THE  AJV1EBICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
OCTOBER,  1918 
EDITORIAL. 
PHARMACY  IN  THE  MELTING  POT. 
It  may  be  considered  as  axiomatic  that  all  progress  must  be 
paid  for  with  a  price.  In  the  present  world  war  for  the  extension 
of  human  liberty  and  democracy,  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  pay- 
ing a  stupendous  price,  but  who  is  willing  to  say  that  the  world's 
progress  that  will  result  from  this  war  will  not  be  commensurate 
with  the  enormous  sacrifices  of  blood  and  resources  that  are  now 
being  made?  Out  of  this  titantic  struggle  there  will  come  a  chast- 
ened world,  and  we  may  well  hope  with  improved  moral  and  social 
conditions.  The  effect  on  the  arts,  literature,  science  and  industry 
can  be  only  partially  foretold,  and  its  influence  upon  the  profes- 
sions and  commerce  is  likewise  problematical. 
The  drug  trade  and  the  practice  of  pharmacy  will  have  its  share 
in  this  ordeal,  and  we  must  inevitably  look  for  some  changes  in 
the  practice  of  pharmacy.  The  shortage  of  labor  has  reduced  the 
number  of  drug  stores  and  the  higher  educational  requirements 
will  curtail  the  number  of  those  taking  up  the  professional  side  of 
the  calling.  We  must  likewise  recognize  that  there  is  a  growing 
tendency  in  pharmaceutical  circles  for  higher  attainments  along 
educational  and  professional  lines,  and  this  eventually  will  have  a 
telling  effect  upon  the  practice  of  pharmacy  in  America. 
Not  the  least  of  the  conditions  that  will  affect  the  future  of  phar- 
macy will  be  the  changes  which  will  be  wrought  in  the  practice  of 
medicine  through  the  demands  of  the  army  and  navy  for  physi- 
cians, and  the  changes  which  the  war  is  going  to  effect  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  and  surgery. 
It  has  been  stated  that  the  entire  world  with  all  its  industries 
may  be  considered  as  being  in  a  universal  melting  pot,  and  phar- 
