650  Review  of  Advances  in  Pharmacy.  {AnoJober  ^Y™' 
"  The  department  quotes  a  knitting  company  of  California,  which 
says  it  '  feels  certain  that  many  weary-brain  hours  could  be  saved 
by  the  elimination  of  the  dozen  unit,  as  this  also  involves  the  trans- 
lation of  price  from  dozen  to  single  pieces,  or  a  division  by  twelve/ 
"  Banish  the  dozen." 
What  is  a  Pharmacist? — In  the  Chemist  and  Druggist  of  May  10 
the  foregoing  question  is  asked  and  then  answered  in  a  quotation 
from  Edward  R.  Squibb,  which  deserves  to  and  probably  will  go 
down  to  pharmaceutical  posterity  as  a  classic :  "  A  pharmacist  is  not 
a  druggist.  A  druggist  is  a  merchant  of  drugs,  a  dealer  in  substances 
which,  though  originally  used  in  medicines,  came  to  be  used  in  many 
other  arts.  The  pharmacist,  synonymous  with  pharmaceutist  and 
apothecary,  but  not  with  druggist  or  chemist,  is  an  educated,  qual- 
ified practitioner  of  the  art  of  pharmacy.  He  is  a  dealer  in  sub- 
stances used  to  prevent  and  relieve  distress ;  who  has  the  knowledge 
and  skill  to  secure  a  proper  quality  in  his  merchandise;  to  prepare 
this  for  its  ultimate  uses ;  and  to  secure  it  against  accident  and  crim- 
inal misapplication.  The  druggist  is  a  merchant  like  the  grocer,  the 
dry-goods  dealer,  etc.  The  pharmacist  may  be  all  this,  but  must  be 
very  much  more." 
A  National  Department  of  Health. — Hon.  Joseph  I.  France, 
United  States  Senator  from  Maryland  and  chairman  of  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Public  Health  and  National  Quarantine,  has  intro- 
duced in  the  senate  a  bill  with  the  above  title  which  covers  the  sub- 
ject in  a  very  broad  way.  This  makes  the  third  bill  now  before 
Congress,  a  fact  which  shows  clearly  that  the  need  and  usefulness 
of  an  efficient  national  department  of  health  is  becoming  more  ap- 
parent every  year  and  especially  since  our  entrance  into  the  Great 
War.  The  result  of  the  physical  examination  of  many  of  our  draft 
recruits,  a  rejection  of  nearly  29  per  cent.,  is  a  good  argument  for 
showing  the  necessity  of  the  government  taking  an  intelligent  and 
active  interest  in  the  health  of  its  people,  and  the  conditions  and 
environment  that  promote  health  and  general  well-being.  For  in- 
stance, what  a  tremendously  important  thing  it  is  for  the  people  to 
know  something  about  the  need  of  proper  care  of  public  water  sup- 
plies and  proper  disposal  of  excreta,  especially  in  the  rural  sections 
of  our  country.  This  matter  could  be  more  readily  pressed  home  to 
the  people  if  planned  on  a  national  scale  with  the  full  force  and 
power  of  the  government  supporting  it. 
