ADDRESS. 
101 
tions that have been made, the abuses that have been corrected, 
the imperfections thathave been remedied, through their instru- 
mentality; the contrast between the practices noticed at pre- 
sent in the shops of pharmaceutists, and those formerly to be 
met with., affords the fullest testimony on these points. Nor 
do I intend to expatiate upon the success of their endeavors 
to augment the facilities of information; to secure superior 
advantages of education for succeeding aspirants; to diffuse, 
extensively, knowledge upon all subjects connected with the 
profession; with these you are familiar, as in their enjoyment 
you have participated; but I would, by here referring to 
them, derive the incentives by which to stimulate your ambi- 
tion, and urge upon you not to withhold your aid in hasten- 
ing this great work of reformation, in demonstrating that Ame- 
ricans are not behind the age in talent or acquirement ; and 
further exhort you, not to relax in effort, until the last vestige 
of foundation for the assertion has been removed, " that with 
us, Pharmacy, which has so greatly contributed to augment 
chemical science, and to enrich medicine with a host of new 
remedies, is considered rather as a business than a scientific 
profession." 
In conclusion, I shall advert to a subject involving the 
standing of the profession as deeply as any of the considera- 
tions that have been insisted on, and which pertains to the 
high honor and strict integrity which should be preserved in 
all its transactions, and of which its practitioners should be 
most jealous. It has been remarked by a presiding officer of 
this College, on an occasion like the present, that Pharmacy 
is possessed of " tender reputation," an expression of its cha- 
racter as felicitous as it is true; at once intimating the readi- 
ness with which it may be tarnished, by acts the least at va- 
riance with the established laws of propriety, and the ruinous 
consequences that must attend their perpetration. Organized 
as the world now is, every honorable occupation may be per- 
verted and disgraced by the designing and unprincipled, but 
such, especially, is the case with Pharmacy, which, from in- 
herent causes, is more exposed and open than any other to the 
