Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  | 
August,  1913.  f 
The  New  Drugstore. 
375 
First  Period :  The  Organic — or  Plant  and  Animal  Period  of 
Hippocrates  to  Galen. 
Second  Period :  The  Alchemic — or  Period  of  the  Philosopher's 
Stone  and  Confection  of  Trismegistus  to  Geber  and  Basil  Valentine. 
Third  Period  :  The  Iatrochemic — or  Period  of  Medical  Chem- 
istry of  Paracellus  to  Scheele. 
Fourth  Period :  The  Atomic — or  Quantitative  Period  of  Dal- 
ton,  Lavoisier  and  Berzelius. 
Rapidly  advancing  we  see  a  Fifth  Fra — it  is  not  yet  formulated 
or  defined,  but  it  is  being  shaped  out  of  a  new  philosophy.  We 
catch  glimpses  of  it  in  newer  physics,  in  radio-activity,  physical 
chemistry,  biology  and  in  many  new  pawns  on  the  chess  board 
of  man's  struggle  with  nature. 
Modern  progress  is  planted  firmly  upon  machinery — the  steam 
engine — the  steam  ship — the  dynamo — electric  communication — the 
printing  press — the  conquest  of  the  air — these  and  all  manner  of 
mechanical  devices  have  bre.d  a  humanity  with  larger  and  higher 
aims. 
There  is  at  hand  a  new  industrial  order — the  barriers  between 
creeds,  race  and  nations  are  being  broken  down — people  of  all 
lands  are  being  brought  together  into  a  conscious  solidarity.  There 
is  before  us  a  scientific  organization  of  industry,  of  politics,  of 
morals — in  brief — the  whole  scheme  of  our  daily  lives.  From  this 
must  come  the  rehabilitation  of  the  whole  machinery  of  production 
and  destruction.  The  world  will  not  go  backward — this  opening 
century  will  see  a  movement  forward  far  greater  than  the  many 
millions  that  have  gone  before. 
Pharmacy  in  the  past  has  moved  forward  with  or  in  the  van- 
guard of  scientific  advancement.  The  foundations  that  have  been 
laid  in  the  achievements  of  the  historic  past  are  secure.  Is  it  now 
going  backward?  Shall  it  go  backward?  Will  the  drugstore  keep 
pace  with  the  advancement  of  pharmacy — the  trend  of  science,  or 
will  it  separate  from  it?  Will  the  drugstore  have  a  place  in  the 
new  made  world,  or  will  it  disappear  from  sight? 
The  Drugstore  That  Is  to  Be 
Every  age  has  its  demands — its  own  work  to  do.  Pharmacy 
can  never  again  have  its  Parcellus,  Galen,  Hanbury,  Squibb,  Maisch, 
Procter,  Rice  or  its  Hallberg — for  there  will  never  be  the  need  for 
nor  the  place  for  them. 
