86 
EDITORIAL. 
NEW  YORK  COLLEGE  OF  PHARMACY. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  held  on  the  6th  of  Nov.,  1856,  the  following  resolu- 
tions were  adopted,  and  the  Secretary  instructed  to  forward  a  copy  to  the 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  for  publication  : 
"  Resolved,  That  the  College  of  Pharmacy  has  received  the  melancholy 
intelligence  of  the  death  of  our  respected  fellow  member,  Benjamin  Cana- 
v an.  W e  would  refer  to  his  strict  moral  integrity  and  professional  ability 
as  examples  worthy  of  emulation.  In  his  death  the  College  has  lost  a 
valuable  co-laborer,  and  society  a  useful  citizen. 
"  Resolved,  That  we  offer  our  condolence  to  his  friends  and  relatives  for 
our  common  bereavement." 
G.  W.  Berrian,  Jr.,  Secretary. 
<£i>itoviat  department. 
Patronage  of  Physicians  and  the  Apothecary. — In  those  countries 
where  pharmacy  is  regulated  by  law,  and  efficiency  sustained  by  a  sort  of 
medical  police,  it  is  presumable  that  physicians  have  but  little  trouble  in 
feeling  assured  tliat  their  prescriptions  will  be  carefully  dispensed.  In  the 
United  States  and  in  England,  where  the  widest  latitude  exists  in  the  prac- 
tice of  pharmacy,  any  person  being  legally  at  liberty  to  open  a  shop,  the 
same  reliance  cannot  be  had,  and  hence  it  is  natural  that  the  physician 
should  seek  to  assure  himself  of  the  quality  of  the  medicines  he  prescribes. 
In  doing  this,  however,  there  is  some  danger  that  unintentional  injustice 
will  be  done  to  meritorious  young  men,  who  commence  their  business 
career  fully  intending  to  conduct  their  establishments  on  correct  principles, 
by  physicians  getting  the  habit  of  sending  their  patients  to  stores  having  a 
wide  reputation.  With  this  qualification,  we  approve  of  the  following  ar- 
ticle from  the  New  York  Medica!  Gazette  : 
"APOTHECARIES,  QUACK  MEDICINES,  &C. 
Dear  Sir, — In  an  article  on  the  above  subject,  which  you  kindly  published  in 
your  last  issue,  I  promised  an  attempt  to  sustain  the  assertion  there  made,  at- 
tributing inefficiency  in  the  education  of  Apothecaries,  both  pharmaceutical  and 
ethical,  chiefly  to  delinquency  on  the  part  of  the  medical  profession.  Having 
your  tacit  permission,  I  will  endeavor  briefly  to  redeem  that  promise. 
Firstly. — The  physician  enjoys  the  power  of  establishing-  a  confidence  in  the 
meritorious  Apothecary,  as  the  community  acquire  but  a  limited  knowledge  on 
the  subject  of  Medicine,  and  that,  generally,  under  reluctant  circumstances  ;  they 
always  defer  to  the  judgment  of  the  physician  for  any  necessary  information. 
I  would  ask,  how  is  that  power  often  exercised,  which  should  be  influenced 
mainly  in  favor  of  competency  and  integrity  ? 
Many  physicians,  from  motives  of  delicacy  or  supposed  policy,  studiously 
avoid  giving  any  preference  to  Apothecaries,  thereby  virtually  recognizing  no 
