336 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Phartn. 
June,  1895. 
EDITORIAL. 
PHARMACEUTICAL  DEGREES. 
It  was  announced  in  the  April  number  of  this  Journal  that  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy  had  decided  to  establish  a  three  years'  course  of  study, 
instead  of  the  present  one  of  two  years  ;  and,  in  order  to  compensate  for  this 
additional  study,  it  had  been  decided  to  confer  on  graduates,  who  have  had 
four  years'  practical  experience  in  the  drug  business,  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Pharmacy. 
There  have  always  been  in  attendance  at  the  College  a  number  of  students, 
who,  for  various  reasons,  have  not  taken  store  experience  because  of  their 
intention  to  study  medicine,  or  to  take  positions  in  manufacturing  laboratories. 
It  has  also  been  decided  to  grant  a  degree  to  the  individuals  of  this  class.  The 
title  conferred  on  them  for  three  years'  attendance  at  the  College,  and  the 
passing  of  satisfactory  examinations,  will  be  that  of  Pharmaceutical  Chemist. 
The  degree  of  Graduate  in  Pharmacy  will  not  be  awarded  after  the  graduation 
of  the  class  now  in  course. 
The  reasons  for  conferring  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Pharmacy  have  already 
been  clearly  set  forth  by  Professor  Remington  in  the  paper  referred  to,  and 
further  argument  seems  unnecessary  at  the  present  time. 
As  was  anticipated,  some  opposing  criticism  has  already  appeared  in  the 
medical  press.  It  is  natural  that  certain  elements  in  the  medical  profession 
should  be  jealous  of  encroachment  by  the  pharmacist,  even  if  it  is  only  in  the 
field  of  titles.  They  may  be  reminded,  however,  that  the  candidate  for  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Pharmacy  will  have  given  one  year  more  to  the  study  of 
his  profession  than  was  until  a  comparatively  recent  period  required  of  the 
candidate  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
It  has  not  been  so  long  since  two  years  of  study  in  our  leading  medical 
schools  sufficed  to  procure  the  medical  degree.  Is  it  reasonable  to  expect  the 
pharmaceutical  student  to  be  content  with  simply  the  statement  that  he  is  a 
graduate  in  pharmacy  after  he  has  devoted  three  years  to  the  study  of  his  pro- 
fession ? 
The  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  has  not  taken  this  step  to  gain  an 
advantage  over  other  colleges  of  pharmacy,  for  they  can,  and  probably  will,  be 
conferring  the  same  degree  within  two  years,  but  because  it  has  been  evident 
for  some  time  that  the  pharmaceutical  profession  of  the  United  States  demands 
something  more  than  the  title  of  Graduate  in  Pharmacy. 
The  editor  of  the  Pharmaceutische  Rundschau,  of  New  York,  has  ventured 
to  assume  the  role  of  a  prophet,  and  to  predict  the  calamities  which  will  befall 
the  two  professions  of  pharmacy  and  medicine  if  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Phar- 
macy shall  be  conferred. 
The  editor  of  the  Medical  News,  of  Philadelphia,  echoes  these  prophetic 
arguments,  and  supplements  them  with  the  following  wail  :  "The  Doctors  of 
Divinity  have  largely  gone  into  the  patent-medicine  business  in  opposition  to 
physicians  ;  and  now  if  every  druggist  also  turns  doctor,  what  in  the  world 
may  the  medical  men  do,  and  what  may  they  be  called  ?"  So  far  as  his  deplor- 
ing the  opposition  of  the  D.D.  is  concerned,  we  can  only  say  that,  in  his 
sweeping  arraignment  of  the  clergyman,  the  editor  probably  did  not  intend  to 
make  it  appear  that  the  physician  is  in  the  patent- medicine  business,  too,  but  it 
