Ani0c°turi92?arm' }  A  Dream  of  the  Future  689" 
PHARMACY  IN  THE  ARMY. 
In  my  address  in  191 5  I  advocated  the  formation  of  an  Army 
Pharmaceutical  Service  Corps,  somewhat  on  the  lines  of  that  ob- 
taining in  many  of  the  Continental  armies.  In  this  connection  I  may 
be  permitted  to  state  that  the  Army  Council,  in  December,  1920, 
invited  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  to  appoint  three  of  its  members 
to  represent  the  Society  upon  a  Joint  Committee  with  the  Royal 
Army  Medical  Corps,  this  Committee  "to  consider  the  employment 
of  pharmacists  in  the  Army  in  connection  with  the  supply,  distribu- 
tion, and  dispensing"  of  medical  and  surgical  supplies  in  peace  and 
war,  and  to  make  recommendations  regarding  their  organization  and 
status."  That  Joint  Committee,  upon  which  I  have  the  honor  to 
serve,  has  met  on  several  occasions,  but  has  not  yet  presented  its 
report,  and  its  findings  are  still  confidential.  As  one  of  the  represen- 
tatives, I  should,  however,  like  to  say  that  I  consider  sufficient  prog- 
ress has  been  .made  to  justify  me  in  thinking  that  a  marked  and 
much-needed  advance  in  the  position  of  pharmacists  in  the  Army 
will  result  as  a  consequence  of  the  work  of  that  Committee. 
RESEARCH  WORK. 
Then,  again,  in  19 19,  Mr.  Kirby  in  his  address  showed  us  the 
necessity  for  placing  pharmaceutical  research  on  a  sound  national 
footing,  and,  as  you  will  see  in  the  annual  report,  steps  have  been 
taken  to  place  this  matter  before  the  Ministry  of  Health.  These  four 
addresses  upon  research,  pharmacy  in  the  Army,  the  British  Phar- 
macopoeia, and  the  question  of  dispensing  may  be  considered  by 
some  to  be  but  empty  dreams  and  vague  imaginings ;  but  surely  we 
may  look  upon  them,  if  not  as  probabilities,  yet  at  least  as  "possi- 
bilities of  the  future."  Now,  these  addresses  were  given  to  gather- 
ings of  pharmacists  and  those  interested  in  pharmacy,  who  were  met 
together  in  conference  primarily  to  advance  pharmaceutical  research) 
and  to  inculcate  and  uphold  a  high  standard  of  purity  in  medicines. 
This  Conference  has  no  executive  power  such  as  that  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  in  this  very  fact  lies  at  once  its  strength 
and  its  weakness.  Its  President  for  the  time  being  is  therefore  en- 
titled, and  in  fact  it  is  expected  of  him,  to  throw  out  hints  and  make 
suggestions  as  to  the  aims  and  possibilities  of  pharmacy,  and  I  intend 
