Am.  Joxtr.  Pharm.  "I 
Dee.  1, 1871.  J 
Druggists,  Pharmacists,  etc. 
533 
Add  to  this,  that  any  examination  which  is  practicable  must  give, 
at  best,  a  very  insufficient  assurance  of  a  thorough  acquaintance  with 
this  art,  and  we  see  that  the  diploma,  even  if  withheld  from  all  but  those 
who  had  served  the  requisite  period  in  a  dispensing  store,  could  not 
properly  be  construed  to  imply  more  than  the  professors  and  trustees 
of  the  College  can  guarantee — such  a  knowledge  of  our  business  as 
entitles  the  graduate  to  assume  the  responsibilities  of  its  practice, 
subject  to  the  limitations  and  conditions  which  the  circumstances  of 
his  education  supply. 
If  the  graduate  seeks  a  place,  the  employer,  of  course,  informs 
himself  as  to  the  practical  training  he  has  had  in  connection  with  his 
College  course.  No  sensible  man  will  take  it  for  granted  that  a  grad- 
uate trained  in  a  wholesale  store  is  a  good  prescriptionist,  any  more 
than  that  one  who  has  been  for  two  or  three  years  behind  a  dispens- 
ing counter  would  be  competent  to  select  the  stock,  sell  the  goods, 
and  execute  the  orders  in  a  wholesale  house. 
Viewing  the  diploma  as  a  testimonial  to  industry  and  zeal  in  the 
scientific  study  of  drugs  and  the  processes  of  their  preparation,  and 
to  such  practical  proficiency  as  would  result  from  compliance  with  the 
known  requirements  of  the  College,  the  employer  judges  of  an  appli- 
cant by  taking  into  account  all  the  circumstances  of  his  education  and 
of  his  natural  and  acquired  traits. 
The  same  general  principles  apply  to  the  case  of  a  graduate  exhib- 
iting a  diploma  as  a  passport  to  public  confidence  when  embarking 
in  business  on  his  own  account.  The  inquisitive  and  exacting  public, 
and  the  physicians  who  are  to  be  associated  with  him  in  his  work,  will 
take  into  account  his  previous  history  and  all  his  testimonials,  and 
judge  these,  his  diploma  included,  by  the  standard  of  common  sense 
and  experience. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  a  diploma  goes  only  part  way — an 
important  part — in  establishing  the  business  qualifications  of  its 
owner.  As  far  as  it  goes,  we  mean  that  it  shall  be  truthful,  and  that 
no  student  in  this  school,  who  has  not  faithfully  employed  all  his  ad- 
vantages for  acquiring  knowledge  and  skill  in  his  profession,  shall 
possess  it. 
To  solve  the  question  I  have  stated,  as  to  whether  students  from 
wholesale  stores  should  be  entitled  to  compete  for  the  diploma,  it  has 
been  proposed  to  issue  two  kinds  of  diploma — one  for  the  druggist 
and  the  other  for  the  pharmacist.    In  the  event  of  adopting  this 
