570  Society  of  Pharmacy  of  Paris.  {^cemb^i™' 
THE  CENTENARY  OF  THE  SOCIETY  OF  PHARMACY 
OF  PARIS. 
By  M.  I.  Wilbert. 
The  centenary  of  the  Society  of  Pharmacy  of  Paris,  which  oc- 
curred on  October  17,  1903,  was  an  event  of  more  than  passing 
interest.  When  we  remember  that  this  society  is,  and  for  a  whole 
century  has  been,  devoted  exclusively  to  the  advancement  of  origi- 
nal research,  and  the  development  of  the  various  sciences  relating  to 
pharmacy,  entirely  apart  from  any  interest  in  private  educational 
enterprises,  trade  guilds  or  trade  societies,  we  begin  to  appreciate 
how  firmly  pharmacy  has  established  itself  as  a  profession  in  that 
portion  of  the  world. 
It  is  true  that  there  are  few,  very  few,  associations  that  are  at  all 
comparable  to  this  society  in  age,  scientific  achievement  or  ideals, 
and  what  to  us,  as  Americans,  will  perhaps  appear  as  most  unfor- 
tunate, is  the  fact  that  in  the  English-speaking  world  there  is  not  a 
single  pharmaceutical  society  that  is  at  all  comparable  to  it. 
This  latter  rather  lamentable  fact  is  of  course  explained  when  we 
consider  the  history  of  the  rise  and  development  of  pharmacy,  or 
rather  of  apothecaries,  in  England  and  in  France. 
The  origin  and  development  of  the  apothecary  in  the  two  coun- 
tries is  very  similar  indeed,  particularly  in  the  two  representative 
cities,  which  virtually  constitute  the  centres  of  the  respective,  coun- 
tries. 
In  London,  as  in  Paris,  apothecaries  first  appeared  as  assistants  to 
physicians,  and  were  gradually  emancipated  and  constituted  into  a 
guild  or  company  with  the  grocers. 
In  both  countries  the  apothecaries  proved  the  more  progressive 
and  soon  felt  the  inconvenience  of  being  associated  with  a  branch  of 
trade  with  which  they  had  little  in  common  and  from  which  they 
received  little  or  no  benefit. 
In  both  countries  the  apothecaries,  at  an  early  date,  founded  a 
Garden  of  Simples,  or  Physic  Garden,  which  was  maintained  and 
used  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  students,  and  for  advancing  their 
knowledge  of  medicinal  plants. 
In  England  the  apothecaries  were  separated  from  the  grocers  as 
early  as  1617  and  given  a  separate  charter,  which  carried  with  it 
certain  rights  and  privileges.    These  charter  rights  were  enlarged 
