222  Pharmaceutical  Degrees  in  America.  {AmMay^905.arm' 
There  are,  it  is  true,  other  definitions  for  the  word.  The  same 
lexicographers  tell  us  that  a  doctor  is  a  person  duly  licensed  to 
practise  medicine  or  surgery,  or  a  person  duly  qualified  and  experi- 
enced in  the  treatment  of  diseases.  Under  this  somewhat  popular, 
ized  definition  we  may  very  properly  include  the  M.D.  or  doctor  of 
medicine;  the  D.D.S.,  vulgarly  speaking,  the  tooth  doctor;  and  the 
D.V.S.  or  horse  doctor,  for  the  definition  does  not  confine  or  limit 
the  definition  of  diseases  to  diseases  of  human  beings.  The  P.D., 
on  the  other  hand,  would  necessarily  be  restricted  under  this  defini- 
tion to  the  treatment  of  drugs,  and  under  this  interpretation  we 
might  possibly  apply  the  corresponding  definition  of  the  verb  to 
doctor;  that  is,  to  disguise  by  mixture  or  manipulation,  to  alter  for 
the  purpose  of  deception,  to  cook  up,  to  tamper  with,  to  adulterate. 
Surely  no  one  having  the  interests  of  pharmacy  at  heart  can  or 
will  countenance  such  an  interpretation  of  the  objects  of  our  voca- 
tion. If  pharmacy  is  to  be  our  occupation,  and  if  the  occupation 
has  been  and  is  a  legitimate  and  honorable  one,  why  should  we  object 
to  being  called  pharmacists,  and  why  should  we  attempt  to  appro- 
priate titles  that  are  not  in  harmony  with  the  requirements  and 
objects  of  our  occupation  ?  Despite  the  fact  that  the  title  Phar.  D. 
has  been  conferred  in  this  country  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  on 
the  graduating  classes  in  colleges  of  pharmacy,  and  during  that 
time  has  probably  been  conferred  on  thousands  of  graduates,  it  cer- 
tainly has  signally  failed  to  be  recognized  or  appreciated  by  the 
mass  of  people  who  have  come  in  contact  with,  or  have  required  the 
services  of,  these  men. 
The  title  Pharmacist,  on  the  other  hand,  has  become  recognized 
as  a  proper  and  honorable  one.  The  occupation  of  the  pharmacist, 
as  an  occupation,  is  much  more  in  keeping  with  that  of  the  chemist, 
having  bred  and  fostered  the  latter,  it  would  be  quite  appropriate, 
therefore,  to  adopt  or  to  continue  the  use  of  pharmaceutical  chemist, 
providing  we  were  not  quite  content  with  the  now  time-honored 
Graduate  in  Pharmacy.  In  this  connection  we  should  always 
remember  that  we  cannot  expect  to  raise  our  own  individual  stand- 
ing, or  the  standing  of  those  dependent  on  us,  by  attempting  to 
bring  the  conditions  of  our  surroundings  down  to  our  particular 
level ;  we  must,  on  the  other  hand,  attempt  by  all  the  means  at  our 
command,  to  raise  ourselves  and  others  in  our  particular  line,  up  to 
oreven  above  the  standards  of  requirement  for  the  classes  with 
