Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1891. 
The  Ideal  Preceptor. 
559 
intemperate  and  the  dishonest  are  found  in  the  drug  trade  as  elsewhere,  as  well 
among  the  employers  as  the  employed .  To  such  we  need  not  address  ourselves. 
Our  ideal  is  not  necessarily,  he  who  allows  the  largest  liberties,  nor  yet  he 
who  pays  the  best  salaries.  For  some  can  afford  to  pay  better  salaries  than 
others,  and  he  who  does  the  most  questionable  trade  could  pay  the  best.  In 
this  respect,  the  student  in  pharmacy  must  bear  in  mind  that  while  serving  his 
apprenticeship,  he  is  working  for  knowledge  which  is  more  valuable  to  him  in 
the  end  than  his  salary,  and  while  acquiring  this  knowledge  he  must  be  willing 
to  give  a  portion  of  his  labor  for  the  same. 
It  may  be  asked  how  many  proprietors  are  really  preceptors  or  teachers  in 
the  true  sense  of  the  word.  It  seems  to  me  that  in  engaging  a  young  man  in 
the  drug  business,  the  proprietor  assumes  a  moral  obligation  to  impart  certain 
information  of  a  practical  and  scientific  character  which  is  necessary  to  our 
craft,  and  this  information,  as  stated  before,  is  considered  as  valuable  and 
given  in  lieu  of  an  adequate  compensation. 
It  is  our  desire  to  adhere  closely  to  the  subject  announced  for  discussion,  the 
aid  the  preceptor  should  give  the  student,  and  to  indicate  some  of  the  means 
by  which  he  can  assist  the  college  in  her  aim  at  a  higher  educational  standard, 
and  to  place  pharmacy  upon  that  scientific  basis  which  it  is  bound  to  acquire. 
The  first  reform  must  come  in  the  selection  of  apprentices.  Something  is 
wanted  more  than  the  standing  or  wealth  of  the  parents  to  make  a  successful 
pharmacist.  I  hold  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  employer  to  select  only  such 
assistants  as  have,  at  least,  that  amount  of  common  school  education  which 
is  essential  to  their  being  able  to  grasp  the  more  advanced  studies.  I  do  not 
believe  that  at  the  present  time,  with  the  acknowledged  advancement  of  Eng- 
lish literature,  that  an  extended  knowledge  of  the  dead  languages  is  necessary, 
but  sufficient  should  be  required  to  enable  our  students  to  work  intelligently 
and  profit  by  the  course  of  instruction  given. 
It  is  a  hopeless  task  for  a  student  who  is  deficient  in  such  ordinary  branches 
as  orthography,  English  grammar  and  common  arithmetic,  to  attempt  to  master 
the  teachings  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy.  In  this  respect,  it  will  be  a  great 
stride  in  the  right  direction  when  all  colleges  of  pharmacy  will  require  matri- 
culants to  pass  a  satisfactory  examination  in  the  elementary  branches  before 
admission  to  instruction.  I  believe  that  more  practical  aid  would  be  given  to 
true  pharmacy  by  this  simple  and  apparently  unimportant  move,  than  all  the 
efforts  heretofore  made  to  suppress  cutting  and  the  illegitimate  selling  of  drugs. 
Raise  the  initial  standard  of  pharmacy  first,  and  the  final  standing  will  be 
proportionately  higher. 
The  second  thought  that  occurs  is,  where  should  the  instruction  of  the 
student  commence  ?  Surely  the  duty  of  the  preceptor  does  not  end  with  teach- 
ing his  assistant  how  to  make  a  neat  parcel,  to  politely  wait  on  customers,  to 
profitably  sell  proprietary  and  toilet  articles  and  to  be  exact  and  neat.  All  of 
these  are  important,  but  something  more  is  necessary.  A  systematic  course 
of  reading  in  elementary  works,  gradually  leading  up  to  the  accepted  standard 
text  books,  should  be  mapped  out  for  the  student  from  the  day  he  enters  the 
drug  business. 
I  arn  compelled  to  believe  that  many  of  them  come  to  the  college  with  little 
or  no  idea  of  the  branches  taught,  and  no  preparatory  reading  in  the  same. 
And  many  after  having  been  two  or  three  or  even  five  or  six  vears  in  the  drug 
