Amjn°ijyi899?rm"}    Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association.  351 
turbed.  It  was  also  provided  that  at  that  time  at  least  the  college  of  pharmacy 
diploma  requirement  should  not  be  incorporated  in  the  bill  ;  but,  as  already 
stated,  it  is  admitted  by  all  who  opposed  such  a  proviso  at  that  time  that  now 
the  time  has  come  when  this  change  should  be  made. 
It  is  urged,  I  know,  by  somewhat,  owing  to  the  unprofitableness  of  the  drug 
business,  no  further  or  greater  restrictions  should  be  imposed  upon  those 
engaged  therein,  but  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  those  who  are  most  success- 
ful in  this  calling  to-day  are  those  who  are  best  equipped,  through  thorough 
pharmaceutical  education,  and  as  the  medical  examiner's  bill  fully  recognizes 
this  principle,  and  thus  furnishes  direct  encouragement  for  the  better  education 
of  those  who  are  to  be  admitted  to  the  practice  of  medicine  in  this  State,  so 
surely  should  we  recognize  the  importance  of  encouraging  thorough  pharma- 
ceutical education  in  our  pharmaceutical  colleges. 
The  Committee  on  Legislation  will  doubtless  report  upon  the  effort  which 
was  made  to  amend  our  Poison  Law,  by  the  passage  of  a  bill  restricting  the  sale 
of  opium  and  its  preparations,  and  cocaine,  to  those  presenting  physician's  pre- 
scription, and  prohibiting  the  putting  up  of  such  a  prescription  one  week  after 
it  had  been  written.  It  was  urged,  by  those  supporting  this  legislation,  that 
opium  and  its  preparations  were  sold  and  administered  freely  to  minors  and 
others  by  unscrupulous  persons,  and  that  thus  great  injury  was  being  done, 
both  physically  and  morally,  especially  to  the  young,  in  some  sections  of  this 
State. 
Those  who  supported  this  measure  seemed  to  us  to  overlook  the  fact  that, 
while  it  may  be  true  (and  unfortunately  I  believe  is  true)  that  here  and  there  a 
druggist  can  be  found  who  so  far  forgets  his  moral  obligations  as  to  sell  freely 
to  any  one  opium  and  its  preparations,  cocaine,  etc.,  to  those  who  are  known 
by  the  seller  to  purchase  them  for  immoral  purposes,  there  is  equal  danger  of 
physicians  being  found  here  and  there  who  would  be  quite  as  likely  to  forget 
their  moral  obligations  and  write  prescriptions  indiscriminately,  so  that  the 
evil  would  not  be  corrected,  while  great  hardship  would  be  inflicted  upon  the 
very  large  proportion  of  conscientious  pharmacists,  who  would,  under  this  bill, 
if  it  had  become  a  law,  have  been  obliged  to  refrain  from  selling  even  a  dose  of 
paregoric  until  the  customer  had  first  obtained  a  physician's  prescription. 
While  the  bill  did  not  receive  favorable  consideration  at  the  hands  either  of  the 
House  or  the  Senate,  it  emphasized  to  our  Committee  the  importance  of  having 
some  well-digested  and  carefully  drawn  Poison  Law  prepared  for  the  next  ses- 
sion of  the  Legislature,  and  this  was  promised  by  them. 
The  efficient  work  which  was  performed  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Legislation,  in  the  effort  of  securing  a  correction  of  the  patent  laws  under 
which  our  friends  in  Germany  now  can,  and  do,  compel  us  to  pay  tribute  to  the 
chemists  of  that  country,  without  in  any  way  reciprocating  the  favor,  will 
doubtless  be  brought  before  you  at  this  session,  I  can  only  say  that  we  have 
been  fortunate  in  securing  for  the  Chairmanship  of  this  Committee  a  man  who 
has  most  intelligently  considered  the  true  interests  of  our  members  and  the 
druggists  generally  in  this  direction,  and  was  accorded  the  honor  of  an 
extended  and  attentive  hearing  on  November  21,  1898,  before  the  Commis- 
sioners on  the  Revision  of  our  Patent  and  Trade-mark  Laws,  appointed  by 
President  McKinley. 
One  of  the  anomalous  conditions  to  which  attention  has  been  called  through 
