322  Pharmaceutical  Corps  in  U.  S.  Army.  {Am-^°y^"i9^8.rm" 
various  branches,  such  as  medicine,  surgery,  dentistry,  veterinary 
medicine  and  pharmacy,  and  upon  each  branch  devolves  important 
duties  for  society.  These  are  distinct  yet  equally  important  and 
interdependent  upon  each  other.  The  medical  practitioner  and  the 
surgeon  are  not  trained  to  prepare  medicines  and  as  a  rule  are  but 
very  indifferently  acquainted  with  drugs  or  their  composition  and 
the  methods  of  preparation  and  the  compounding  of  medicines. 
These  are  the  special  province  of  the  pharmacist  and  upon  the 
proper  performance  of  his  duties,  the  practitioners  of  the  other 
branches  of  medicine  are  compelled  to  rely.  Unless  the  drugs  are 
properly  selected  and  the  medicines  skilfully  prepared  and  dispensed 
their  skill  and  knowledge  goes  for  nought.  Upon  the  faithful  and 
capable  performance  of  the  work  of  the  pharmacist  depends  the 
success  of  the  medical  profession  and,  likewise,  the  lives  of  the 
patients. 
The  pharmacist  of  to-day  is  a  professionally  educated  gentle- 
man and  his  qualification  to  practice  his  profession  is  passed  upon 
with  as  much  care  as  is  done  in  any  of  the  other  professions.  The 
minimum  preliminary  education  is  fixed  by  many  state  statutes  and 
his  professional  education  is  established  by  a  National  Syllabus  of 
studies.  In  addition  many  are  taking  special  postgraduate  work 
in  the  higher  scientific  studies  such  as  bacteriology  and  clinical  chem- 
istry. The  established  regular  pharmacy  course  includes  anatomy, 
physiology,  materia  medica,  botany,  pharmacognosy,  chemistry, 
practical  compounding,  posology,  toxicology  as  well  as  commercial 
training  and  to  make  sure  that  he  has  the  experience,  most  of  our 
states  require  four  years  practical  pharmacy  experience  before 
licensure.  It  will  be  thus  seen  that  the  pharmacist  is  well  equipped 
to  perform  his  special  functions  in  the  interest  of  society.  More- 
over, a  professional  pharmacist  is  necessarily  a  continuous  student 
as  with  each  advance  either  in  pharmacy,  medicine  or  allied  science 
he  is  compelled  to  further  study. 
American  pharmacists  hold  a  prominent  position  in  the  world 
development  of  their  profession,  and  their  standing  is  repeatedly 
recognized  by  foreign  authorities  and  their  investigations  and  re- 
search work  have  been  very  generally  accepted  as  conclusive.  The 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia  ranks  as  the  peer  of  any  national 
pharmacopoeia.  In  the  more  recent  revisions  of  this  authority,  the 
pharmacists  have  contributed  very  largely  the  chemistry,  botany 
