122 
Editorial. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
V  February,  1898. 
the  advance  "  write-up  "  of  a  patent  medicine  in  the  daily  newspaper,  in  which 
a  tirade  against  the  modern  pharmacist  is  usually  a  prominent  feature,  and 
paves  the  way  for  something  to  follow.  We  are  informed  that  "their  waters 
are  mixed  essences,"  but  what  are  "mixed  essences,"  surely  someone  has  a 
new  method  of  making  aromatic  waters,  and  it  should  be  given  publicity  at 
once. 
The  one  matter  more  than  any  other  which  has  revolutionized  the  modern 
pharmacist  was  not  mentioned  by  the  editorial  critic,  namely,  the  decline  of  the 
patent  medicine.  Some  fifteen  years  ago,  for  commercial  reasons,  the  nostrum 
was  relegated  to  the  back  room  and  the  cellar,  and  at  first  it  was  a  severe  finan- 
cial blow,  but  pharmacists  are  recovering  from  this  blow,  and  have  found  they 
are  the  better  for  the  loss.  With  the  patent  medicine  out  of  the  way  there  is  a 
brighter  outlook  for  the  pharmacist  than  for  the  physician.  The  former  always 
had  to  be  resourceful  or  get  out  of  the  business  ;  the  latter  will  find  if  he  dis- 
penses the  tablets,  pills  and  plasters  of  the  manufacturer,  that  the  public  will 
soon  knew  as  much  as  he,  and  medicate  themselves,  even  if  it  should  be  with 
indifferent  success.  It  is  not  the  true  practice  of  medicine  to  deal  out  ready- 
made  tablets  any  more  than  it  is  true  pharmacy  to  hand  down  nostrums. 
Everything  in  this  world  is  in  process  of  evolution.  Pharmacy  and  medicines 
may  change,  but  they  cannot  go  out  of  existence. 
Acquisitions  to  the  Library  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy. 
In  less  than  two  years  the  Library  of  the  College  has  acquired  by  purchase  or 
presentation  valuable  portions  of  the  libraries  of  Professors  Maisch  and  Bastin 
and  Dr.  W.  S.  W.  Ruschenberger.  In  the  Maisch  collection  were  numerous 
pamphlets  and  monographs,  which  had  been  received  by  him  from  foreign 
sources,  and  which  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  duplicate.  There  were  also  a 
number  of  standard  works  on  botany  and  chemistry,  mostly  in  the  German 
language,  which  are  valuable  as  works  of  reference.  The  portion  of  Dr. 
Ruschenberger's  library  received  contained  a  number  of , scarce  serials,  and  of 
older  editions  of  dispensatories,  etc.,  which  are  of  especial  interest  and  value 
from  a  historical  standpoint. 
The  latest  collection,  that  of  Professor  Bastin,  consisted  of  nearly  150  vol- 
umes relating  almost  exclusivel}-  to  botany  and  microscopy.  Probably  the 
most  notable  of  these  are  "  Dictionaire  de  Botanique,"  Baillon,  four  volumes  ; 
Kohler's  "Medicinal  Pfianger  ;"  "  Historie  des  Plantes  Venenenses  et  Sus- 
pectes  de  France,"  Bulliard,  two  volumes;  "Atlas  Manuel  de  Botanique," 
Deniker  ;  "  Arboretum  et  Fructicetum  Brittanicum,"  London,  seven  volumes  ; 
"Botanique  Medicale,"  Baillon;  "American  Dispensatory,"  Coxe,  1818. 
Many  of  these  works  are  handsomely  illustrated. 
THE  PHILADELPHIA  MEDICAL  JOURNAL- 
When  the  Medical  News  took  up  its  abode  in  New  York,  there  was  felt  to  be 
avoid  in  medical  literature  in  this  the  most  renowned  medical  centre  on  the 
American  Continent.  A  half  a  score  of  journals  proclaimed  themselves  as 
individually  able  to  fill  the  vacancy,  but  it  was  apparent  that  none  of  them 
quite  "  sized  up  "  to  the  position.  The  natural  outcome  was  a  new  medical 
journal  founded  by  a  number  of  gentlemen  representing  the  leading  medical 
