Am.  Jour.  Pharm.] 
January,  1899.  j 
Editorial. 
4i 
EDITORIAL. 
PHARMACOLOGY. 
In  these  days,  when  so  much  is  known  concerning  the  universe,  it  is  impos- 
sible for  it  to  be  said  of  anyone  as  it  was  said  of  Milton  and  Homer  by  Sydney 
Smith,  that  they  had  mastered  all  the  knowledge  of  their  day.  The  division 
of  the  labor  in  this  storehouse  of  knowledge  among  what  have  been  called 
"specialists  "  in  certain  departments  has  made  it  apparent  that  "  a  jack  of  all 
trades  must  be  master  of  none."  It  is  true  that  there  are  few  departments 
which  do  not  share  something  in  common  with  another  and  by  the  association 
of  the  workers  in  many  departments  with  each  other  some  mutual  benefits  are 
bound  to  arise.  But  this  close  relationship,  which  one  department  shall  have 
with  another,  must  be  carried  on  with  discretion  if  the  greatest  benefits  are  to 
accrue  to  each.  While  we  ought  not  to  say  that  we  have  no  interest  whatsoever 
in  any  department  that  apparently  does  not  concern  us  ;  the  interest  of  the 
specialist,  however,  in  another  department  is  solely  that  of  a  "  hobby,"  or  with 
the  hope  that  a  ray  of  light  from  this  source  may  illuminate  his  chosen  vocation. 
The  pharmacist  has  been  so  situated  that  it  has  been  required  of  him  that 
he  should  know  something  of  nearly  every  department.  He  is  supposed  to  be 
acquainted  with  the  trades,  arts,  sciences,  ethics,  etc.  His  training  and  educa- 
tion has  been  largely  with  the  people  of  the  neighborhood  who  have  come  to 
him  for  the  solution  of  their  daily  difficulties.  At  college,  however,  his  training 
has  been  chiefly  on  the  principles  required  for  his  calling  as  a  compounder  of 
medicines.  The  great  problem  of  our  educational  institutions  is  how  far  ought 
this  training  along  broad  lines  extend.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  it  ought  to  extend 
so  far  as  to  make  our  knowledge  of  some  value  for  good  and  not  dangerous. 
It  ought  to  startle  all  of  us  when  we  consider  the  information  that  is  coming 
to  light  regarding  the  making  and  employment  of  remedial  and  other  agents 
in  the  case  of  the  sick  and  diseased,  how  much  suffering  and  even  death  have 
probably  been  caused  by  reason  of  ignorance.  The  therapeutical  action  of 
many  of  our  drugs  apparently  has  long  been  known,  but  the  sciences  of 
pharmacognosy  and  chemical  assay  are  only  now  being  developed.  Pharmaceu- 
tical preparations  have  been  made,  but  out  of  what  and  containing  what  has 
been  a  mystery  and  necessitated  the  conflicting  statements  among  therapeutists 
regarding  the  value  of  drugs.  Do  we  wonder  at  this  when  investigators  like 
Dr.  Houghton  {Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  April,  1897)  find  that  "  out  of  twenty- 
seven  samples  of  crude  Indian  cannabis,  of  excellent  physical  appearance,  only 
thirteen  proved  to  be  active  when  administered  to  animals;  and  of  a  large 
number  of  preparations  tested,  at  least  one-half  were  inert.  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  physicians  believe  that  hemp  is  one  of  the  most  unreliable  of  drugs  ?  Or 
that  we  occasionally  have  alarming  symptoms  following  its  administration  ? 
Digitalis  leaves  and  strophanthus  se<?ds  are  other  good  illustrations,  and 
many  other  good  examples  might  be  cited  if  space  permitted." 
In  the  same  article  Dr.  Houghton  says  :  "Without  pharmacological"  knowl- 
edge the  application  of  remedies  must  ever  be  attended  with  the  greatest 
uncertainty.  As  a  pure  science,  pharmacology  has  taken  rapid  strides  during 
the  past  few  years  ;  but  to  the  physician,  by  their  dating  the  manner  in  which 
the  functions  of  the  various  organs  of  the  body  may  be  influenced  by  the  thera- 
peutic agents  at  his  disposal,  it  has  given  the  greatest  gain.    Empiricism  is 
