84 
Pharmaceutical  Institute. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t    February,  1911. 
The  present  status  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Institute  of  the. 
University  of  BerHn,  on  the  other  hand,  is  an  excellent  illu^tration 
of  the  benefits  that  may  and  do  accrue  to  the  community  at  large 
by  fostering  independent  pharmaceutical  laboratories  a  xl  liberal 
pharmaceutical  training. 
In  connection  with  the  reviews  of  the  annual  repo  ts  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Institute  of  the  University  of  Berlii  tli^t  have 
been  published  in  this  Journal,  attention  has  been  called  to  some 
of  the  various  activities  of  the  Institute.  Not  the  least  valuable 
of  the  work  now  done,  from  the  viewpoint  of  the  public  health, 
is  the  exposing  of  secret  or  proprietary  remedies  that  hss  been 
undertaken  at  the  request  and  with  the  assistance  of  the  German 
Society  of  Apothecaries. 
The  work  that  has  been  done  in  connection  with  new  remedies 
is  also  of  importance,  while  the  original  chemical  and  phytochemical 
investigations  that  have  been  reported  have  attracted  widespread 
attention  and  have  contributed  much  to  pave  the  way  for  securing 
to  pharmacy  the  recognition  that  the  calling  properly  deserves. 
Altogether  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  Pharmaceutical 
Institute,  as  now  constituted,  bids  fair  to  be  an  active  factor  in 
bringing  about  a  realization  of  the  possibiHties  outlined  by 
Fliickiger,  nearly  thirty  years  ago,  in  recommending  the  practical 
elaboration  of  the  courses  of  pharmacy  in  connection  with  German 
Universities. 
In  his  recommendation,  reproduced  by  Thorns  in  the  volume 
under  discussion,  Fliickiger  points  out  that  many  of  the  problems 
relating  to  the  preservation  of  the  public  health  c:.n  and  should  be 
solved  by  pharmacists. 
He  further  points  out  that  if  pharmacists  were  given  the 
necessary  training  partially  or  wholly  at  the  expense  of  the  State 
they  in  turn  would  be  in  position  to  assist,  in  a  practical  way,  in 
improving  the  hygienic  conditions  of  the  communities  in  which 
they  reside. 
As  intimated  above  it  is  only  in  very  recent  years  that  the 
authorities,  recognizing  the  possibilities  of  practical  returns,  saw 
fit  to  provide  the  necessary  facilities  for  laboratory  investigations 
and  original  research  that  are  embodied  in  the  evidently  well 
equipped  and  truly  magnificent  institute  at  Dahlen  adjoining  the 
grounds  of  the  Botanical  Garden  of  the  University  of  Berlin. 
For  us  in  America  the  excellent  work  that  is  being  done  for 
