from  the  subjoined  circular: 
"  Harrisburg,  February  14,  1878.  Dear  Sir — You  are  hereby  cordially  invited  to 
meet  with  us  in  this  city  on  Tuesday,  the  26th  inst.,  at  11  A  M.,  in  the  rooms  of 
the  Pennsylvania  Agricultural  Society,  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  a  State  Phar- 
maceutical Association.  Please  extend  the  invitation  to  all  druggists  in  good  stand- 
ing in  your  locality.  Charles  A.  Heinitsh,  Lancaster  5  Geo.  W.  Kennedy,  Potts- 
ville  5  Joseph  L.  Lemberger,  Lebanon  ;  J.  A.  Miller,  Wm.  H.  Egle,  M.D.,  C.  K. 
Keller,  Chas,  T.  George,  G.  H.  Markley,  A.  W.  Nunemacker,  J.  H.  Boher,  Har- 
risburg." 
As  will  be  seen  from  the  report  on  another  page,  the  Association  has  been  organ- 
ized and  is  the  second  one  in  the  Middle  States,  that  of  New  Jersey  being  the  first. 
We  are  aware  that  in  others  conferences  have  been  held  looking  towards  the  same 
end,  and  we  sincerely  wish  that  they  may  likewise  lead  to  the  same  desirable  result. 
Hospital  Stewards,  U.  S.  A. — The  importance  of  securing  for  the  armies  the 
services  of  educated  pharmacists  is  generally  recognized  in  Europe,  and  in  no  coun- 
try, perhaps,  has  this  necessity  been  brought  to  such  a  state  of  perfection  as  in 
France,  where  there  is  ample  chance  given  for  promotion  for  services  rendered,  and 
where,  as  a  natural  consequence,  many  highly-educated  pharmacists  are  found  in 
responsible  positions,  and  with  a  military  rank  commensurate  to  their  responsibility. 
The  medical  service  of  the  United  States  Army  offers  similar  inducements  to  grad- 
uates in  medicine,  who  before  they  are  admitted  as  assistant-surgeons,  have  to  sub- 
mit to  a  thorough  examination.  It  is  different  with  the  pharmacists  of  the  army, 
the  hospital  stewards  as  they  are  now  officially  termed,  or  the  medical  stewards  as 
they  are  proposed  to  be  called  hereafter.  It  is  true  that,  previous  to  their  appoint- 
ment from  the  ranks  of  civil  or  military  life,  they  must  be  recommended  as  being 
**  temperate,  honest,  and  in  every  way  reliable,  as  well  as  sufficiently  intelligent  and 
skilled  in  pharmacy  for  the  proper  discharge  of  the  responsible  duties  likely  to 
devolve  upon  them  5"  but  we  regard  it  as  a  radical  error,  that  they  should  not,  like 
the  surgeons,  be  required  to  have  been  specially  educated  to  their  calling.  We  are 
well  aware  that  there  are  many  pharmacists  enlisted  as  hospital  stewards,  and  the 
sooner  it  is  recognized  that  the  best  pharmaceutical  skill  is  not  too  good  for  the 
army,  the  better  will  it  be  for  this  special  branch  of  the  service,  and  the  more  readily 
will  the  army  secure  the  services  of  well-educated  pharmacists.  A  system  of  enlist- 
ment and  promotion,  similar  to  that  of  the  French  army,  would  secure  this. 
The  hospital  stewards  of  the  army  are  now  endeavoring  to  secure  for  themselves 
a  well-recognized  rank,  and  in  this  they  should  be  successful.  The  demands  to  be 
recognized  as  sergeants  and  sergeant-majors,  with  an  occasional  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  lieutenant,  are  moderate  enough,  and,  in  our  opinion,  by  far  below  their 
responsibilities  and  the  duties  required  of  them. 
