Am'juiy?So6arm')      Function  of  the  True  Pharmacist.  325 
With  the  "  Treasury  of  Botany  "  we  may  fitly  close  our  account 
of  the  work  accomplished  in  the  Chelsea  Physic  Garden  under  the 
aegis  of  the  Society  of  Apothecaries.  On  contemplating  these 
splendid  achievements  we  cannot  but  experience  a  feeling  of  regrer. 
that  the  institution  which  had  been  fostered  by  the  Apothecaries 
for  so  long  a  period,  at  such  great  sacrifice,  should  eventually  have 
fallen  into  decay.  It  was,  however,  in  the  nature  of  things  that 
this  should  have  resulted,  for  botanical  studies  have  now  been  prac- 
tically divorced  from  the  medical  curriculum,  and  the  duties  of  the 
Apothecary  have  been  relegated  to  his  successor,  the  pharmacist. 
(  To  be  concluded. ) 
THE  FUNCTION  OF  THE  TRUE  PHARMACIST.1 
By  Solomon  Sous  Cohen,  M.D. 
Professor  of  Clinical  Medicine  in  the  Jefferson  Medical  College. 
Let  me  congratulate  the  members  of  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  on  the  important  step 
they  are  taking  to  restore  the  practice  of  pharmacy  in  Philadelphia 
to  its  elder  and  more  fitting  status  among  the  learned  professions. 
It  seems  to  me  time  that  a  larger  and  nobler  meaning  be  given  to 
the  term  "  pharmacist."  The  true  pharmacist  has  a  high  function 
to  fulfil — a  much  higher  function  than  drawing  soda  water  or  hand- 
ing out  "  proprietaries "  over  the  counter.  When  the  physician 
ceased  to  collect  and  prepare  the  drugs  that  he  administered  and 
turned  over  to  the  apothecary  that  important  duty,  in  order  to 
devote  more  time  to  his  own  special  studies  of  diagnosis,  pathology 
and  therapeutics,  the  apothecary  became  charged  with  all  the 
responsibilities  concerning  medicaments  that  had  theretofore  rested 
upon  the  physician.  In  the  evolution  of  science  and  of  art  the 
responsibilities  both  of  physician  and  of  pharmacist  have  become 
greater,  not  less.  The  individual  pharmacist  can  no  more  shift 
these  duties  upon  the  wholesaler's  or  manufacturer's  shoulders  than 
I  can  shift  my  responsibilities  to  my  individual  patient  upon  the 
shoulders  of  Jefferson  College,  or  the  County  Medical  Society,  or  a 
medical  syndicate  organized  for  commercial  purposes.    The  grocer 
1  Address  delivered  before  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association,  March  28,  1906. 
