352 
John  Michael  Maisch. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
\      August,  1903. 
great  variety  of  substances  that  come  together  on  the  shelves  of  the 
pharmacist. 
Before  going  further,  it  may  be  well  to  consider  what  is  necessary 
to  constitute  a  good  practical  pharmacist. 
Beside  a  good  foundation  in  the  elements  of  an  ordinary  educa- 
tion, including  a  working  knowledge  of  at  least  several  languages 
besides  his  own,  the  practical  pharmacist  should  be  sufficiently  pro- 
ficient  in  botany  to  recognize  growing  plants,  by  accepted  methods 
of  analysis.  He  should  be  an  expert  pharmacologist,  at  least 
thoroughly  familiar  with  the  appearance  and  properties  of  the  ma- 
terials that  are  likely  to  be  used  in  the  practice  of  medicine  in  his 
own  particular  neighborhood.  To  do  this  he  must  be  so  thoroughly 
grounded  in  the  principles  of  chemistry,  that  he  would  be  able  to 
apply  them  in  a  practical  way,  not  only  for  testing  the  chemical  sub- 
stances with  which  he  comes  in  contact,  for  identity  and  purity,  but 
he  must  also  be  able  to  do  original  work  in  the  analysis  and  syn- 
thesis of  compounds,  or  in  the  examination  of  organic  substances  for 
their  proximate  constituents. 
He  should  also  be  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  construction  and 
use  of  the  microscope,  so  that  he  can,  and  does,  use  it  in  connection 
with  his  investigations  in  the  field  of  botany  and  chemistry.  Then 
he  must  have  such  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  possible  application 
and  uses  of  the  different  substances  with  which  he  comes  in  contact 
that  he  can  give  intelligent  and  practical  information  to  such  as 
choose  to  inquire  as  to  their  uses. 
In  addition  to  these  necessary  rudiments  that  he  should  be  well 
versed  in,  our  practical  pharmacist  should  have  some  knowledge 
of  the  various  other  subjects  that  are  usually  classed  together  as 
natural  sciences,  particularly  zoology,  geology  and  mineralogy.  In 
addition  to  this  necessary  practical  information  he  should  be  able 
to  demonstrate  that  he  has  within  himself  the  possibilities  of  doing 
original  work,  and  of  thinking  for  himself.  And  finally,  to  show 
that  he  has  the  interests  of  his  fellowmen  at  heart,  and  has  been 
able  to  raise  his  ambitions  above  the  ordinary  commercial  tenden- 
cies of  the  times,  he  should  be  willing  and  able  to  impart  his  knowl- 
edge to  others,  so  as  to  allow  them  to  advance  with,  and  if  need  be, 
to  surpass  him.  To  do  this  he  must  be  able  to  write  out  his 
experiments  and  achievements  in  such  a  way  that  others  may 
grasp  his  ideas  and  duplicate  or  perfect  his  discoveries.    Such  a  man 
