3o8 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1894. 
EDITORIAL. 
THE  THREE  YEARS  GRADED  COURSE  AT   THE   PHILADELPHIA   COLLEGE  OE 
PHARMACY. 
The  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  has  again  demonstrated  her  fitness 
to  lead  the  institutions  devoted  to  pharmaceutical  education  in  this  country,  by 
requiring  all  who  matriculate  after  this  year  to  take  three  full  courses  of  lec- 
tures. Like  all  advanced  movements,  it  is  not  probable  that  adverse  criticism 
will  be  escaped.  Many  of  the  older  graduates  will  recall  the  opposition  which 
was  made  to  holding  the  Commencement  in  a  public  hall ;  but  the  progressive 
supporters  of  the  College  came  to  her  aid  and  the  opposition  was  vanquished. 
On  nearly  every  occasion  since,  when  some  improvement  has  been  demanded, 
the  friends  of  progress  could  only  win  the  day  after  strenuous  efforts  ;  but,  as 
time  wore  on,  and  the  College  waxed  stronger,  and  the  success  of  the  various 
advanced  movements  had  been  proved,  ill-considered  opposition  was  driven  into 
the  background,  until  now  the  College  has  little  difficulty  in  inaugurating  any 
reform  which  has  been  well  considered,  and  which  promises  beneficial  results 
for  the  advancement  of  American  Pharmacy. 
For  many  years  the  College  has  encouraged  students  to  extend  the  time  for 
acquiring  a  pharmaceutical  education,  by  offering  to  all,  the  opportunity  to 
attend  a  third  course,  without  additional  expense.  The  number  of  students 
availing  themselves  of  this  privilege  has  increased  largely  of  late  years,  and  it 
has  often  embraced  some  of  the  best  students  in  the  class. 
Unfortunately  the  action  of  the  real  student  and  true  lover  of  knowledge, 
who  had  sufficient  foresight  to  realize  the  value  of  taking  three  years  to  com- 
plete his  course,  was  likely  to  be  misunderstood,  and  the  fear  of  being  scouted 
by  his  fellows,  as  too  ignorant  to  accomplish  in  two  years  what  others  had  done, 
deterred  many  from  accepting  the  privilege.  Then,  again,  a  three-years-course 
student,  under  the  old  regime,  felt  that  he  was  under  some  disadvantage  in 
coming  up  for  examinations  with  those  members  of  his  class  who  had  failed  to 
pass  their  examinations  after  a  two  years  course,  and  were  compelled  by  neces- 
sity to  take  three  courses. 
These,  however,  are  minor  reasons  for  the  advanced  step  of  three  full  courses  ; 
the  grand  moving  cause  is  that  sufficient  time  cannot  be  given  in  two  courses, 
notwithstanding  the  lengthening  of  the  same,  to  adequately  present  to  the  mind 
of  the  student  the  vast  accumulation  of  facts  which  Pharmacy  and  its  collateral 
sciences  now  embrace.  Not  only  must  more  time  be  taken  by  the  student  to 
absorb  the  facts,  but  these,  even  if  perfectly  memorized,  can  never  be  con- 
sidered to  rise  to  the  value  of  actual  knowledge,  unless  sufficient  time  has  been 
given  for  them  to  be  assimilated  and  digested. 
If  additional  time  be  the  only  factor,  it  might  be  said,  why  not  lengthen  the 
course,  or  largely  increase  the  hours  for  work  during  each  day?  But  those 
who  advocate  such  views  fail  to  grasp  the  importance  of  allowing  the  mind  of 
the  student  sufficient  time  for  that  careful  thought  and  deliberate  study  neces- 
sary for  thoroughly  mastering  the  vast  number  of  facts  now  embodied  in  a 
knowledge  of  Pharmacy  ;  by  having  these  continually  brought  practically 
before  the  student  and  thoroughly  examined,  from  many  points  of  view,  out- 
side of  the  regular  college  lectures,  a  mere  acquaintance  or  intellectual  assent 
