Am.  .Tour.  Pharm. 
November,  1906. 
}    Education  and  Legislation  in  Pharmacy.  539 
authorized  by  law  to  do  all  kinds  of  legitimate  pharmaceutical 
work  without  having  their  employers  looking  over  their  shoulder 
at  all  times.  Let  the  clerks  know  that  the  only  thing  a  qualified 
and  licensed  assistant  cannot  do  in  the  line  of  pharmaceutical  prac- 
tice is  to  run  a  drug  store  on  his  own  responsibility,  and  that  the 
right  to  do  that  will  come  only  when  he  shall  have  become  a  Regis- 
tered Pharmacist. 
It  is  in  my  humble  opinion  a  grave  mistake  to  ignore  the  fact 
that  there  is  and  always  will  be  a  sufficient  difference  between  the 
principal  and  the  clerk,  and  between  their  respective  responsibilities. 
Both  should  be  recognized  by  our  laws,  and  higher  qualifications 
should  be  required  for  more  important  duties  and  responsibilities. 
There  are  those  who  believe,  or  profess  to  believe,  that  there  is 
no  good  reason  why  the  principal  of  a  pharmacy  should  be  required 
to  measure  up  to  a  higher  standard  of  efficiency  than  the  clerk.  It 
is  especially  denied  that  any  better  protection  is  afforded  the  public 
by  a  higher  standard  of  education  for  the  principal  or  manager  of 
the  drug  store  if  his  licensed  assistant  should  be  permitted  to  per- 
form the  usual  duties  of  the  dispenser  during  the  temporary  absence 
of  the  principal  in  case  that  temporary  absence  is  extended  over 
several  weeks,  but  it  may  not  have  occurred  to  these  objectors  that 
the  principal  of  any  pharmacy  is  the  man  who  controls  all  the  supplies 
and  is  responsible  for  the  identity  and  quality  of  all  the  medicinal 
materials  in  the  shop.  He  furnishes  not  only  the  materials  but  the 
tools  and  other  facilities  necessary  for  carrying  on  the  work.  The 
principal  is  legally  answerable  for  the  management  of  the  pharmacy 
which  must  be  so  conducted  that  the  public  is  properly  served  and 
its  welfare  safeguarded,  but  the  clerk  or  assistant  is  responsible  only 
for  his  own  individual  services.  The  clerk  dispenses  the  medicine 
furnished  by  his  employer  and  does  his  work  under  whatever  condi- 
tions his  employer  sees  fit  to  impose.  The  principal  is  rightly 
expected  to  use  his  best  efforts  to  see  that  the  materials  used  are 
of  proper  character,  purity  and  strength  and  his  education  must  be 
such  that  he  can  perform  that  duty  intelligently.  No  service  of  that 
kind  is  expected  of  the  clerk.  If  the  proprietor  of  the  establish- 
ment is  absent  for  a  week  or  a  month  he  still  can  and  does  control 
and  direct  affairs. 
The  Importance  of  Shop  Training. — The  most  important  part  of 
the  training  of  a  pharmacist  is  sufficient  practical  experience  of  the 
