238  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.     { ^""•Mar'mi*™ 
presentation  address  by  mr.  beringer. 
Mr.  Toastmaster,  Honored  Guests,  Friends  and  Fellow 
Alumni  : 
This  is  a  memorable  occasion  in  the  history  of  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy.  Although  she  has  attained  the  mature  age 
of  90  years,  one  will  search  her  records  in  vain  for  a  similar 
event,  and  with  the  modesty  that  has  always  characterized  her 
career  she  to-day  pleads    first  offense." 
Heretofore,  the  alumni  and  members  of  the  College,  possibly 
because  of  the  conservatism  inherited  from  the  Quaker  founders, 
have  refrained  from  giving  any  similar  public  testimony  to  the 
worth  and  appreciation  of  the  services  of  any  of  her  many  faithful 
officers,  during  their  existence  in  the  flesh,  but  have  been  contented 
to  have  them  await  encomiums  and  merited  recognition  in  obituary 
notices  and  with  the  rewards  of  the  hereafter.  On  this  occasion  we 
have  made  a  notable  and  universally  approved  departure  from  the 
time  honored  traditions  and  customs  of  the  institution. 
Do  not  think  that  I  am  going  to  use  this  as  a  proper  premise 
to  deduce  the  conclusion  that  institutions,  unlike  men,  do  not  be- 
come infirm  and  decrepit  with  advancing  years,  but  are  rejuvenated 
with  the  decades  they  have  passed.  However,  I  will  advance  as  a 
correct  syllogism,  that  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  was 
founded  on  broad  ethical  principles  to  supply  a  public  need  for  the 
specialized  and  practical  instruction  of  those  entrusted  with  the 
protection  of  the  public  in  the  art  of  preparing  drugs  and  com- 
pounding medicines,  and  that  her  officers  and  faculty  have  with 
honor  and  fidelity  always  adhered  faithfully  to  the  precepts  and 
high  ideals  of  the  founders.  To  these  truths  we  can  attribute 
the  success  that  has  made  her  the  model  school  for  pharmaceutical 
education. 
Despite  the  trying  experiences  and  the  greatly  added  duties 
and  responsibilities  that  have  come  with  the  great  strides  made 
in  the  sciences  and  in  the  modern  methods  of  education,  she  has 
unfalteringly  maintained  her  principles.  With  each  precept  sus- 
tained, with  each  difficulty  mastered,  with  each  advance  carefully 
planned  and  faithfully  executed,  she  has  grown  stronger  and 
stronger  and  to-day  her  renown  and  her  achievements  for  pharmacy 
are  indelibly  stamped  upon  history  and  every  citizen  of  this  common- 
ly eajth  should  be  proud  of  her  standing-  and  jealous  of  her  success 
