326 
Future  of  Pharmacy  in  Germany. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1     July  1, 1874. 
pursuit  of  the  pharmacist  than  a  retail  dealer  of  the  products  of  the 
manufacturer  of  medicinal  articles." 
Mr.  W.  Danckwortt  expresses  himself  in  an  article  "  On  the  Future 
of  Pharmacies,"*  thus:  "I  believe  that  after  forty  years  pharmacy 
will  have  greatly  changed  its  physiognomy  ;  I  do  not  entertain  pes- 
simistic views,  and  consider  it  an  honor  to  have  served  for  forty  years 
in  a  profession  which  I  esteem  highly,  but  when  I  compare  its  pre- 
sent condition  and  prospects  with  those  of  forty  years  ago,  I  cannot 
but  admit  that  pharmacy  is  on  the  decline,  and  will  henceforth  de- 
generate far  more  rapidly.  But  thirty  years  ago  chemistry  and 
botany  were  pre-eminently  the  sciences  of  the  pharmacist ;  Berzeliusr 
H.  Rose,  Liebig,  Fresenius,  Berg,  Henkel,  Mohr,  and  many  others 
of  equal  fame,  emanated  from  pharmacy.  Now-a-days,  chemistry 
has  grown  in  extent  and  volume  so  vastly,  and  its  practical  applica- 
tion embraces  such  a  wide  compass,  as  completely  to  leave  behind 
the  pharmacist's  sphere.  Yet  the  pharmacist  has  maintained  a  com- 
paratively high  status  of  chemical  knowledge  and  learning,  and  a 
comparatively  wide  compass  of  attainment  is  still  required  from  him. 
But  the  fact  is  that  these  accomplishments  have  to  be  attained  mainly 
to  enable  him  to  pass  the  examination  which  the  State  makes  yet 
obligatory  ;  after  this,  he  has  not  any  more  the  old  arena  to  practi- 
cally apply  and  profitably  enlist  his  attainments,  nor  the  former  im- 
petus, so  that,  in  many  cases,  the  knowledge  acquired  at  the  univer- 
sities is  gradually  lost  for  want  of  application  and  encouragement. 
Formerly,  the  pharmaceutist  used  to  be  the  legitimate  expert  in  all 
forensic  investigations;  now  the  extent  of  knowledge  and  experience 
required  are  such  as  to  exclude  him  in  preference  of  the  professional 
chemist.  The  pharmaceutical  laboratory  of  yore  has  become  a  myth, 
and  we  must  admit  that  most  of  the  medicinal  chemicals  and  pharma- 
ceutical preparations  can  be  obtained  cheaper  and  better  when  manu- 
factured on  a  large  scale  ;  many  of  them  are  now  furnished  by  the 
manufacturer  already  dosed  and  labelled  for  ready  dispensation  and 
retail  sale.  And  when  we  compare  the  prescriptions  of  our  days  with 
those  of  forty  years  ago,  what  a  change,  what  a  remarkable  simplifi- 
cation !  The  whole  array  of  the  old-fashioned  decoctions,  infusions 
and  mixtures  have  been  discarded ;  morphia,  codeia,  quinia,  digi- 
talin,  chloral-hydrate,  atropia,  and  a  number  of  other  principles  are 
the  consummation  of  materia  medica,  and  even  the  prescriptions  for 
*  Pharmaceut.  Zeit.,  No.  20, 1874. 
