Am.  jour.  Pharm. )     Centenary  of  Pharmaceutical  Education. 
February,  1921.    >  J  J 
77 
progress,  had  about  run  their  courses,  and  now  more  rational  ideals 
prevailed  that  laid  the  foundation  for  the  great  advance  of  the 
succeeding  century  in  physical,  chemical  and  in  natural  sciences. 
This  was  the  time  of  the  extension  of  scientific  pursuits  and  the 
organization  of  scientific  societies  in  America.  Likewise,  was  it 
the  time  when  new  industries  were  being  organized  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  our  artisans  were  becoming  more  skilful  and  ingenious. 
Education  was  claiming  its  due  share  of  attention  and  schools  and 
colleges  were  being  instituted  in  various  sections  of  the  country. 
The  foundation  for  a  distinctive  American  School  of  Literature 
was  being  laid. 
The  year  1821  commences  a  new  era  in  the  histor}^  of  phar- 
macy. Samuel  F.  Troth,  in  1864,  gave  the  following  word  picture 
of  the  condition  of  the  practice  of  pharmacy  at  this  time  and  the 
dependence  of  the  early  drug  trade  upon  foreign  sources  of  supply. 
"Epsom  salts  was  very  little  used  when  I  was  an  apprentice ;  we  used 
to  purchase  from  20  to!  40  pounds  of  Glauber  at  a  time,  at  2%  cents  per 
pound,  while  we  would  only  buy  a  single  keg  of  Epsom,  holding  about  25 
pounds,  at  15  cents.  The  first  really  nice  Epsom  salts  I  recollect  having  in  our 
store,  was  the  year  the  College  was  organized ;  John  Farr,  the  noted  chemist, 
was  going  to  pay  a  visit  to  his  friends  in  London,  and  offered  to  make  some 
purchases  for  us,  and  one  of  the  articles  in  that  first  importation  of  our 
house  was  two  casks,  1190  pounds  of  beautiful  Epsom  salts,  at  a  cost  here  of 
7  cents  per  pound,  which  was  so  much  in  demand  by  the  retailers  that  we 
increased  our  orders,  until  the  Baltimore  manufacturers  put  a  stop  to  our 
importations  of  the  article.!  Super,  carb.  soda,  which  has  been  such  a  com- 
mon and  universally  used  article  of  later  years,  was  hardly  ever  seen  when 
I  was  learning  the  business ;  I  think  the  first  we  ,;had  in  our  store,  was  pur- 
chased from  Farr  &  Kunzie  at  $1.25  per  pound,  in  1821,  when  we  paid 
them  the  same  price  for  tartaric  acid. 
"I  attended  the  first  and  second  courses  of  lectures  of  this  Institution, 
and  should  have  applied  for  the  diploma  had  there  been  any  such  prize  to 
have  been  obtained,  but  the  College  did  not  even  decide  upon  the  form  of  a 
diploma  until  I  had  been  in  business  for  myself  between  three  and  four  years. 
"Forty  years  ago,  all  the  calcined  magnesia  we  sold  was  burned  in 
Abram  Miller's  pottery,  opposite  this  building,  where  the  public  school  now 
stands;  we  used  to  take  a  case  of  English  carb.  magnesia,  pick  out  some  of 
the  nicest  and  'hardest  lumps,  and  -pack  the  balance  in  earthen  crocks  pro- 
cured from  the  pottery,  and  send  them  around  to  be  put  in  the  kiln  when 
Miller  burned  his  ware." 
During  the  Colonial  period,  the  several  branches  of  medicine 
were  conducted  in  a  rather  primitive  style.    The  population  was 
