ii4 
had  been  poisoned  too  often  to  be  careless  when  warned  by  my 
assistant.  I  am  not  denying  the  truth  of  Dr.  Pfaff's  conclusion  that 
there  is  a  non-volatile  poisonous  oil  in  the  Poison  Ivy.  I  am  forced 
to  conclude  that  there  is  a  volatile  poison,  also,  in  this  plant. 
The  University  of  Nebraska. 
APPLIED  PHARMACOGNOSY. 
Some  Observations  of  a  Graduate. 
By  J.  R.  Rippetoe. 
What  are  you  going  to  do  one  year  from  to-day  or  what  will 
you  be  doing?  You  don't  know,  certainly  not.  If  it  were  possible 
for  you  to  know,  wouldn't  you  prepare  to  make  that  day's  work  a 
success  ? 
Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  to  try  and  imagine  what  kind  of  a 
world  this  would  be  if  every  man  could  begin  at  his  deathbed  and 
live  life  back  to  birth  or  in  other  words  live  his  life  over  again  with 
the  advantages  of  the  experience  and  knowledge  gained  in  his 
lifetime?  Old  age  says  my  days  have  passed  but  youth  is  full  of 
ambition  and  hopes  for  the  future. 
The  laws  of  nature  give  man  only  one  life  but  the  law  of  evolu- 
tion gives  youth  all  the  advantages  of  the  experience  of  old  age. 
We,  therefore,  in  our  lifetime  take  from  the  present  and  the  past 
varying  portions  of  its  offerings. 
You  are  now  learning  the  principles  of  Pharmacy  and  soon  you 
will  be  as  fully  equipped  as  the  learned  professors  and  instructors 
in  this  college  can  teach  you  and  as  much  as  you  are  willing  to  learn. 
The  point  I  want  to  take  up  with  you  is  the  application  of  your 
knowledge.  Some  of  you  will,  no  doubt,  take  up  manufacturing 
pharmacy.  Those  of  you  who  will  take  up  retail  pharmacy  will 
find  my  remarks  equally  applicable  to  your  position. 
What  are  the  duties  of  a  pharmacist  or  a  pharmaceutical  chemist 
in  a  pharmaceutical  laboratory? 
The  first  operation  is  the  writing  of  a  working  formula.  If  an 
official  preparation  is  to  be  made  this  is  not  difficult,  but  I  have 
seen  some  men  spend  several  hours  in  trying  to  calculate  the  quan- 
tities of  each  ingredient  when  the  formula  may  be  given  to  them  for 
one  fluidounce  or  one  tablet,  as  the  case  may  be,  and  even  then 
