164 
Professionalism  vs.  Commercialism. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm . 
April,  1905. 
acknowledged  that  professionalism  is,  and  must  be,  the  foundation 
of  pharmacy ;  for  the  profit  that  they  claim  and  try  to  obtain  on 
certain  goods  far  exceeds  the  just  rewards  of  commercial  enterprise, 
and  can  only  be  explained  and  maintained  from  a  professional  stand- 
point. 
The  public  finally  give  proof  every  day  that  they  look  upon 
pharmacists  as  men  of  higher  education,  and  apply  to  them  for  in- 
formation in  many  instances  where  knowledge  of  chemistry, 
hygiene,  botany  or  materia  medica  is  presupposed.  That  these 
demands  of  the  public  are  sometimes  carried  too  far  and  may 
become  sources  of  annoyance  is  probably  true — but  we  should  not 
forget  that  this  confidence  put  in  our  knowledge  and  judgment,  if 
properly  answered  and  encouraged,  will,  by  the  very  nature  of  our 
dual  position,  give  us  more  than  mere  mental  gratification,  and  lead 
to  increased  activity  in  prescriptions  and  other  professional  work. 
Thus,  whichever  way  we  look,  professionalism  is  the  very  back- 
bone of  pharmacy,  and  should  therefore  have  the  first  consideration 
in  all  our  doings  and  enterprises. 
In  carrying  out  this  principle  we  must  not  forget,  however,  that  a 
drug  store  is  a  poor  place  for  mere  hypothetical  speculation ;  nor 
can  a  strict  carrying  out  of  a  theory,  however  beautiful,  be  a  suc- 
cessful vocation.  The  claim  that  we  study  pharmacy,  and  conduct 
pharmacies,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  advancing  science  or  gratifying 
our  desire  for  higher  education  may  justly  be  called  an  absurdity. 
We  are  in  business  for  the  sake  of  profit.  We  must  make  a  living 
and  feed  our  families.  But  this  merging  of  the  prosaic  demands  of 
stern  reality  with  the  higher  ideal  of  a  professional  calling  is  not 
restricted  to  pharmacy  alone.  Every  professional  man  has  to  face 
the  same  dispute,  and  must  find  a  way  to  harmonize  the  ideal  with 
the  real.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  this  is  not  an  age  of  abstract 
speculation,  and  that  the  tendency  of  the  times  points  toward  an  im- 
mediate and  quick  application  of  all  scientific  discoveries.  Whatever 
new  is  invented  or  discovered  in  any  science,  and  particularly  so  in 
medicine  and  chemistry,  does  not  long  remain  the  property  of  some 
scientists  who  keep  it  like  a  jewel  in  a  forbidden  shrine.  No,  it  becomes 
at  once  the  common  property  of  the  whole  world  ;  every  man  of  in- 
telligence reads  about  it,  and  commercial  enterprise  at  once  takes 
possession  of  it.  Thus  science  or  professionalism  and  commercial- 
ism or  practical  application  run  together,  and  it  is  almost  impossible 
