66  Will  Fharmacists  Accept  f  {^'^Teh^Jim^'''^' 
and  conferences  could  be  had  as  to  desirable  points  to  be  made,  and  the  result 
would  tend  to  prevent  each  from  trenching  on  the  other's  domains. 
9.  In  the  battle  with  disease,  physicians,  surgeons,  dentists,  specialists,  phar- 
macists, and  veterinarians,  ought  to  move  harmoniously  forward  against  the 
enemy  that  means  war;  and  war  means  kill  or  be  killed.  Nothing  is  gained  by 
derision  and  decrying  opposition  of  one  division  against  the  other,  which  often 
result  in  defeat.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  everything  to  be  found  by  the 
mutual  confidence,  respect,  and  trust  which  such  a  Section  would  inspire  and 
foster. 
10.  The  overture  should  come  from  the  American  Medical  Association. 
E.  Cutter,  M.  D. 
New  York,  November,  1887. 
There  can  be  no  question  about  the  desirability  of  making  a  strong 
effort  to  bring  together  the  best  elements  of  the  professions  of  medi- 
cine and  pharmacy,  and  it  is  very  doubtful  if  a  more  opportune  time 
than  the  present  can  be  secured  for  the  inauguration  of  a  concerted 
movement  looking  to  this  end. 
Dr.  Cutter  has  outlined  briefly,  but  clearly,  many  of  the  advantages 
that  would  be  derived  from  the  establishment  of  a  Section  on  Pharmacy 
in  the  American  Medical  Association,  and  if  an  invitation  were  ex- 
tended to  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  it  would  doubtless 
find  favor,  and  be  accepted. 
One  very  important  reason  for  a  medium  for  interchange  of  ideas 
has  not  been  alluded  to  by  Dr.  Cutter,  and  this  is,  the  necessity  for 
extended  joint  conference  by  physicians  and  pharmacists  upon  the 
approaching  revision  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia.  Much  of 
the  unfavorable  criticism  upon  the  last  edition  of  this  standard  would 
have  been  avoided,  if  the  members  of  both  professions  represented  in 
the  national  organizations  of  each,  had  previously  convened  and  pre- 
sented a  joint  report  to  the  Washington  convention  embodying  their 
views.  The  pharmacopoeia  of  a  country  having  the  magnitude  of  ours; 
coupled  with  such  diversity  in  population  and  climate,  as  we  have  here, 
materia  medica  must  contain  remedies  which  are  representative,  and 
which  satisfy  the  needs  of  all  sections,  and  whilst  the  actual  work  of 
compiling  the  Pharmacopoeia  is  best  performed  by  a  committee  speci- 
ally appointed  by  a  convention  called  solely  to  consider  the  work, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  views  of  the  American  Medical  Association 
(if  they  had  been  offered  at  the  last  convention,  for  revising  the  Phar- 
macopoeia) would  have  received  the  same  consideration  that  those  of 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  did;  and  this  practically 
amounted  to  the  almost  complete  adoption  of  their  report. 
