Am.  Jour,  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1921. 
A  Dream  of  the  Future 
691 
"leveller,"  the  same  attitude  was  sometimes  shown.  I  know  of  a< 
case  where  an  officer,  who  had  all  the  qualifications  necessary  to 
fill  a  certain  post  but  had  in  addition  that  of  a  pharmaceutical  chem- 
ist was  turned  down,  as  he  was  informed,  practically  on  this  ac- 
count. I  do  not  consider  this  depreciation  of  pharmacy  is  due  en- 
tirely to  the  fact  that  the  practice  of  pharmacy  is  for  the  most  part 
carried  on  "behind  a  counter''  in  "an  open  shop,"  but  because  the 
calling  is  so  very  "mixed";  it  has  many  of  the  disadvantages  of  a 
profession  and  yet  lacks  the  essential  advantages  of  a  trade. 
IMPROVING  THE  STATUS  OF  PHARMACY. 
I  do  not  intend  to  be  inveigled  into  an  endeavor  to  differentiate 
between  a  trade  and  a  profession,  nor  to  affirm  that  one  is  more 
worthy,  desirable,  or  honorable  than  the  other.  It  can  well  be  said 
that  many  so-called  professional  men  carry  on  their  profession  in  a 
purely  commercial  spirit,  while  many  so-called  tradesmen  bring  pro- 
fessional instincts  to  bear  upon  their  business.  Now,  are  we  to  be 
satisfied  with  the  present  condition  of  things  and  our  existing  stand- 
ing in  the  public  estimation  ?  Do  we  wish  to  have  the  circumstances 
altered,  and,  if  so,  are  we  willing  to  purge  ourselves  of  those  things 
that  militate  against  improvement,  and  also  to  put  into  operation 
certain  influences  that  will  make  for  greater  efficiency  and  a  higher 
position  for  pharmacy  in  the  social  scale? 
Of  course  it  is  an  essential  consideration,  which  must  precede 
any  attempt  to  raise  pharmacy  to  the  status  of  a  scientific  and  pro- 
fessional entity,  that  pharmacists  must  themselves  wish  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  their  calling.  Do  they  want  to  be  recognized  as  possessing  the 
technical  knowledge  and  "competent  skill"  requisite  for  the  prac- 
tice of  a  profession,  or  would  they  rather  simply  draw  their  reward 
from  protected  profits  on  packed  medicines?  It  is  mere  folly  to  com- 
plain, as  some  are  apt  to  do,  that  pure  pharmacy  does  not  pay  and 
leave  it  at  that.  It  never  will  pay  until  it  is  acknowledged  as  an  in- 
dispensable factor,  with  medicine  in  the  nation's  system  of  public 
health  administration;  and  it  never  will  be  so  acknowledged  unless 
the  will  of  the  pharmacist  is  in  and  behind  the  movement. 
One  can  do  nothing  for  the  men  who  want  nothing  and  have  no 
aspirations,  but  the  possibilities  are  unlimited  if  the  members  of 
our  calling  really  desire  that  pure  pharmacy  should  be  made  to 
pay.    I  do  not  despise  commercial  acumen  in  pharmacists,  and  have 
