456  .  Pharmacy  in  the  Italian  Army.  {Am,^S^-1^BL 
The  Austrians  were  held  on  the  Piave,  and,  on  the  mountain  passes, 
their  renewed  attack  in  the  following  June  was  repulsed  with  the 
heaviest  loss,  and  they  were  hurled  back  into  their  own  territory  in 
October,  1918. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  French  Service  de  Sante  in  order  properly 
to  appreciate  the  position  held  by  pharmacy  in  the  army  of  our 
Italian  Allies,  it  is  necessary  briefly  to  sketch  the  organization  of 
the  Italian  Medical  Service.  Italy  as  a  unified  kingdom  is  of  so 
recent  a  date  that  its  Medical  Service  might  be  thought  to  have  no 
history;  but  this  is  hardly  the  case,  for  so  far  back  as  1833  we  find 
an  organized  service  in  what  was  then  the  kingdom  of  Sardinia, 
with  one  pharmacist  to  about  every  ten  medical  officers.  It  is  note- 
worthy, also,  that  the  organization  of  the  Army  Medical  Service,  in 
the  form  of  autonomous  medical  units,  was  adopted  earlier  in  Italy 
than  in  any  other  continental  country. 
The  Army  Medical  Inspectorate  at  the  Italian  War  Office  con- 
sists of  an  Inspector-in-Chief,  assisted  by  five  inspectors,  of  whom 
one  is  a  pharmacist  officer  designated  "  Inspector  of  Pharmacy  and 
Chemical  Services/' 
Grades  of  the  Italian  Medical  Service. — The  medical  officers 
of  the  Italian  Army  and  Italian  Red  Cross — to  which  I  will  refer 
subsequently — have  ordinary  military  titles  followed  by  the  word 
"  Medico."  Pharmacist  officers  do  not,  however,  hold  ordinary 
military  titles.    They  are  graded  as  follows : 
Chemico  farmacista  ispettore,  ranking  as  colonel. 
Chemico  farmacista  direttore,  ranking  as  lieutenant-colonel. 
Farmacista  Capo  di  ia  Classe,  ranking  as  major. 
Farmacista  Capo  di  2a  Classe,  ranking  as  captain. 
Farmacista  di  ia  Classe,  ranking  as  captain  also,  but  drawing 
less  pay  than  the  Farmacista  Capo  di  2a  Classe. 
Farmacista  di  2a  Classe,  ranking  as  lieutenant. 
Farmacista  di  complemento  di  Classe,  ranking  as  second  lieu- 
tenant. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  Australian  Commonwealth  Forces,  there 
are  no  distinctions  in  the  emoluments  of  different  branches  of  the 
Italian  Army.  All  officers,  whether  combatant,  medical  or  pharma- 
ceutical, draw  the  pay  of  the  rank  to  which  they  belong.  Medical 
officers  draw  a  small  additional  special  allowance,  but  the  privilege 
is  not  shared  by  their  pharmaceutical  colleagues.  Pharmacist  and 
medical  officers  wear  the  same  field  gray  uniform  as  other  officers, 
