522  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.     {AlAUg°uust  Fig%m' 
paired  without  wrecking  the  pharmacopoeia.  There  exist  certain 
forces  which  tend  to  undermine  and  subvert  these  principles.  These 
forces  must  be  checked.  All  true  pharmacists,  all  true  physicians, 
all  true  Americans  should  cry  "  Save  the  Pharmacopoeia." 
While  antagonism  to  the  principles  of  the  pharmacopoeia  is 
serious,  ignorance  and  indifference  towards  it  is  of  a  graver  aspect. 
Too  many  medical  men  administer  medicines  without  a  knowledge 
of,  or  without  regard  to  the  pharmacopoeia.  It  is  seldom  a  living 
part  of  the  practitioner's  armamentarium.  Buyers  and  sellers  of 
medicine  only  respect  it  to  the  extent  that  they  may  keep  "  within 
the  law."  In  drug  stores  it  has  been  stated  that  they  could  get  along 
without  it.  The  college  student  may  "cram"  up  on  the  definitions 
of  the  pharmacopoeia,  but  he  has  no  real  knowledge  or  care  as  to  its 
philosophy,  or  the  principles  which  underlie  and  make  it  what  it  is. 
Whatever  else  the  graduate  in  pharmacy  may  know,  he  should 
not  receive  a  degree  until  he  can  show  a  knowledge  of  the  history 
and  fundamental  principles  of  the  pharmacopoeia.  In  all  depart- 
ments of  life  we  find  that  at  this  time  there  is  a  revolt,  a  hostility 
against  that  which  has  the  sanction  of  the  past.  There  is  a  craze  for 
innovations. 
In  this  struggle  the  pharmacopoeia  should  steadfastly  be  main- 
tained, true  to  its  traditions,  true  to  its  principles.  The  pharma- 
copoeia is  the  hope  of  pharmacy,  the  hope  of  medicine — let  it  be 
ours  to  see  that  it  does  not  perish. 
The  Spirit  of  Revision. 
The  direct  charge  has  been  made  that  the  pharmacopoeia  has 
become  commercialized,  that  the  dominant  influence  has  been  that 
of  the  manufacturer  and  the  purveyor  of  medicines.  The  oft- 
repeated  statement  that  pharmacy  has  become  commercialized  is  a 
statement  of  fact,  and  it  may  be  stated  likewise  with  truth  that 
medicine  has  become  commercialized. 
In  these  days,  costs,  expenses,  incomes,  profits  are  before  us  with 
increasing  intensity. 
Whatever  a  man  may  wish  to  do  it  is  a  preliminary  consideration 
that  his  achievements  must  have  a  money  value.  No  matter  how 
gifted  he  may  be,  he  must  turn  his  powers  into  coin  or  he  cannot  use 
them.  We  live  in  a  day  where  the  getting  and  keeping  of  money  is 
the  superior  gift  to  which  all  others  must  bow. 
