Am'Si°ay'iF9^svm'  )  Pharmaceutical  Corps  in  U.  S.  Army.  321 
preparations  of  the  Army,  especially  in  time  of  war,  are  for  the 
most  part  in  tabloid  form ;  the  pharmacy  is  therefore  a  matter  of 
dispensing  rather  than  of  compounding  of  preparations."  This  in- 
dicates that  pharmacy  as  practiced  in  the  U.  S.  Army  is  very  ele- 
mental indeed  and  that  even  the  very  basic  ideas  of  professional 
pharmacy  are  ignored.  Such  service  must  necessarily  be  far  from 
satisfactory  or  efficient  as  protecting  the  interests  it  is  supposed  to 
serve. 
On  the  battle  line  and  in  advanced  positions,  drug  dispensing  is 
necessarily  limited  and  confined  mainly  to  first  aid.  However,  in 
the  hospitals  and  in  the  convalescent  homes  and  infirmaries,  treat- 
ment is  given  to  many  sufferers  from  disease  as  well  as  the  wounded 
and  here  will  be  found  many  cases  requiring  continuous  and  ex- 
tended treatment  and  such  cases  will  rapidly  multiply  as  the  war 
is  prolonged.  To  seriously  propose  that  such  shall  be  treated  with 
"  canned  medicine  "  in  "  tablet  form "  and  denied  the  services  of 
competent  compounders  of  appropriate  remedies  is  certainly  not  in 
accordance  with  our  present  knowledge  of  what  is  essential  to  con- 
serve life  whether  in  time  of  peace  or  "  in  time  of  war." 
For  some  purposes,  tablets  are  a  convenient  and  useful  dosage 
form,  but  for  many  purposes  and  for  many  medicines  they  are 
absolutely  unfitted.  Not  infrequently,  where  prompt  and  reliable 
action  is  desired,  the  conscientious  physician  is  compelled  to  select 
some  other  form  of  medication.  The  most  serious  evil  resulting 
from  this  "  ready  made  medicine  "  and  tablet  dosage  is  that  too  often 
the  patient  is  made  to  fit  the  medicine  on  hand  instead  of  a  remedy 
being  prescribed  to  fit  the  needs  of  the  patient.  There  can  be  no 
question  as  to  the  superiority  of  the  individual  treatment  over  this 
method  of  "  treatment  enbloc!'  The  proper  method  and  the  ideal 
professional  method  would  be  for  the  physician  or  surgeon  to 
diagnose  each  case,  prescribe  what  that  patient  needs  at  the  time 
and  to  have  the  medicines  compounded  freshly  and  dispensed  by  a 
competent  pharmacist.  To  do  otherwise  is  dangerous  to  the  life  of 
the  patient  and  detrimenal  to  the  medical  service. 
Pharmacy  an  Important  and  Scientifically  Developed 
Branch  of  Medicine. 
The  progress  of  the  sciences  has  necessitated  differentiation  and 
specialization  and  this  has  separated  modern  medical  practice  into 
