156  Ethical  Pharmaceutical  Practice.  {AmAp0rUiir;Srm' 
other  professional  or  business  person.  If  a  fool,  a  knave  or  a  trick- 
ster, he  is  not  within  the  control  of  ethical  laws ;  but  if  competent, 
honest  and  faithful,  he  will  make  no  mistake  for  which  an  honor- 
able and  dignified  excuse  cannot  be  given.  With  respect  to  the 
relationship  to  his  fellow  pharmacist,  there  can  be  no  possible  mis- 
take made  by  him,  if,  diligently  striving  to  learn  what  is  usual,  what 
is  generally  acceptable,  he  stands  ready  to  give  all  that  he  might 
expect ;  if  he  expects  no  more  than  he  stands  ready  to  give. 
The  picture  then  revealing  pharmaceutical  practice  in  its  various 
relations  to  the  practice  of  medicine  would  seem,  just  now,  the  one 
of  peculiar  importance,  and,  in  view  of  what  has  gone  before  at 
these  meetings,  the  one  best  suited  to  illustrate  the  points  I  hope  I 
shall  be  able  to  make.  Should  it  occasionally  happen  that  glimpses 
of  one  of  the  two  other  views  are  obtained,  they  should  serve  to 
prove  there  are  but  few  principles  underlying  life's  service  that  may 
not  be  made  applicable  to  all  its  phases. 
In  nursing  the  hope  that  the  ideal  placing  of  pharmacy  will 
finally  prevail,  it  should  not,  indeed  it  must  not,  be  thought  that  in 
any  degree  I  undervalue  the  peculiarly  honorable  and  revered  posi 
tion  held  by  medicine.  Neither  is  pharmacy  envious  or  presump- 
tuous; it  waits,  must  wait;  but  in  the  end  mighty  truth  must  pre. 
vail,  no  matter  what  the  end  may  bring.  So  must  it  be  acknowledged 
that  the  three  great  professions  are  not  alike  in  the  exercise  of  their 
functions.  All,  as  I  understand  it,  aim  finally  to  protect  the  bodies 
of  men.  Theology  and  law  professionally,  always  indirectly,  through 
man's  senses;  while  medicine,  excepting  its  rarer  and  less  creditable 
practices,  proceeds  to  act  directly  upon  the  body.  The  latter,  then, 
is  generally  substantial  and,  like  pharmacy,  has  to  do  with  essentially 
material  things. 
Just  at  this  point  I  imagine  are  wondering  when  I  will  depart 
from  generalities  and  present  something  tangible  for  your  consid- 
eration, while  /  am,  in  turn,  wondering  what  radical  reforms  you  are 
expecting  me  to  suggest  and  what  decided  changes  you  think  I  will 
advise.  Remember,  it  was  but  a  "  fly  in  the  ointment  of  the  apothe- 
cary "  that  caused  it  to  give  off  unpleasant  odors.  Those  who  prac- 
tise the  art  of  garbling — and  it  is  a  most  profitable  art  to  practise — 
will  at  once  appreciate  how  small  the  loss  of  material,  how  little  the 
sacrifice  of  time  required  to  greatly  enhance  the  value,  to  make  al- 
most perfect  the  substance  treated. 
