843 
Isotopy. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     December,  1920. 
these  standards  and  ideals  should  be  debased.  Pharmacists  must 
themselves  establish  and  maintain  the  ethical  status  of  their  pro-^ 
fession.  This  cannot  be  brought  about  by  continuing  to  sow  the 
apples  of  discord  or  the  brambles  of  disparagement. 
Equally  unfortunate  and  disastrous  to  the  profession  is  the  at- 
titude of  those  who  favor  extolling  the  position  of  other  professions 
and  decrying  the  status  of  pharmacy.  The  homely  philosophy  of 
Rastus'  advice  are  words  of  wisdom  for  such: 
"De  sunflower  ain't  de  daisy,  and  de  melon  ain't  de  rose; 
Why  is  dey  all  so  crazy  to  be  sumfin  else  dat  grows? 
Jess  stick  to  the  place  you're  planted,  and  do  the  bes'  you  knows; 
Be  de  sunflower  or  de  daisy,  de  melon  or  de  rose." 
Pharmacy  has  no  mean  inheritance,  possesses  a  history  worth 
extolling  and  many  eminent  devotees  whose  examples  are  worthy 
of  emulation.  The  use  of  the  hammer  after  all  requires  no  great 
amount  of  intelligence,  just  physical  strength.  Is  the  "knocker" 
exercising  even  his  strength  to  the  best  advantage?  If  pharmacy 
is  to  come  into  its  own  it  must  be  by  the  very  opposite  method. 
The  need  of  the  time  is  for  its  boosting.  Not  by  a  few,  but  by  all 
of  those  who  claim  to  be  within  its  ranks.  G.  M.  B. 
ISOTOPY.* 
By  Henry  Leffmann  A.M.,  M.D., 
SPECIAL  LECTURER    ON    RESEARCH,    PHILADELPHIA  COLLEGE  OF  PHARMACY  AND 
SCIENCE. 
The  theory  that  matter  is  discontinuous  and  made  up  of  minute 
particles  which  are  incapable  of  diminution  in  mass  or  alteration  in 
character,  is  of  great  antiquity.  In  fact,  the  word  "atom"  by  which 
these  particles  are  collectively  designated,  was  coined  by  Greek 
philosophers  many  centuries  ago,  and  the  general  principle  stated 
that  the  properties  of  all  substances  depend  on  the  nature  of  the 
atoms,  the  manner  in  which  they  are  arranged  and  the  motions  they 
mutually  impart  and  receive,  phrases  that  sound  much  like  those  in 
*Abstract  of  an  address  delivered  at  a  meeting  of  the  Instructional  Corps 
of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  and  Science. ^ 
^The  data  for  this  communication  are  taken  principally  from  a  paper  by 
Dr.  Theodore  W.  Richards  {Science  [n.  s.],  49:  i,  1919)  and  "Introduction  a  la 
Chimie  Generale,"  by  M.  Copaux,  a  translation  of  which,  by  the  author  of  this 
abstract  is  about  to  be  published  by  P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co. 
