600  Pharmacy  as  a  Hobby.  tAm'iept.' F9%rm' 
By  far  the  strongest  and  most  valuable  motive,  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  development  and  progress  of  any  profession,  is  the  one 
which  has  to  do  with  the  desire  for  mental  development  through  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge. 
The  answer  to  the  eternal  "  Why  ? "  has  been  sought  by  indi- 
viduals in  all  ages  and  out  of  this  quest  has  arisen  all  that  we  prize 
in  the  shape  of  knowledge.  Those  who  have  contributed  most 
largely  to  the  progress  of  the  past  are  not  necessarily  the  ones  who 
stand  out  like  beacon  lights  as  having  enunciated  important  axioms, 
or  laws,  or  discovered  valuable  elements,  but  the  real  credit  belongs 
to  the  silent,  patient,  plodding  workers,  who  investigate  from  sheer 
love  of  the  work  and  who,  little  caring  whether  results  have  any 
practical  value  at  the  time,  store  up  the  material  which  genius  later 
arranges  into  that  classified  coherence  which  men  call  Science. 
Much  of  the  pioneer  work  of  this  kind  in  chemistry  and  medicine 
has  been  done  by  pharmacists,  whose  successors  too  frequently  see 
themselves  frowned  upon  and  discredited  by  members  of  both  of 
the  sister  professions  which  have  been  founded  and  developed 
through  her  help. 
Much  has  been  written  regarding  these  matters  in  order  to  bring 
pharmacists  to  a  realization  of  their  neglected  opportunities.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  any  effect  has  been,  or  could  be,  produced  in 
changing  the  habits  of  work  and  of  thought  of  older  pharmacists. 
It  is  the  younger  members  of  the  profession  in  whom  the  hope  of 
advancement  lies  and  the  responsibility  for  their  guidance  is  largely 
in  the  hands  of  the  colleges,  for  there  no  longer  exists  the  preceptor 
of  by-gone  days  who  guided  the  neophyte  for  a  period  of  three  years 
or  more.   His  disappearance  is  keenly  missed. 
One  who  has  his  mind  so  set  upon  the  commercial  side  of  phar- 
macy as  to  be  oblivious  to  its  history,  tradition  and  possibilities,  is 
not  to  be  swayed,  nor  perhaps  even  interested  in  the  following,  but 
it  is  hoped  that  it  will  be  read  by  some  of  the  younger  generation 
and  that  some  will  be  stimulated  thereby  to  select  and  encourage 
such  applicants  for  entrance  into  pharmacy  as  betray  an  interest  in 
the  romance  and  sentiment  which  are  so  closely  interwoven  in  its 
scientific  possibilities. 
Let  us  take  a  brief  survey  of  some  of  the  substances  of  which 
medicines  are  made,  with  which  the  pharmacist  has  more  or  less  fre- 
quently to  handle. 
The  tales  of  adventure,  of  conquest,  of  romance,  the  experiences 
