340  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.     { Am ju°y^i906.arm" 
macy  unless  he  shall  have  successfully  passed  a  practical  examination  in  the 
proper  reading  of  prescriptions  and  the  art  of  dispensing. 
(it)  No  person  should  be  licensed  as  a  pharmacist  or  given  the  right  to  con- 
duct a  pharmacy  on  his  own  account,  or  as  manager,  who  has  not  reached  the 
age  of  legal  responsibility. 
(12)  The  laws  and  the  rules  of  the  Boards  of  Pharmacy  should  be  so  framed 
and  construed  as  to  require  sufficient  practical  experience  in  pharmacies  inde- 
pendently of  courses  of  study,  but  to  the  end  that  substantial  courses  in  the 
pharmaceutical  schools  may  not  be  discouraged  the  laws  and  the  Board  rulings 
should  not  require  persons  who  take  longer  courses  to  wait  a  correspondingly 
longer  time  before  they  are  enabled  to  secure  their  licenses.  The  minimum 
total  period  prescribed  for  both  college  education  and  practical  experience  in 
pharmacies  should,  therefore,  be  the  same  for  all  persons  without  reference  to 
the  length  of  the  college  courses  they  may  have  completed,  and  should  be 
sufficient  to  include  a  full  two  years'  course  in  a  pharmaceutical  school. 
(13)  We  recommend  to  all  concerned  that  the  foregoing  principles  and 
standards  be  adhered  to  in  any  amendments  to  the  pharmacy  laws  hereafter 
proposed  in  order  that  national  uniformity  may  be  ultimately  attained.  The 
minimum  requirements  indicated,  and  especially  the  preliminary  general 
education,  should  be  increased  from  time  to  time  as  circumstances  permit. 
I.  A.  Keith, 
George  B.  Kauffman, 
Z.  B.  Hopkins, 
F.  B.  LiiviJE, 
Oscar  Oldberg,  Chairman . 
THE  PHILADELPHIA  BRANCH  OF  THE  AMERICAN 
PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
The  third  stated  meeting  of  this  branch  was  held  on  the  evening 
of  Monday,  May  2 1 st,  and  was  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  "Self- 
Medication  and  the  Evils  of  Counter-Prescribing." 
Dr.  Thomas  R.  Neilson,  Clinical  Professor  of  Genito-Urinary  Dis- 
eases, University  of  Pennsylvania,  opened  the  discussion  by  con- 
sidering the  "  Limitations  of  Self-Medication,"  more  particularly  in 
connection  with  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  tract.  Dr.  Neilson 
referred  to  the  difficulty  of  making  a  proper  diagnosis  in  many  cases 
of  venereal  disorder,  the  ease  with  which  the  several  diseases  are 
communicated,  and  the  incalculable  amount  of  harm  that  has  been, 
and  is  being,  done  by  neglecting  to  safeguard  the  interests  of  the 
community  in  connection  with  diseases  of  this  kind.  Dr.  Neilson 
thought  that  it  was  clearly  within  the  province  of  the  pharmacist  to 
discourage  the  sale  of  the  several  nostrums  that  are  advertised  in 
