138 
Pharmaceutical  Research. 
{  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(  February,  1921. 
of  Procter,  Squibb,  Diehl,  Lloyd  and  others  as  contributions  of  great 
practical  worth  to  pharmacy. 
The  events  of  the  Civil  War  presented  new  opportunities  for 
pharmaceutical  research  and  the  further  development  of  such  phar- 
macists as  Maisch  and  Squibb.  The  Southern  States  were  compelled 
to  rely  much  upon  their  natural  resources.  To  meet  this  necessity 
Dr.  Francis  P.  Porcher  wrote  his  book  on  The  Resources  of  the 
Southern  Fields  and  Forests,  Medical,  Economical  and  Agricultural, 
and  this  work  is  still  frequently  referred  to  as  an  authority. 
Dr.  Charles  Mohr,  a  southern  pharmacist,  likewise,  made  many 
valuable  scientific  investigations  of  the  natural  products  and  re- 
sources of  several  of  the  Southern  States  and  his  contributions  to 
our  literature  are  of  great  practical  value  to  medicine  and  pharmacy 
as  well  as  to  botany. 
The  organizers  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  in 
1852,  had  in  mind  as  main  purposes,  the  improvement  of  the  quality 
of  drugs  imported  and  the  better  education  and  protection  of  phar- 
macists. The  objects  announced  suggested  research,  and  this  organ- 
ization has  ever  since  been  the  nucleus  around  which  has  been  gath- 
ered the  principal  research  workers  in  pharmacy,  and  its  publications 
have  been  the  mediums  for  disseminating  the  far-reaching  results. 
The  great  World  War  forcefully  demonstrated  the  necessity 
for  co-ordinated  scientific  research,  applicable  to  the  industries  as 
well  as  to  modern  warfare.  As  a  war  measure,  the  National  Re- 
search Council  was  organized  in  1916  primarily  for  the  purpose  of 
stimulating  and  co-ordinating  research  on  war  problems.  In  19 18, 
by  executive  order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States,  this  was  re- 
organized as  a  permanent  body,  and  the  announcement  was  officially 
made  that  "its  essential  purpose  is  the  promotion  of  scientifc  re- 
search and  of  the  application  and  dissemination  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge for  the  benefit  of  the  national  strength  and  well  being."  It  is 
now  chartered  as  the  National  Academy  of  Science.  Despite  the 
far-reaching  possibilities  and  effects  of  pharmaceutical  researcn 
and  the  importance  to  mankind  of  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all 
remedial  substances,  and  that  pharmacists  are  the  logical  persons  for 
the  carrying  on  of  such  investigations,  it  remains  a  fact  that  so  far 
pharmacy  has  not  been  recognized  in  the  plans  of  the  National  Re- 
search Council,  and  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  pharmaceutical 
research  is  to  be  given  any  encouragement. 
