250 
Editorial. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     May  1, 1874. 
leges  as  sufficient  to  entitle  the  student  to  the  legal  right  to  affix  to  his  name 
the  coveted  M.  D.  A  similar  standard  would  doubtless  have  been  established 
if  pharmacy  had  as  yet  been  recognized  as  an  essential  branch  of  the  hospital 
service  of  the  national  army  and  navy.  At  present,  in  both  services,  such  ap- 
plicants are  preferred  for  the  position  of  hospital  steward,  who  are  well  versed 
in,  or  at  least  acquainted  with,  pharmacy;  but  any  intelligent  soldier  may  be 
selected  to  fill  an  occurring  vacancy. 
It  is  an  entirely  different  question  whether  the  pharmaceutical  laws,  as  far 
as  enacted,  can  be  or  have  been  carried  out.  While  we  do  not  believe  that 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  could  declare  these  laws  unconstitu- 
tional, it  is  nevertheless  true  that  their  effectiveness  does  not  solely  depend 
upon  either  a  favorable  or  adverse  legal  decision,  but,  to  a  very  considerable 
degree,  upon  those  who  may  be  called  upon  to  carry  them  out.  If  their  ap- 
pointment rests  with  a  political  officer,  he  will  probably,  in  many  cases,  be 
more  influenced  by  party  considerations  than  by  the  professional  fitness  of  the 
aspirants.  The  administration  of  such  laws  should  therefore  always  be  en- 
trusted to  incorporated  pharmaceutical  associations  or  colleges. 
The  measures  advocated  by  Mr.  Fredigke  tend  towards  a  system  similar  to 
those  which  have  been  in  force  in  the  greater  portion  of  Europe;  but  which, 
it  seems  to  us,  are  fast  losing  their  hold  to  make  room  for  others  more  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  present  time.  The  very  stringent 
laws  by  which  pharmacy  in  Germany  has  been  regulated,  have  been  unable  to 
prevent  the  retailing  of  many  drugs  by  others  than  pharmacists,  and  the  so- 
called  "wild  apothecaries"  appear  in  some  places  to  do  a  thriving  business,  to 
the  detriment  of  the  "  approved  apothecaries,"  who  are  hemmed  on  all  sides 
by  regulations  going  into  minutiae.  The  monopolies  there  created  by  the  State 
in  the  limitation  of  pharmacies,  have  enhanced  the  price  of  these  establishments 
much  beyond  their  real  value,  so  that  many  are  heavily  mortgaged.  This  fact 
appears  to  be  one  of  the  principal  causes  that  have  thus  far  operated  against 
the  removal  of  many  restrictions,  and  against  the  reformation  of  pharmaceuti- 
cal matters  more  in  concord  with  the  principles  of  free  trade.  But  already  in- 
fluential voices  are  being  heard  advocating  a  gradual  relinquishment  of  ancient 
privileges,  and  in  order  to  stave  off  a  sudden  abrogation,  to  inaugurate  a  sys- 
tem of  redemption  of  these  fictitious  values  similar  to  that  lately  adopted  in 
Sweden,  whereby  every  new  establishment  will  have  to  contribute  a  certain 
sum  towards  that  end,  until  at  a  previously  fixed  time  the  restrictive  measures 
cease.  The  pharmaceutical  supervision  by  the  State  will  then  hardly  mean 
anything  else,  but  to  insure  the  thorough  qualification  of  the  pharmacist  and 
his  personal  responsibility.  Towards  this  end,  it  seems  to  us,  pharmacy  is  grav- 
itating in  Continental  Europe  from  its  isolated  position  of  restriction,  and  in 
this  country  from  its  place  in  the  ranks  of  unrestricted  trade. 
The  suppression  of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  quack  nostrums  has  not  been 
accomplished  in  Continental  Europe  ;  prohibitory  measures  will  always  be  more 
or  less  inoperative,  particularly  in  large  communities;  but  we  agree  with  Mr- 
Fredigke  that  it  is  an  evil  requiring  regulation.  It  will  be  better,  however,  we 
think,  if  this  question  is  not  mixed  up  with  the  former — the  qualification  of  the 
pharmacist. 
