AmApOrnr;i905arm'}      Recognition  of  the  College  Diploma.  183 
have  been  in  operation  in  this  State  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  al- 
though they  have  proved  effective,  in  a  measure,  in  controlling  the 
practice  of  pharmacy,  it  has  been  regarded  by  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  pharmaceutical  profession  that  until  the  diplomas  of 
reputable  colleges  of  pharmacy  were  recognized,  the  full  measure  of 
usefulness  of  pharmacy  laws  could  not  be  realized.  The  movement 
which  has  culminated  in  the  signing  by  Governor  Pennypacker  of 
House  Bill  No.  167,  on  March  24,  1905,  had  its  inception  at  the  an- 
nual meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  at  New 
Orleans,  in  1891. 
At  that  time  the  association  recorded  emphatically  its  disapproval 
of  any  such  legislation,  the  principal  objection  being  that  pharmacy 
was  not  ready  for  such  an  advanced  step.  But  the  chief  objection 
came  from  members  of  Boards  of  Pharmacy  who  attended  the  meet- 
ing. At  the  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association 
in  1898,  this  body  reversed  itself  when  they  passed  a  practically 
unanimous  vote  in  favor  of  the  recognition  of  diplomas. 
The  record  of  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association  is  that 
on  two  occasions  it  passed,  by  decided  majorities,  resolutions  in 
favor  of  recognizing  college  diplomas.  In  this  State  the  first  bill  to 
be  introduced  upon  this  subject  was  in  1903,  but  the  effort  was  a 
thorough  failure,  as  the  bill  was  defeated  upon  first  reading  in  the 
House.  In  the  meantime  the  pharmacists  in  New  York  State  pre- 
pared a  bill  which  passed  both  houses,  was  signed  by  Governor 
Odell,  and  the  law  became  operative  January  1,  1905. 
The  present  movement  in  Pennsylvania  began  in  December,  1904, 
and  resulted  in  the  framing  of  an  Act,  of  which  the  following  is  a 
copy : 
AN  ACT. 
An  Act  to  amend  Section  5  of  the  Act  entitled  "An  Act  to  regulate  the  prac- 
tice of  Pharmacy  and  sale  of  poisons,  and  to  prevent  adulterations  in  drugs  and 
medicinal  preparations  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,"  which  was  approved  the 
24th  day  of  May,  Anno  Domini  1887,  requiring  that  on  and  after  January  1, 
1906,  all  persons  applying  for  certificates  of  registration  as  competent  pharma- 
cists under  the  provisions  of  Section  5  of  the  said  Act  shall  be  graduates  of  a 
reputable  college  of  pharmacy. 
Section  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania  in  general  assembly  met,  and  it  is  hereby 
enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that  Section  5  of  the  Act  entitled  "An 
Act  to  regulate  the  practice  of  Pharmacy  and  sale  of  poisons,  and  to  prevent 
adulterations  in  drugs  and  medicinal  preparations  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
