26 
ETHICAL  ANALYSIS. 
modifications  of  which  its  elements  are  capable  ;  so  a  man's 
knowledge  of  his  daily  motives  and  springs  of  action,  derived 
from  a  careful  ethical  analysis,  gives  him  that  sense  of  his  own 
capacities  and  power  of  directing  them  which  must  be  the  founda- 
tion of  every  well  developed  character. 
Viewed  in  this  light  the  practice  of  ethical  analysis  becomes 
an  important  individual  duty,  involving  first  the  substantial  in- 
terests of  the  individual,  and,  as  a  necessary  result,  the  propor- 
tionate elevation  of  the  profession  to  which  he  belongs  and  of 
society  at  large. 
It  becomes  a  duty  as  much  above  the  mere  dissection  of  a 
plant  or  a  mineral  as  is  mind  above  matter,  a  duty  which  presses 
itself  upon  those  who  have  no  time  or  means  to  devote  to  scien- 
tific research,  equally  with  the  chemist  and  the  man  of  science  ; 
for  unlike  chemical  investigations,  it  consumes  no  time  which 
could  otherwise  be  devoted  to  labor,  and  calls  for  no  outlay  in 
the  purchase  of  expensive  apparatus  or  materials. 
The  tests  to  be  applied  are  within  the  reach  of  all  ;  and  when 
the  moral  nature  is  kept  alive  to  their  influence  they  are  even 
quicker  in  their  operation  than  any  of  the  dynamic  or  chemical 
forces,  and  their  application,  unlike  that  of  chemical  reagents,  is 
so  obvious  and  plain,  that  "  the  way-faring  man  though  a  fool 
cannot  err  therein." 
Without  intending  to  go  into  detail  in  relation  to  the  tests 
and  reagents  employed  in  ethical  analysis,  we  may  hint  at 
one  or  two  of  the  most  familiar,  before  referring  to  some  of  the 
practices  of  druggists  and  apothecaries,  especially  inviting  their 
application. 
There  is  one  remarkably  comprehensive  test  given  in  the  great 
text  book  of  our  system  of  morals  which  is  known  to  all  as  the 
golden  rule. 
The  analyist  who  would  apply  this  test  to  many  of  the  common 
practices  of  the  trade,  would  perhaps  be  obliged  to  condemn  as 
spurious  much  that  passes  current  in  respectable  business  circles, 
and  would  get  no  more  thanks  for  his  pains  than  a  chemist  W'ho 
should  rummage  our  shelves  and  expose  all  the  adulterations  and 
sophistications  that  are  so  willingly  concealed.  Yet  this  rule 
applies  so  admirably  to  each  individual  case  of  self-examination 
as  to  be  ever  one  of  the  most  reliable  within  our  reach. 
