284 
Current  Literature. 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1913. 
a  higher  general  average  than  the  class  to  whom  it  has  been 
previously  awarded  was  presented  on  this  occasion  to  the  class 
1913-1914  and  accepted  on  behalf  of  the  class  by  Henry  B.  Decker, 
the  presentation  being  made  by  Mr.  Walter  A.  Rumsey. 
PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
The  regular  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  was  held  on  Tuesday, 
May  20th  at  3  o'clock  and  was  taken  up  by  a  number  of  members 
of  the  graduating  class  who  presented  summaries'  of  their  thesis 
work.  Abstracts  of  these  theses  will  be  published  in  a  later  issue  of 
this  Journal.  The  following  are  names  of  those  participating  in 
this  symposium:  J.  F.  Elward,  P.  F.  Fackenthall,  Harvey  Frank, 
C.  T.  Gilbert,  H.  J.  Heaton,  V.  O.  Homerberg,  S.  M.  Irwin,  J.  F. 
Keppler  and  S.  C.  Rea. 
James  Hugh  Allan,  of  Baltimore,  presided.  Dr.  George  B. 
Weidemann  was  re-elected  Recorder  for  the  meetings  for  1913-1914. 
George  B.  Weidemann, 
Recorder. 
CURRENT  LITERATURE. 
A  COUNCIL  ON  PATENT  MEDICINES. 
The  better  class  of  drug  journals,  in  common  with  the  better 
class  of  the  pharmacists  themselves,  have  long  recognized  the 
anomalous  position  in  which  the  modern  druggist  stands.  On  the 
one  hand,  the  druggist  urges  physicians  to  return  to  rational  pre- 
scribing and  to  eschew  proprietary  products ;  on  the  other  hand, 
the  druggist  himself  stands  before  the  medical  profession  as  a 
dispenser  of  "  patent  medicines  " — proprietary  remedies  of  the  most 
unscientific  and  frequently  fraudulent  type.  In  commenting  on  this 
unfortunate  state  of  affairs,  the  Journal  of  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association  in  its  April  issue  says  that  the  druggist's 
position  has  been  pressed  on  him  by  force  of  circumstances  "  in 
which  patent  medicines  represent  his  business  necessities  while 
the  propaganda  for  rational  prescribing  represents  his  aspirations 
for  better  things  and  his  strivings  for  a  more  professional,  as  well 
as  a  more  profitable  business."  Recognizing  that  something  must 
be  done  if  pharmacists  wish  to  retain  the  confidence  both  of  the 
