296  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {Amju0nej9(Sarm' 
"  Formerly  the  scientific  work  of  this  Association  was  very  largely  con- 
tributed by  men  actually  engaged  in  the  practice  of  pharmacy  ;  now  we  may 
note  that,  like  all  other  occupations,  specialism  is  the  order  of  the  day.  Our 
investigations  are  made  by  those  best  qualified  for  a  particular  kind  of  work. 
We  have  our  chemists,  botanists  and  pharmacists,  and  these  again  subdivided, 
and  each  giving  his  attention  and  study  to  some  particular  branch  of  his  chosen 
science,  but  it  is  the  exception  rather  than  the  rule  that  we  find  the  investigator 
still  wielding  the  mortar  and  pestle. 
"As  in  other  occupations  and  professions,  is  not  the  division  of  labor  which 
characterizes  the  present  time  a  necessity  in  pharmacy,  if  healthy  and  pro- 
gressive advancement  is  to  be  made  ? 
"  In  his  address  one  year  ago  before  this  section,  Dr.  H.  H.  Rusby  voiced  the 
sentiments  of  this  Association  in  an  appeal  for  investigations  in  pure  science. 
The  present  Chairman  echoes  the  same  sentiments,  but  does  not  believe  this 
should  be  the  work  of  the  retail  pharmacist :  his  education  should  be  so 
directed  as  to  fit  him  for  the  practical  application  of  the  scientific  truths 
brought  to  light  by  original  investigators,  leaving  original  investigation  to 
those  whose  natural  inclinations,  ability  and  education  fit  them  for  advanced 
scientific  research." 
He  then  considered  some  of  the  subjects  which  are  coming  up  for  investi- 
gation, as  follows : 
"  With  a  view  of  extending  the  usefulness  of  our  Association,  your  Chairman 
would  call  your  attention  to  a  few  subjects  which,  in  his  opinion,  seem  to  offer 
fertile  fields  for  investigation  by  our  members.  A  recent  paper  by  Mr.  F.  B. 
Kilmer,  on  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants,  shows  that  but  little  attention 
has  been  given  to  this  subject  in  our  own  country.  With  a  knowledge  of  the 
progress  made  in  the  cultivation  of  cinchona  and  some  other  medicinal  drugs, 
is  it  not  probable  that  equal  success  may  be  attained  with  many  of  our  indige- 
nous plants?  As  our  knowledge  of  the  active  plant  constituents  becomes 
more  exact,  it  would  seem  quite  within  our  power  to  control  to  a  certain  extent 
the  production  of  such  constituents  in  the  growing  plants.  These  investi- 
gations should  become  a  part  of  the  work  of  our  Government  in  its  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  Indeed,  we  believe  this  subject  of  sufficient  importance  to 
this  Association  to  warrant  the  appointment  of  a  committee  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  such  investigations  by  the  proper  government  officials  at  Washington. 
"  With  our  Pharmacopoeia  rapidly  becoming  the  legal  standard  for  the  purity 
and  strength  of  official  substances  in  the  various  States,  our  manufacturing 
chemists  and  pharmacists  can  greatly  aid  in  establishing  such  standards  as  will 
be  within  the  range  of  possibility  in  commercial  manufacturing,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  protect  the  public  health.  With  the  strict  enforcement  of  our  food 
and  drug  laws  many  annoying  prosecutions  may  occur,  and  persons  entirely 
innocent  of  intentional  wrongdoing  be  made  to  suffer. 
"With  the  rapid  growth  and  extended  use  of  modern  synthetic  remedies,  the 
employment  of  serum  therapy  and  antitoxins  in  medicine,  it  seems  desirable 
that  pharmacists  should  have  a  greater  knowledge  of  the  physiological  action 
of  drugs,  upon  which  the  manufacture  and  use  of  these  compounds  so  largely 
depends.    Papers  upon  this  subject  would  prove  of  interest  to  this  section. 
"In  his  address  as  President  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  last 
year,  Mr.  J.  C.  C.  Payne,  quoting  the  eminent  scientist,  Professor  Huxley, 
