834 
Bolshevism  in  Pharmacy.. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1918. 
BOLSHEVISM  IN  PHARMACY.1 
By  Charles  H.  La  Wall,  Ph.M. 
Words  and  phrases  have  associated  concepts  which  may  differ, 
so  greatly  in  different  individuals  that  when  these  individuals  enter 
into  a  discussion  they  are  often  talking  about  things  which  are 
diametrically  opposed.  "  Pharmaceutical  education,"  "  pharmaceu- 
tical practice "  and  "  pharmaceutical  progress "  are  examples  of 
phrases,  often  the  subject  of  controversy,  in  which  there  is  no  com- 
mon ground  of  understanding.  Indeed  it  is  often  true  that  these 
concepts  are  changed  in  the  individual  under  the  influence  of  time 
and  environment.  No  definition  of  a  liberal  education  has  ever  been 
given  which  surpasses  the  following,  by  Huxley,  which  is  quoted  to 
show  how  comprehensive  and  detailed  a  definition  sometimes 
becomes. 
"  That  man,  I  think,  has  had  a  liberal  education  who  has  been  so 
trained  in  youth  that  his  body  is  the  ready  servant  of  his  will,  and 
does  with  ease  and  pleasure  all  the  work  that,  as  a  mechanism,  it  is 
capable  of ;  whose  intellect  is  a  clear,  cold,  logic  engine,  with  all  its' 
parts  of  equal  strength,  and  in  smooth  working  order;  ready  like  a 
steam  engine  to  be  turned  to  any  kind  of  work,  and  spin  the  gos- 
samers as  well  as  forge  the  anchors  of  the  mind;  whose  mind  is 
stored  with  a  knowledge  of  the  great  and  fundamental  truths  of 
nature  and  of  the  laws  of  her  operations ;  one,  who,  no  stunted 
ascetic,  is  full  of  life  and  fire,  but  whose  passions  are  trained  to 
come  to  heel  by  a  vigorous  will,  the  servant  of  a  tender  conscience; 
who  has  learned  to  love  all  beauty,  whether  of  nature  or  of  art,  to 
hate  all  vileness,  and  to  respect  others  as  himself." 
When  we  come  to  the  question  of  pharmaceutical  education  or 
any  other  kind  of  scientific  or  professional  education,  however,  we 
are  dealing  with  a  more  restricted  and  specialized  field.  Without 
attempting  to  inflict  upon  you  an  arbitrary  definition  of  this  kind  of 
education,  I  will  state  that  I  believe  that  man  is  best  educated  who 
is  most  useful  to  his  community  and  to  his  profession  or  trade,  what- 
ever it  may  be.  For  further  explanation  of  my  personal  views  on 
some  of  these  questions,  I  will  take  the  unusual  liberty  of  referring 
you  to  two  previous  articles  in  which  I  have  expressed  them.  One 
1  Read  at  the  November  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  Amer- 
ican Pharmaceutical  Association. 
