Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  | 
April,  1919. 
Private — Secret — Personal. 
203 
where  shades  of  distinction  may  perplex  even  an  expert,  holds  men's 
minds  apart.  Comes  first  a  one-sided  impression,  then,  as  discussion 
progresses,  intensity  of  argumentative  passion  takes  its  place,  next 
comes  self-bred  fanaticism  in  which  the  disputants  forget  the  ori- 
ginal cause,  to  make  personal  their  grievances,  which  may  finally 
lead  to  estrangement,  even  hatred,  each  of  the  other.  Leaders  may 
they  now  become  of  discordant  factions,  who  jump  at  conclusions 
with  not  less  vehemence  than  have  their  misled  authorities.  The 
perhaps  obsolete  meaning  of  a  word  may  be  the  foundation  on  which 
one  party  stands, — the  not  less  unimportant  dictionary  shading  of 
that  word's  application  may  possess  the  other. 
To  meet  together  in  friendly  discussion  of  this  or  any  other 
problem  becomes  now  impossible, — individual  hatred  has  made 
fanatics  of  one  and  all.  Helpless  to  argument,  as  a  fish  in  a  net, 
is  the  man  steeped  in  dogmatic  fanaticism.  Cast  your  eye  about 
you,  possibly  the  mote  that  rests  therein  may  yet  permit  you  to 
perceive  the  faults  of  others,  who  in  turn  see  your  mote  as  a  mighty 
beam  that  obstructs  your  vision.  To  cast  out  these  motes  is  as 
difficult  as  to  take  to  one's  self  the  time-honored  text  that  heads 
this  article, 
"  Come,  now,  and  let  us  reason  together !  " 
Many  are  the  men  deep-dyed  in  medical  and  pharmaceutical 
ethics,  who  during  past  decades  delighted  to  bite  and  scratch  and 
fight  each  other  over  the  words  "  secret "  and  "  private."  To  many 
men  involved  in  the  ethics  of  medicine,  as  well  as  pharmacy,  these 
words  were  from  every  angle  alike  discrediting.  And  yet,  in  some 
directions,  this  writer  believes  that  neither  word,  properly  considered, 
is  subject  to  criticism  when  applied  to  either  legitimate  pharmacy' or 
ethical  medicine.  Indeed,  he  has  been  so  bold  as  to  assert,  for  many 
years,  that  the  very  leaders  in  self-made  ethics  laid  down  for  others 
to  follow,  might  well,  before  assailing  a  neighbor,  search  their  own 
eye  for  the  mote  which  perhaps  needs,  for  location,  neither  micro- 
scope nor  telescope. 
Take  your  dictionary.  Observe  how  liberal  is  the  expert  lexi- 
cographer concerning  the  shadings  of  this  word  secret:  "hidden; 
concealed;  not  revealed;  private"  (Webster).  Note  that  in  estab- 
lishing its  authoritative  use,  appropriate  quotations  are  offered, 
from  various  authorities:  "secret  graces  and  virtues  are  the  hidden 
beauties  of  a  soul."    "  A  secret  or  silent  prayer."    Now  contrast  this 
