AmMay?i905arm'}     Pharmaceutical  Degrees  in  America.  215 
lobes.  This  flask-shaped  structure  is  somewhat  ribbed,  and  is  spar- 
ingly beset  by  bristly  hairs.  As  seen  in  the  samples  inspected,  the 
Rhexia  seems  to  be  a  more  stemmy  article  than  the  Sabbatia, 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture, 
December  31,  1904. 
ON  THE  PAST,  PRESENT  AND  FUTURE  OF  PHARMA- 
CEUTICAL DEGREES  IN  AMERICA. 
By  M.  I.  Wilbert, 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
At  no  period  during  the  thirty  or  more  years  that  the  question 
has  been  actively  under  discussion  has  the  subject  of  pharmaceutical 
titles  attracted,  or  received,  greater  attention  than  is  being  given  it 
at  the  present  time. 
The  direct  cause  for  this  unusual  interest  is  no  doubt  to  be  found 
in  the  greater  attention  that  is  being  devoted  to  the  subject  of  phar- 
maceutical education,  its  shortcomings  and  its  ultimate  possibilities, 
and  also  to  a  more  thorough  understanding  of  the  very  great  differ- 
ences that  exist,  in  the  entrance  requirements  that  are  asked,  the 
instruction  that  is  given  and  the  degrees  that  are  conferred  by  the 
various  pharmaceutical  schools  now  existing. 
Appreciating  the  fact  that  the  history  of  any  given  subject  may 
have  an  important  bearing  on  the  probable  solution  of  questions 
arising  in  connection  with  the  same,  and  believing,  furthermore,  that 
the  history  of  the  origin  and  uses  of  pharmaceutical  titles  in  America 
might  have  a  peculiar  and  timely  interest  for  all  concerned  this 
contribution  is  offered  with  the  hope  that  it  may  prove  interesting, 
and  that  the  ideas  and  opinions  of  some  of  the  earlier  leaders  of  our 
profession  may  serve  to  indicate  a  rational  and  generally  acceptable 
solution  of  the  present  controversy. 
Dr.  John  Morgan,  who  is  properly  recognized  as  the  originator 
of  pharmacy  in  this  country,  returned  to  Philadelphia  in  1765,  where 
he  was  the  first  to  institute  the  European  practice  of  writing  pre- 
scriptions and  of  having  them  compounded  by  competent  apothe- 
caries. This  practice,  even  in  Philadelphia,  spread  slowly,  and  it 
was  more  than  fifty  years  later,  in  1816,  before  any  attempt  was 
made  to  teach  pharmacy  by  means  of  a  regular  course  of  lectures. 
Five  years  later,  on  February  21,  1821,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of 
