AMjuiTi;mlRM  }    Future  of  Pharmacy  in  Germany.  323 
countries  has  been  for  some  time  the  subject  of  deliberations  in  the 
pharmaceutical  journals  and  in  the  meetings  of  pharmaceutical 
societies.  To  this  must  be  added  the  pending  abrogation  of  the  pro- 
tective grants,  an  institution  antiquated  in  its  origin  and  nature, 
but  whi<m  has  been  one  of  the  most  important  factors  through 
which  German  pharmacy  has  reached  its  high  status  and  its  pregnant 
co-operation  in  the  advancement  of  the  physical  sciences.  The 
nature  of  these  grants  has  been  explained  by  me  in  a  former  paper, 
entitled  "  Pharmacy  in  Prussia  and  the  German  Empire."*  Latterly, 
besides  many  reforms  in  relation  to  arts  and  industry,  the  grants 
and  concessions  have  been  abolished,  and  since  the  release  of  the 
practice  of  medicine,  that  of  pharmacy  appears  to  be  merely  a  ques- 
tion of  time  and  a  financial  problem,  the  solution  of  which  is  attended 
with  so  many  difficulties,  because  upon  these  grants  large  amounts 
have  been  invested,  which,  with  the  legal  abolition  of  the  former, 
would  be  lost  as  far  as  they  exceed  the  real  value  of  the  business. 
This  question  of  national  economy,  which  is  now  being  discussed 
and  is  under  consideration  before  the  government  and  the  legisla- 
ture (Reichstag)  in  Germany,  has  been  apparently  satisfactorily 
solved  in  Sweden  in  this  manner,  that  every  newly  established 
pharmacy  has  to  contribute  a  certain  sum,  in  accordance  with  fixed 
principles  of  valuation,  towards  the  redemption  of  the  capital  invested 
in  pharmacies,  as  far  as  its  value  is  lessened  in  the  same  place.  It 
is  probable  that  a  similar  way  will  be  chosen  in  Germany  for  the 
inevitable  solution  of  this  problem. 
These  are,  in  brief,  the  principal  causes  of  impediment  to  the  progress 
and  prosperity  of  pharmacy  in  Germany,  and  which  have  tended  to 
keep  talent  and  capital  from  being  invested  in  pharmaceutical  pur. 
suits,  and  to  induce  many  young  and  promising  pharmacists  to  leave 
their  chosen  avocation  for  others  more  remunerative. 
Among  the  recent  publications  on  this  subject,  those  of  three 
pharmaceutical  authorities,  equally  prominent  by  experience,  knowl- 
edge and  standing,  have  attracted  a  wide  attention,  namely,  those  of 
Professor  Dr.  Phoebus,  of  Giessen,f  of  Professor  Dr.  Hlasiwetz,  of 
Vienna,  and  of  Mr.  W.  Danckwortt,  of  Magdeburg,  formerly  Chief 
Director  of  the  North  German  Apothecaries'  Association.  The  fol- 
lowing synopsis  of  the  remarks  of  the  two  last-named  men  may 
*  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  187L,  p.  389. 
f  Pharmac.  Zeitung,  Nos.  17,  35,  47,  67,  85  and  89,  1873. 
