Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
February,  ) 
Pharmaceutical  Research. 
139 
The  thorough  study  of  the  numerous  medicinal  products  sup- 
plied by  pharmacists,  and  the  processes  employed  in  securing  and 
preparing  medicines  will  open  up  boundless  fields  for  study  with 
innumerable  research  problems,  the  possibilities  of  which  and  the 
value  thereof  to  mankind  cannot  be  estimated.  Suffice  it  to  proclaim 
that  "the  sum  of  scientific  knowledge  for  the  benefit  of  the  national 
strength  and  well  being"  acquired  thereby,  will  hold  no  secondary 
place. 
The  practical  issue  at  this  time  and  an  important  question  be- 
fore American  pharmacists  is  how  pharmaceutical  research  can  be 
systematized  and  organized  so  that  the  importance  of  co-operation 
of  this  branch  of  scientific  investigation  will  be  fully  recognized,  and 
an  appropriate  place  in  the  scheme  of  the  National  Research  Council 
be  assigned  to  pharmacy. 
The  field  open  to  pharmaceutical  research  is  now  not  more  re- 
stricted than  formerly,  but  on  the  contrary,  is  continually  expand- 
ing and  it  is  but  a  fair  inference  to  assert  that  the  value  of  the  past 
investigations  can  be  more  than  duplicated  by  those  of  the  future. 
There  is  no  lack  of  opportunity  for  pharmacists  to  engage  in  study 
and  research,  and  the  present  generation  should  not  let  the  imputa- 
tion rest  that  there  is  now  less  desire.  An  observing  writer  has  re- 
cently stated  that  pharmacy  has  never  been  more  in  need  of  research 
upon  strictly  pharmaceutical  problems  than  at  the  present  time. 
There  is  scarcely  a  topic  associated  with  the  practice  of  phar- 
macy on  which  the  available  knowledge  can  be  said  to  be  complete. 
Innumerable  are  the  questions  requiring  further  study  arising  from 
the  natural  kingdoms  and  all  quarters  of  the  globe  from  which  medi- 
cines are  obtained.  The  methods  and  processes  employed  in  phar- 
macy are  not  yet  sufficiently  understood,  and  despite  all  the  work 
done  on  percolation,  and  all  that  has  been  written  thereon,  the  last 
word  has  not  yet  been  spoken.  The  value  of  the  various  solvents 
and  their  appropriate  use  in  the  extraction  of  different  drugs  is 
still  an  open  question,  meriting  further  extensive  investigations  in- 
volving in  each  drug  a  study  of  its  active  constituents  and  their 
behavior  to  solvents  "in  situ"  and  after  extraction.  The  revisions 
of  our  national  standards,  the  Pharmacopoeia  and  National  Formu- 
lary, call  for  continuous  research  along  many  lines.  The  tests  and 
assay  processes  are  constantly  undergoing  revision  and  must  be 
considered  on  the  whole  as  tentative  and  requiring  much  further 
