Am  jour  Pharm 
June, 1878 
Editorial. 
3l9 
The  pleasing  feature  in  connection  with  these  evident  signs  of  progress  is  that  no 
aid  was  asked  or  received  from  the  cities  or  States  wherein  the  institutions  are  located, 
but  that  the  result  has  been  reached  through  the  liberality  of  the  members  and  friends 
of  the  colleges.  We  sincerely  wish  that  the  other  colleges  of  pharmacy  may  soon 
be  in  a  similar  position,  and  secure  for  themselves  that  comfort  which  can  only  be 
found  in  a  "  home." 
The  Pharmaceutical  Examining  Board  of  Philadelphia  have  recently  presented 
the  following  report  to  the  Mayor  of  the  city  : 
To  the  Honorable  William  S  Stokley,  Mayor  : 
The  Pharmaceutical  Examining  Board  respectfully  report  that  from  January  1st,  1877,  to  April  22a. 
1878,  forty  applicants  for  examination  and  registration  as  proprietors  of  retail  drug  stores  were  examined 
as  to  their  qualifications  for  conducting  the  apothecary  business.  Of  this  number  twenty-six  were  passed 
by  the  Board  and  duly  registered,  the  remainder  being  unfitted  for  the  responsible  duties  of  dispensers  of 
poisons  and  physicians'  prescriptions. 
Eighty-six  clerks  appeared  before  the  Board  during  the  same  period,  of  whom  sixty-nine  received  cer- 
tificates of  "  Qualified  Assistant,"  authorizing  them  to  be  left  in  charge  of  a  store  during  the  temporary 
absence  of  the  proprietor.  Those  who  fail  to  pass  a  satisfactory  examination  are  granted  a  second  one 
after  the  expiration  of  three  months. 
The  names  of  seventy-seven  retail  druggists  have  been  added  to  the  register  being  entitled  thereto, 
without  examination,  on  account  of  being  graduates  of  an  incorporated  college  of  pharmacy,  "  whose 
diploma  is  based  upon  a  regular  term  of  service  in  the  drug  and  apothecary  business." 
The  total  number  of  individuals  now  registered  as  proprietors  of  retail  drug  stores  is  692,  and  397  qua- 
lified assistants  have  received  certificates  since  the  organization  of  the  Board  on  April  29th,  1872. 
The  census  ol  drug  stores  taken  last  year  by  your  patrolmen  developed  the  fact  that  over  one  hundred 
proprietors  were  violators  of  the  law  in  not  being  registered,  and  shows  the  advantage  that  would  arise 
from  an  annual  inspection  of  a  like  character.  Notification  from  the  City  Solicitor  induced  the  delinquents 
to  apply  for  examination  or  registration. 
With  this  report  the  term  of  the  present  Board  of  Examiners  expires  by  limitation  of  the  Act  of  Assem- 
bly, and:  they  trust  that  their  successors  whom  you  appoint  will  be  enabled  to  discharge  the  responsible 
■duties  of  the  position  with  impartiality  and  fidelity,  so  as  to  assure  that  protection  to  the  public  from 
incompetent  pharmacists  which  was  the  object  of  the  law. 
Subsequently  the  Mayor  appointed  the  Board  to  serve  for  the  next  three  years,  as 
follows:  Messrs.  Jas.  T.  Shinn,  Chas.  L.  Eberle,  Rob.  England,  B.  L.  Smedley  and 
Wm.  C.  Bakes.  Three  of  the  gentlemen  were  members  of  the  original  Board, 
appointed  in  1872,  and  have  served  in  that  capacity  without  interruption.  It  is  a 
well-deserved  compliment  paid  to  them  by  the  appointing  power.  One  of  the 
appointees  has  served  for  some  time  on  the  second  Board  after  the  resignation  of  Mr. 
Marks,  and  the  fifth  gentleman  enters  for  the  first  time  upon  these  duties. 
The  Board  was  organized  by  electing  Mr.  Eberle  President  and  Mr  Bakes  Sec- 
retary. 
Pharmaceutical  Legislation  in  Pennsylvania. — The  way  by  which  some  drafts 
of  laws  become  the  objects  of  general  interest,  and  acquire  historical  fame,  must  be 
dark  indeed.  Early  in  the  present  year  a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  Legislature 
by  Hon.  Mr.  Ringgold,  of  Philadelphia,  with  the  avowed  object  of  "regulating  the 
practice  of  pharmacy  and  the  sale  of  poisons  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania."  We 
have  had  the  privilege  of  examining  that  bill  after  the  "  Committee  on  Vice  and 
Immorality, "  to  which  it  had  been  referred,  had  passed  judgment  on  it  and,  in  legisla- 
tive parlance,  had  "killed  "  it.    The  bill  was,  indeed,  a  proper  subject  for  the  con- 
