AmMay,r'i905arru"}     Pharmaceutical  Degrees  in  America.  217 
those  students  whose  industrious  application  and  correct  deport- 
ment have  given  satisfaction  to  their  instructors.  The  hope  of  dis- 
tinction is  perhaps  the  strongest  passion  of  the  youthful  mind ;  and 
even  that  honor,  which  an  ordinary  degree  in  the  arts  confers,  is 
sought  after  with  an  ardor  and  perseverance  which  they  who  have 
forgotten  the  feelings  of  their  earlier  years  can  seldom  fully  appre- 
ciate. 
"The  power  of  conferring  degrees,  attached  to  all  collegiate  insti- 
tutions, may  be  considered  almost  an  essential  part  of  their  consti- 
tution, and  the  practice  is  certainly  essential,  as  a  general  rule,  to 
their  successful  operation.  The  school  of  pharmacy  cannot  be 
regarded  as  an  exception.  I  do  not  think  I  am  going  too  far  when 
I  say  that  it  will  never  flourish  until  this  practice  is  adopted. 
"  To  the  young  apothecary,  a  degree  from  the  college  would  be 
desirable,  not  only  as  an  honor,  but  also  as  an  effective  instrument 
for  the  promotion  of  his  success  in  business.    When  the  public  are 
generally  informed,  as  they  some  time  undoubtedly  will  be,  of  the 
nature  and  designs  of  the  institution,  it  cannot  but  happen  that  a 
preference  will  be  shown  for  those  to  whose  knowledge  and  skill  its 
testimonial  can  be  advanced ;  and  at  some  future  period  a  degree  in 
pharmacy  may  be  as  indispensable  to  the  apothecary  as  that  in 
medicine  now  is  to  the  physician.    In  order,  however,  that  the 
degree  may  have  the  greatest  possible  weight  in  the  opinions  of 
men  it  should  never  be  conferred  on  the  student  till  he  have  passed 
through  a  certain  course  of  study  and  practice  united,  and,  by  an 
examination  before  competent  judges,  shall  have  shown  himself 
worthy  of  the  honor.    It  should,  moreover,  be  confined  to  those 
whose  moral  character  is  unexceptionable."    The  suggestions  made 
in  this  address  were  acted  on  but  slowly.    It  was  more  than  a  year 
later,  on  January  31,  1826,  before  the  members  of  the  College, 
recognizing  the  necessity  of  such  a  move,  finally  adopted  a  reso- 
lution that  in  future  all  students  who  had  completed  the  attend- 
ance on  two  courses  of  lectures,  had  passed  a  satisfactory  examina- 
tion in  the  branches  taught  and  were  able  to  furnish  satisfactory 
evidence  that  they  had  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  an  apothe- 
cary, were  to  be  adjudged  "Graduates  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy."    Is  was  fully  half  a  century  later,  however,  before  the 
use  of  such  a  certificate  of  proficiency,  to  generally  promote  the 
business  of  a  pharmacist,  was  considered  legitimate,  and  we  of 
