286  Drugs  and  Druggist  in  Tuberculosis.  { Am" j'inUer"i9oyarm " 
organism  causing  the  disease  may  not  at  first  be  found  in  the 
sputum,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  a  number  of  samples  before 
positive  results  are  obtained.  In  the  more  or  less  local  affections 
of  tuberculosis,  as  of  the  kidneys,  chemical  and  microscopical  ex- 
aminations of  the  urine  and  faeces  are  also  resorted  to. 
Biologic  examinations  of  this  kind  are  sure  to  come  more  and 
more  into  use  in  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  tuberculosis,  and 
while  the  boards  of  health  are  ready  to  do  this  work,  as  they  arc 
that  of  disinfection  of  dwellings  and  clothing,  there  are  many 
physicians  who,  for  their  private  practice,  prefer  to  have  the  work 
done  by  pharmacists.  In  New  York  City  there  is  an  arrange- 
ment whereby  certain  druggists  act  as  the  agents  for  the  board  of 
health  in  receiving  samples  of  sputum  and  for  distributing  certain 
articles  that  are  given  to  tuberculosis  patients,  as  paper  spit  cups, 
etc.,  and  their  stores  are  also  depots  for  the  antitoxin  and  vaccine 
used  by  the  Department. 
If  the  pharmacist  shows  himself  alert  and  capable  of  carrying 
on  this  class  of  work,  I  see  no  reason  why  it  should  not  open  up  an 
interesting  and  profitable  field  for  him,  and  one  which  ought  to 
give  him  far  more  satisfaction  than  that  of  acting  as  the  agent  of 
patent  medicine  concerns.  The  sooner  the  pharmacist  can  establish 
himself  on  those  broad  humanitarian  principles  which  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  medical  practice,  the  sooner  he  will  come  into  his 
own,  not  only  as  regards  his  relation  with  the  physician  but  also 
in  his  estimation  by  the  public.  He  needs  that  faith  which  will 
enable  him  gladly  to  let  go  of  some  of  the  petty  merchandise  which 
he  handles,  and  to  branch  out  into  wider  scientific  fields.  Only 
by  being  true  to  the  highest  traditions  of  his  calling  can  he  hope  to 
hold  his  place  in  this  great  forward  movement  of  science,  education, 
and  humanitarianism. 
It  is  gratifying  to  reflect  in  this  connection  that  away  back 
in  1 82 1  the  pharmacists  of  this  city  took  up  the  subject  of  secret 
and  quack  medicines,  and  ever  since  have  done  what  they  could 
"  to  strip  quackery  of  some  of  its  mystery  and  borrowed  plumes, 
and  expose,  in  naked  deformity,  its  shallow  and  wicked  foundation.'' 
Later  this  first  step  against  quackery  and  fraud  had  its  fruition  in 
the  founding  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  in  1852, 
which  was  primarily  established  with  the  object  of  preventing  the 
adulteration  and  sophistication  of  drugs,  and  whose  work  during 
all  these  years  largely  paved  the  way  for  the  enactment  in  1906 
