'^™"reb"^i885^^'""}        Advantage  of  Preliminary  Examination.  69 
resolved  to  make  this  subject  one  of  special  consideration  and  discus- 
sion at  a  stated  meeting  of  the  College  in  May  next. 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  preliminary  plan  is  not  substituted,  as 
we  think  has  been  erroneously  supposed  by  some,  by  the  present  tenta- 
tive, but  will  yet  come  before,  the  body  of  the  College  at  the  time 
designated  for  final  adjustment. 
One  of  the  objections  frequently  urged  against  the  adoption  here  of 
a  radical  reform,  such  as  preliminary  examination,  is  the  possible  result 
to  the  financial  interests  of  the  College,  and  grave  apprehension  has 
pictured  a  diminished  roster,  a  corresponding  loss  of  revenue,  and  a 
number  of  other  effects  which  timid  minds  view  with  alarm.  But 
what,  we  ask,  have  these  considerations  to  do  with  that  which  is 
involved  in  correct  principle  ?  Are  we  to  measure  the  value  of  the 
professional  status  of  pharmacy  by  the  pecuniary  interests  of  this  or 
any  other  College  ?  What  interests  have  this  body  of  Trustees  (with 
some  individual  exceptions)  in  the  revenues  of  the  institution  except  to 
meet  its  obligations  and  sustain  the  dignity  of  its  various  departments  ? 
all  of  which  can  be  well  and  faithfully  done  by  more  conservative 
management.^ 
When,  some  five  or  six  years  ago,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
the  oldest  and  most  distinguished  institution  in  the  country,  took  the 
initiative,  so  far  as  its  own  medical  school  was  concerned,  in  adopting 
the  graded  system  of  education,  it  was  not  without  expressed  fears  and 
misgivings.  The  change  was  construed  to  mean  a  loss  of  students,  for 
many  men  would  naturally  go  where  they  could  get  their  diploma 
most  easily,  rather  than  where  they  would  have  to  work  the  hardest 
for  it ;  it  meant  a  loss  of  revenue,  and  it  meant  a  great  many  things 
which  the  imagination  viewed  with  fear.  But  the  Trustees  and  the 
Faculty  rightly  felt  that  it  would  be  even  better  for  the  leading  medi- 
cal school  of  the  county  to  graduate  one  well-equipped  physician  than 
a  hundred  or  so  who  had  simply  crammed  for  their  final  examination, 
and  they  resolved  to  proceed.  The  result  has  more  than  justified  the 
wisdom  of  their  resolution.  The  diploma  of  the  medical  school  of  th<^ 
University  of  Pennsylvania  now  means  something. 
1  It  seems  but  fair  to  state,  in  thisconnection,  that  the  CoUege  hasalways  fearlessly  in 
curred  obligations,  when  it  was  necessary,  for  advancing  the  cause  of  pharmaceutica 
education,  by  erecting  suitable  buildings  and  providing  facilities  for  instruction  ;  and 
that  the  College  has  also  recognized  it  as  a  duty  to  cancel  these  obligations  as  rapidly  as 
was  consistent  with  her  best  interests,  tliereby  keeping  the  credit  of  the  institution  free 
from  reproach.— Editor  Am.  Jour.  Phar. 
