'*^"^*Fiu"'^i^85*'^™' }        Advantage  of  Preliminary  Examination.  75 
1,500  of  population  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia;  in  the  country  at 
large  the  proportion  is  as  one  to  1,800. 
There  has  been  a  steady  growth  of  business  rivalry  in  the  more 
prominent  pharmaceutical  institutions  of  this  country;  some  have 
wisely  withdrawn  from  all  competitive  effort,  and  such  course  has  been 
received  with  approval.  The  future  work  and  standing  of  these 
institutions  will  give  ample  evidence  of  a  wise  foresight. 
The  University  of  Michigan  was  the  first  institution  in  this  country, 
we  believe,  to  take  the  long,  bold  stride  of  graduating  pharmacists 
without  any  requirement  of  preliminary  educational  or  shop  training. 
The  action  of  the  Michigan  University  was  not  without  remonstrance, 
but  this  was  answered  with  the  ingenious  plea  that  the  College  was 
not  engaged  in  making  mere  ready  tradesmen  in  pharmacy,  but  of  pre- 
paring men  for  higher  and  more  responsible  positions,  educating 
scientific  experts,  drug  assayers,  toxicologists,  men  habituated  to  accu- 
racy, etc.;  presuming  such  to  have  been  a  hona-fide  intention,  would 
the  country  find  a  need  of  so  many  men  to  fill  positions  only  casually 
made  necessary  ?  No ;  and  we  believe  the  view  was  firmly  maintained 
that  it  was  an  unsafe  departure  from  time-honored  precedent,  and 
could  end  only  in  degeneracy  and  demoralization,  but  it  marked,  as  we 
have  said,  a  step  in  the  methods  of  rivalry. 
If  time  permits,  suppose  we  look  a  little  farther,  and  compare 
pharmacy  in  its  status  or  standing  with  its  associate  profession,  medi- 
cine. Here  are  two  professions,  whose  offices,  both  liberal  and 
humane,  whose  educational  requirements  include  the  same  general 
scope  of  study,  yet  differ  so  widely,  in  the  public  respect,  deference 
and  appreciation.  We  believe  not  as  a  pharmacist,  but  as  an  honest 
conviction,  that  a  thorough  pharmacist  requires  a  better  education  than 
his  medical  brother,  and  yet  medicine  takes  higher  social  rank  than 
pharmacy ;  yea,  higher  scientific  rank.  That  this  should  be  the  case 
must  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  votary  of  medicine,  deservedly, 
has  the  credit  of  being  the  better  equipped  of  the  two  in  educational 
advantages.  And  there  are  many  who  hold  to  the  opinion  that  phar- 
macy will  never  take  equal  rank  with  medicine  until  it  includes  in  its 
personnel  a  more  considerable  proportion  of  well  educated  and  cultured 
men. 
Pharmacy  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  draws  its  recruits  from  the 
great  middle  classes,  including  the  better  educated  laboring  element,, 
who  seeking  more  remunerative  occupations  for  their  wards,  and  being 
