676  Pharmacy  in  the  Belgian  Army.     {A  October 
Recruitment  of  the  Medical  Service. 
There  is  nothing  corresponding  to  the  Royal  Army  Medical  Col- 
lege or  the  Val  de  Grace  in  Belgium,  and  our  R.  A.  M.  C.  is  replaced 
by  a  portion  of  what  is  called  the  Bataillon  d' 'Administration.  This 
administration  includes  all  the  administrative  service,  and  three  sec- 
tions of  it  are  known  collectively  as  Le  Service  de  Secours  de 
VArmee.  One  of  these  sections  is  the  Section  des  Hopitaux,  and 
the  other  two  correspond  to  our  Royal  Army  Veterinary  Corps  and 
the  Royal  Chaplains  Department.  The  Section  des  Hopitaux  is 
divided  into  personnel  d'ordre  or  permanent  administrative  officials 
and  personnel  technique  or  executive  personnel,  which  may  be  what 
we  would  call  "  regular  "  or  on  the  reserve.  A  student  of  pharmacy 
or  a  qualified  Pharmacien  enters  the  Medical  Service  by  enlisting 
in  the  Section  des  Hopitaux,  in  which  he  is  graded  according  to  his 
professional  standing.  Junior  students  of  pharmacy  are  graded  as 
Pharmaciens  Aspirants,  and  senior  students  and  graduates  in  phar- 
macy as  Pharmaciens  Auxiliaires.  Both  wear  the  uniform  of  a 
Pharmacien  Adjoint,  but  without  embroidery,  lace,  or  stars.  They 
go  through  a  course  of  instruction,  under  a  regular  pharmaceutical 
officer,  but  receive  no  pay  unless  they  are  mobilized  or  specially  em- 
ployed. Pharmaciens  Auxiliaries  who  wish  to  obtain  commissions 
as  Pharmaciens  Ad  joints  must  pass  a  special  examination  when 
they  are  graded  as  Pharmaciens  Suppleants.  Vacancies  in  the  rank 
of  Pharmacien  Adjoint  are  filled  up  from  among  the  Pharmaciens 
Suppleants,  who  must  have  graduated  in  pharmacy  at  one  of  the 
universities.  Instead  of  proceeding  to  a  permanent  commission  in 
the  Army,  a  Pharmacien  Suppliant  may  pass  to  the  reserve  by 
applying  for  conge  illimite,  or  permanent  leave.  The  bulk  of  the 
leading  pahrmacists  of  Belgium  were,  before  the  war,  Pharmaciens 
Suppleants  on  permanent  leave. 
Pharmaceutical  Rank  and  File. 
The  pharmacy  and  laboratory  attendants  of  the  service  are  also 
recruited  from  the  Bataillon  d' Administration.  Together  with  the 
nursing  orderlies,  they  form  a  small  part  of  the  staff  of  a  Belgian 
military  hospital,  as  the  bulk  of  the  administrative  work  is  in  the 
hands  of  non-medical  officers.  The  management  of  the  hospital  is 
quite  distinct  from  the  actual  care  and  treatment  of  the  sick.  Not 
even  the  medical  records  of  the  formation  are  kept  by  medical  per- 
