Am"junuer"i909ari11'-}       The  Druggist  and  Tuberculosis.  265 
every  movement  for  the  stamping  out  of  disease,  and  if  through 
circumstances  the  druggist  must  necessarily  open  a  store  where  the 
public  may  purchase  medicines  and  other  means  of  affording  relief 
from  disease,  this  does  not  prevent  his  living  up  to  the  highest 
ideals  and  joining  hands  in  this  crusade. 
It  is  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  public  to  look  upon  the  drug- 
gist merely  as  a  business  man  having  the  sole  idea  of  selling  goods, 
without  any  concern  for  the  higher  motives  of  combating  disease. 
The  clergyman,  the  physician,  and  the  druggist  must  live :  the 
clergyman  is  paid  a  salary  and  the  doctor  his  fee.  The  pharmacist 
is  equally  a  professional  man,  even  if  he  owns  a  store.  The  ques- 
tion as  to  how  each  is  paid  for  services  is  more  a  matter  of  form 
than  of  principle.  One  takes  money  from  the  public  by  a  check, 
the  other  in  small  amounts  paid  over  the  counter. 
The  public  is  prone  to  regard  the  daily  services  of  the  druggist 
as  trivial,  because  he  has  accustomed  the  people  to  the  idea  that 
they  can  demand  services  from  him  without  pay  or  profit,  and  he 
has  suffered  in  the  public  esteem  from  selling  postage  stamps, 
keeping  a  directory,  answering  inquiries,  and  furnishing  informa- 
tion about  nearly  every  subject  under  the  sun.  If  ever  there  was 
a  citizen  who  contributed  valuable  services  day  and  night  for  the 
comfort  of  his  fellows,  the  druggist  on  the  corner  is  entitled  to 
first  place.  If  a  baker,  or  grocer,  or  plumber  is  asked  in  his  place 
of  business  whether  Mr.  Smith-Robinson  has  moved,  or  if  the  crape 
on  No.  2308  One  hundred  and  fifty-second  Street  means  that  old 
Mrs.  Black  is  dead,  and  a  gruff  answer  like,  "  I  don't  know  any- 
thing about  it  "  is  given,  nothing  is  thought  of  it,  but  woe  betide 
the  druggist  on  the  corner  if  he  does  not  know  everything  that  goe? 
on  in  the  neighborhood.  It  is  true  that  in  a  way  this  is  a  great 
compliment  to  the  druggist.  He  must  be  alert,  intelligent,  amiable, 
and  kind-hearted,  and  withal  willing  to  suffer  from  a  lack  of  appre- 
ciation of  some  of  the  best  qualities  that  go  to  make  up  a  good 
citizen. 
But  to  be  specific,  how  can  the  druggist  aid  in  this  crusade? 
In  the  first  place,  he  must  understand  the  underlying  principles  of 
bacteriology  and  he  must  study  the  elusive  germ ;  he  must  learn 
that  there  are  good  and  bad  germs;  he  must  be  acquainted  with 
the  life  history  of  the  tubercle  bacillus,  and,  having  thoroughly 
mastered  the  main  facts,  he  must  apply  them  intelligently  every 
hour  that  he  is  upon  duty. 
