54Q 
Editorial. 
/  Am.  Jour  Pharm. 
I      October,  1895. 
EDITORIAL. 
INSTRUCTION  BEFORE  DEGREES. 
It  has  not  beeu  long  since  we  heard  a  well-known  teacher  in  a  college  of 
pharmacy  say  in  reference  to  education  : 
"  It  is  not  so  much  a  question  of  degrees  as  it  is  one  of  instruction  ;  offer  the 
right  kind  of  instruction  and  let  the  degrees  be  a  secondary  consideration." 
It  strikes  us  that  this  is  the  key-note  of  the  whole  subject. 
The  college  graduate  will  be  judged  not  only  by  his  knowledge  at  the  pre- 
scription counter,  but  also  by  his  behavior  and  tact  towards  customers.  When 
he  is  placed  on  trial  by  the  proprietor,  does  he  show  these  qualifications,  or 
does  he  display  his  titles  ?  Does  it  matter  then  whether  he  has  had  600  or 
6,000  hours  of  college  instruction  ?  He  may  be  able  to  write  all  the  reactions 
involved  in  the  preparation  of  liquor  ammonii  acetatis,  but  if  he  cannot  deci- 
pher the  obscure  chirography  of  the  physician,  if  he  cannot  name  the  price  of 
this  simple  prescription  without  hesitation,  and  if  he  cannot  bottle,  cork,  wrap 
and  deliver  in  a  way  to  inspire  the  confidence  of  both  customer  and  proprietor, 
he  is  lost  so  far  as  that  situation  is  concerned.  Where,  and  where  only,  can  he 
best  learn  these  small  but  vital  matters  ?  Is  he  to  be  kept  from  them  until  he  is 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  then,  loaded  with  a  heavy  title,  go  into  a  store  and 
have  the  errand-boy  give  him  points  ?  Or  is  he  to  "  cram  "  for  600  hours,  pass 
his  examinations,  and  then  go  into  a  store  to  learn  the  business  ? 
We  have  had  too  many  windy  effusions  about  the  number  of  hours  of  instruc- 
tion .  Knowledge  cannot  be  measured  by  the  yard-stick,  nor  by  hours  of  instruc- 
tion. It  is  gained  by  experience  and  judicious  study,  not  by  memorizing  the  order 
of  the  words  on  the  page  of  a  book.  Everyone  who  knows  anything  of  education 
is  aware  that  one  hour  of  study  a  day  for  six  days  is  better  than  six  hours  of 
study  in  one  day,  or  that  six  hours  of  study  per  week  for  six  weeks  are  better 
than  thirty-six  hours  of  study  in  one  week.  The  same  principle  applies  to 
laboratory  work.  Is  not  the  student  who  devotes  four  years  to  studying  phar- 
macy, and  who  distributes  his  time  between  the  college  and  the  shop,  infinitely 
better  educated  than  the  one  who  has  all  his  college  study  "  crammed  "  into  one 
year,  then  graduates  with  flying  colors,  and  afterwards  starts  in  to  really  learn 
the  rudiments  of  the  drug  business,  and  get  his  shop  practice? 
The  respectable  medical  colleges  have  devoted  large  sums  of  money  to  equip 
and  conduct  hospitals  in  order  that  their  students  may  combine  theory  and  prac- 
tice. Would  any  sane  medical  student,  or  graduate  either,  undertake  an  impor- 
tant amputation  after  having  simply  studied  a  work  on  surgery?  Does  he  not  first 
dissect  the  cadaver,  then  see  the  operation  performed  by  others  on  the  living 
subject,  and  then  assist  at  one  or  more  similar  operations  before  he  undertakes 
it  himself?  Is  the  case  of  the  pharmaceutical  student  very  different  from  this? 
We  have  had  enough  of  this  talk  in  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association 
about  pharmaceutical  education.  It  is  about  time  to  rule  the  whole  subject  out 
of  order,  or  in  some  other  way  deliver  the  members  from  the  "long-winded  " 
papers  and  "spoutings  "  of  a  few  charlatans  who  never  had  the  advancement 
of  pharmaceutical  education  at  heart,  who  are  not  in  science  for  the  sake  of 
science,  and  to  whom  anything  but  their  own  unmerited  advancement  is  a 
foreign  thought. 
