AlAugusM9wrm,l    Commercial  Training  in  Pharmacy,  365 
examination  in  commercial  training  ;  and  of  the  college  who  first 
successfully  inaugurates  such  a  course  and  compels  the  student  at 
some  time  to  pass  an  examination  in  this  department,  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  her  graduates  will  be  sought  for  and  preferred  by 
employers  because,  while  they  have  been  thoroughly  trained  in 
the  knowledge  which  will  enable  them  to  perform  all  of  their 
duties  as  chemists  and  pharmacists,  they  are  not  likely  to  become 
commercial  failures,  and  lose  the  results  of  their  hard-earned  labors 
by  failing  to  know  "what  they  have  made,"  add  to  "  what  they  have 
made,"  and,  in  fact,  "cover  the  whole  ground." 
One  other  objection  may  be  heard,  "  Why  don't  the  man  who 
needs  training  of  this  kind  go  to  a  commercial  college?"  The 
answer  to  this  is,  that  none  of  the  commercial  colleges  have  ever 
thought  it  worth  while  to  establish  a  course  suited  for  pharmaceuti- 
cal students,  and  it  is  not  likely  that  they  could  make  such  a  course 
remunerative  to  the  commercial  college,  because  of  the  limited 
number  of  students  who  would  voluntarily  take  such  instruction. 
The  courses  in  commercial  colleges  are,  moreover,  very  elaborate 
and  usually  cast  upon  lines  involving  large  operations,  and  the 
instructors  in  such  colleges  are  not  familiar  with  the  special  needs 
of  pharmaceutical  business.  This  paper  may  be  concluded  by 
quoting  a  remark  of  a  college  graduate  of  ten  years'  standing,  who 
said :  "  I  only  wish  that  I  could  have  taken  a  course  in  commercial 
training,  instead  of  the  special  course  which  I  took  at  the  college. 
I  am  sure  I  would  now  be  making  a  comfortable  living,  for  it 
would  have  enabled  me  to  have  saved  many  business  losses  and 
some  bitter  experiences  that  I  have  gone  through,  because  I 
thought  business  details  and  methods  too  insignificant  to  give  them 
time  and  thought,  at  a  time  in  my  life  which  I  could  have  easily 
spared  for  this  practical  work." 
It  is  probable  that  the  great  depression  through  which  the  drug 
business  has  been  passing  in  late  years  has  brought  home  to  many 
the  need  of  such  training,  and  the  words  of  the  graduate  above 
quoted  will  doubtless  find  an  echo  in  the  minds  of  many,  similarly 
situated. 
Uric  Acid  in  Urink. — The  urine  is  boiled  with  an  excess  of  a  solution  of 
potassium  permanganate,  acidified  with  H2S04,  when  the  uric  acid  is  quanti- 
tatively converted  into  urea,  which  is  then  estimated  by  the  hypobromite  pro- 
cess.— A.  Jolles,  Z.phys.  Chem.,  1900,  222. 
