AlMa?dir,'  i^m-\  influence  of  Pharmacists  on  Chemistry.  197 
is  on  a  par  with  certain  phases  of  medical  instruction  where  the 
aim  seems  to  teach  the  student  how  to  diagnose  a  disease  and  then 
let  him  flounder  around  as  to  a  remedy.  The  very  title  the  Phila- 
delphia College  of  Pharmacy  and  Science  puts  the  proper  emphasis 
upon  the  valuation  that  should  be  placed  upon  instruction  in  this 
and  other  schools  of  pharmacy.  Pharmacy  should  be  the  foremost 
consideration.  A  knowledge  of  other  sciences  is  essential  for  the 
trained  pharmacist,  but,  whether  retailer,  wholesaler,  manufacturer 
or  teacher,  the  graduates  of  our  pharmacy  colleges  should  realize 
that  they  are  first,  last  and  at  all  times,  Pharmacists. 
INFLUENCE  OF  PHARMACISTS  ON  THE  DEVELOPMENT 
AND  ADVANCE  OF  MODERN  CHEMISTRY* 
By-  Samuel  P.  Sadtler,  Ph.D.,  LL.D., 
Emeritus  Professor  of  Chemistry,  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy  and  Science. 
Pharmacy  as  an  art  ante-dates  modern  chemistry  by  several 
centuries. 
Following  the  era  of  the  alchemists,  and  at  about  the  end 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  a  different  turn  was  given  to  the  study  0/ 
alchemy,  and  under  the  general  influence  of  Paracelsus,  experi- 
mentation was  turned  to  the  study  of  new  medical  qualities  in 
various  natural  substances,  and  the  projects  of  transmitting  the 
baser  metals  into  gold  and  silver  were  practically  abandoned  for 
the  time.  Paracelsus  and  his  immediate  followers  made  many 
medical  and  drug  discoveries.  Indeed,  it  has  well  been  said  that 
"the  apothecary  shops  of  Europe  became  research  laboratories,  from 
which  many  valuable  medical  discoveries  emanated." 
This  was  the  era  of  the  iatro-chemists.  Among  these  names 
we  have,  besides  Paracelsus,  Libavius,  in  1595;  Glauber,  from  1603 
to  1668,  whose  name  still  remains  a  familiar  one  to  the  chemist! 
of  today,  and  others. 
We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  Priestley,  who  discovered 
oxygen,  in  1774,  as  one  of  the  founders  of  modern  chemistry,  but 
''■    *An  address  delivered  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  Founders'  Day. 
