'^'""ocCisso^'^'"' I  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  513 
Prof.  Maisch,  on  behalf  of  the  Delegates  to  the  Convention  of  Teaching  Phar- 
maceutical Colleges  read  a  report,  which  was  also  referred  to  the  Secretary  for  pub- 
lication : 
To  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy : 
The  undersigned,  in  behalf  of  the  flelegation  to  the  Conference  of  Schools  of 
Pharmacy,  respectfully  reports  as  follows  : 
Two  of  the  three  delegates  were  present  at  Saratoga.  A  meeting  had  also  been 
called  by  the  Committee  of  Revision  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  of  which  your 
two  delegates  are  likewise  members  5  and,  deeming  the  latter  at  present  of  greater 
importance,  they  were  not  present  at  the  first  session,  and  the  undersigned  was  the 
only  representative  of  this  College  at  the  second  session  of  the  Conference. 
At  the  first  session  an  organization  for  the  current  year  was  effected  by  re  elect- 
ing Dr.  Chas.  A.  Tufts,  of  Dover,  N.  H.,  Chairman,  and  Prof.  J.  M.  Maisch,  of 
Philadelphia,  Secretary.  At  the  second  session  the  recognition  by  the  various 
Pharmaceutical  Examining  Boards  of  the  diplomas  of  the  Colleges  was  discussed. 
It  had  been  suggested  that  the  Boards  should  examine  all  applicants  for  registration, 
including  Ciraduates  in  Pharmacy  ;  but  all  members  present  were  averse  to  this  sug- 
gestion, and  regarded  a  College  diploma,  based  upon  a  term  of  apprenticeship  and 
an  examination  before  the  College,  as  better  evidence  of  qualification,  and  entitled 
to  recognition  throughout  the  United  States. 
The  value  of  a  written  tiiesis,  as  a  requirement  for  graduation,  created  an  anima- 
ted discussion,  several  delegates  being  in  favor  of  discontinuance,  because,  it  was 
asserted,  many  theses  were  merely  copied  from  published  works  5  the  time  devoted 
for  writing  the  thesis  could  be  better  spent  in  studying  5  and  most  of  the  theses  pre- 
sented to  the  Colleges  were  without  any  real  value.  On  the  other  hand,  it  was  sug- 
gested that  the  quality  of  the  theses  could  be  improved  by  requiring  them  to  be  on 
subjects  of  original  investigation  ;  by  conferring  a  special  title  as  an  equivalent  for 
a  meritorious  original  thesis  j  and  by  stimulating  original  investigations  by  the  offer- 
ing of  prizes  and  otherwise.  It  was  further  insisted  by  your  delegate  that,  even  if 
original  dissertations  were  not  required,  the  wiiting  of  an  essay  on  a  well  known- 
subject  should  be  regarded  as  a  means  of  study  and  acquiring  knowledge  from  the 
investigations  of  others  and  from  the  critical  examination  and  sifting  of  facts. 
A  resolution  was  finally  passed,  inaking  the  subject  for  discussion  at  the  next 
Conference  the  advisability  of  discontinuing  the  writing  of  a  thesis  as  one  of  the 
requirements  of  graduation.  John  M.  Maisch. 
A  letter  from  M.  Kratz,  of  Germantown,  to  the  Secretary,  was  read,  conveying 
the  information  of  the  death  of  John  Butler,  a  meniber  of  the  College,  which  took 
place  in  February,  three  years  ago. 
MEETING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL 
ASSOCIATION. 
First  Session,  Tuesday  Afternoon,  Sept.  14th.  -The  twenty-eighth  meeting 
of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  convened  in  the  spacious  concert  room 
of  Congress  Hall,  at  Saratoga,  N.  Y.,  and  was  called  to  order  at  4  o'clock  P.M.  by 
President  Sloan,  who  introduced  the  Local  Secretary,  Mr.  C.  F.  Fish,  by  whom  an 
address  of  welcome  was  delivered.  A  Committee  on  Credentials,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Whiting,  of  Massachusetts;  Gordon,  of  Ohio,  and  Luhn,  of  South  Caro- 
lina, was  appointed,  and  the  President  then  proceeded  to  deliver  his  annual  address, 
in  which,  after  referring  to  some  business  transacted  during  the  past  year,  and  to 
others  claiming  attention  at  the  present  meeting,  he  discussed  the  changes  in  vege- 
tation produced  by  vaiious  influences,  and  dwelt  more  particularly  upon  the  dis- 
33 
