830 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1918. 
of  those  who  have  devotedly  served  as  pharmacists  in  their  re- 
spective communities  and  would  restrict  pharmaceutical  profession- 
alism to  those  "  professional  pharmacists  who  are  with  our  colleges 
of  pharmacy  and  our  pharmaceutical  manufacturing  houses/'  By 
arrogant  assumption  these  would  apply  the  term  pharmacist  to  many 
who  have  never  devoted  either  time  or  study  to  pharmacy  as  a 
vocation  and  who  are  actually  outside  of  the  etymology  of  the  term 
professional  pharmacy.  A  supercilious  air  of  superiority  has  been 
assumed  by  some  whose  limited  field  of  specialized  study  and  lack 
of  experience  would  not  justify  placing  them  in  charge  of  a  phar- 
macy with  any  expectation  that  they  could  successfully  discharge  the 
numerous  commercial  and  professional  services  demanded  of  the 
practical  pharmacist. 
Throughout  the  entire  world's  history,  society  has  demanded  of 
the  apothecary  many  services  not  strictly  pharmaceutic  and  the 
supplying  of  many  articles  besides  medicine.  This  is  readily  ac- 
counted for  by  the  wide  range  of  substances  that  have  been  more  or 
less  associated  wtih  the  healing  art  and  the  store  of  general  knowl- 
edge required  of  the  druggist.  In  the  Mosaic  records  we  find  the 
art  of  the  apothecary  applied  not  only  in  the  preparation  of  the  oint- 
ments of  that  day  but  likewise  to  the  manufacture  of  confections, 
incenses  and  perfumes. 
It  is  admitted  that  the  unethical  practice  of  medicine  in  this 
country  and  the  business  spirit  of  the  age  has  led  many  of  our 
druggists  to  give  more  attention  to  side  lines  and  commercial  matters 
than  to  the  professional  duties  of  their  vocation  and  that  some  of 
their  stores  bear  but  little  resemblance  to  pharmacies.  This  is  an 
evil  which  in  time  will  be  corrected  by  education,  well-defined  rules 
for  the  ethical  practice  of  medicine  and  pharmacy  supported  by  legis- 
lation. This  calls  for  a  propaganda  of  education  and  rectification 
but  it  is  not  a  proper  ground  for  the  basing  of  a  wholesale  denuncia- 
tion and  condemnation  of  the  pharmacists  of  the  United  States  and 
a  discrediting  of  the  work  of  the  pharmaceutical  schools  and  journals 
upon  whose  conscientious  efforts  with  the  coming  generations  of 
pharmacists  will  depend  very  largely  the  elimination  of  such  errors 
of  practice.  Do  any  of  the  other  professions  indulge  in  such  whole- 
sale denunciation  of  their  members  because  some  engage  in  unethical 
and  demoralizing  practices? 
Proper  education  is  a  fundamental  to  the  professional  status  of 
any  vocation  and  before  American  pharmacy  can  be  considered  as 
