Am.  jour,  rharm.i       a  Higher  Degree  in  Pharmacy.  33 
January,  1921.    J  u  " 
consequently,  diffuse  very  slowly  and  imperfectly  into  the  general 
knowledge.  It  is  not  my  purpose  here  to  attack  the  "trade  secret" 
doctrine ;  there  are  many  arguments  which  support  it ;  the  net  effect 
of  it  is,  as  most  will  acknowledge,  an  impediment  to  pharmaceutical 
progress  and  actual  loss  to  the  secretive  ones  themselves. 
For  progress  in  the  solution  of  our  problems,  then,  we  must  look 
to  two  sources,  the  independent  investigators  and  the  colleges  of 
pharmacy.  Of  the  first  class  the  numbers  are  small,  so  small  that 
main  reliance  must  be  placed  upon  the  second  class,  the  colleges. 
From  these  latter  there  has  emanated  a  varying  stream  of  in-  k 
vestigations  covering  the  whole  field  of  pharmaceutical  sciences. 
At  times  the  number  of  reports  published  has  been  very  large;  at 
other  times  it  has  dwindled  to  quite  inconsiderable  volume.  It 
needs  a  stimulus  and  the  following  paper  offers  a  suggestion  as  to 
how  this  stimulus  may  be  found  and  applied. 
It  is  proposed  that  there  be  established  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Philosophy  in  Pharmacy. 
In  other  lines  of  scientific  activity  a  large  proportion  of  the  re- 
search work  accomplished  is  done  at  our  colleges  by  students  who 
are  candidates  for  the  Ph.D.  degree.  The  research  professor  has  a 
constant  stream  of  students  coming  to  him  to  be  put  to  work  on 
some  of  his  problems.  He  may  carry  out  investigations  covering  a 
long  period  of  years  and  utilizing  a  number  of  students.  The  result 
of  this  system  has  been  the  accumulation  of  vast  amounts  of 
eminently  practical  knowledge  and  the  dispelling  of  moss-covered 
and  age-encrusted  errors.  The  student  acquires  a  mastery  of  his 
subject,  a  finished  technique,  and  the  very  desirable  degree  without 
which  certain  avenues  of  scientific  endeavor  are  all  but  closed  to 
him. 
Can  this  not  be  applied  to  pharmacy  ?  Let  us  see.  The  standard 
requirements  for  the  Ph.D.  degree  in  American  institutions  of  the 
first  grade  are ;  the  bachelor's  degree  from  a  college  of  good  standing ; 
a  knowledge  of  German  and  French ;  and  three  years'  graduate  work, 
including  research,  at  least  one  year  of  which  must  be  spent  in 
residence  at  the  university  which  grants  the  degree.  The  graduate 
work  involves  the  accomplishment  of  a  stated  amount  of  work  in 
one  "major"  and  two  "minor"  subjects  with  the  presentation  and 
defense  of  a  thesis  which  reports  the  results  of  original  investiga- 
tions conducted  on  problems  in  the  "major"  subject.    Original  work 
