Address all communications to the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST THOMAS ALFRED BUCKLAND, PH. G. Thomas Alfred Buckland, Ph. G., president of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy, was represented on the cover of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for July. The N. A. R. D. meets at Minneapolis August 30. The Want Book is the essential in ordering goods Keep it up to the minute. it is Time to Think about and soon will be the season to get ready for fall trade. Good Clerks Are Always in Demand. They are seldom long in securing a situation. Hot Weather requires the exercise of good judgment and self-control in order to maintain the best of health. Board Secretaries, Page 15. Index to Advertisements, Page 32. Want Advertisement Department, Page 30. Board of Pharmacy Examination Questions, Pages 8 and 240. Editorial The Missouri Pharmaceutical Association has definitely passed the first period, covering an average generation of human life. It has not, however actually outgrown the presence, interest and influence of more than a score of the sixty-two leading pharmacists of Missouri who organized the association in 1879. The attendance each year for some time past of some of the original organizers together with the reading annually of a review of the convention of a previous quarter of a century has developed an unusual interest in historical pharmacy. Those most active in the Mo. Ph. A. today are fairly well in touch with the history of the body from its very beginning. Recognizing how interesting it would be to have a complete record of important pharmaceutical affairs in the state since the birth of the Mo. Ph. A., the association has established the office of historian and is co-operating with the Missouri Historical Society in preserving historical matter of the present and collecting what can be found of the past. The Mo. Ph. A. started out with the avowed purpose of securing for Missouri a pharmacy law which would be just for the pharmacist and an adequate protection for the public. Many changes have taken place in the law during the past thirty-six years. It is pleasing to note, however, the general feeling that Missouri now has what may be considered a model and modern pharmacy law for this state. The fact that no attempt was made to change or amend the law during the past legislature is in strong emphasis of our statement. This feeling of satisfaction is in great contrast with the strenuous times that pharmacists have when the legislatures of neighboring states are in session. Missouri may soon amend the Pharmacy Law, but pharmacists of the state are quite content to let well enough alone for the present Long before the Pharmacy Law of Missouri approached its present degree of near-perfection and, in fact, from the early history of the association, practical pharmaceutical problems, theoretical phar macy and chemical considerations have held the at tention of audiences at the annual meetings. Missouri was well to the front in advocating the adoption of the metric system at a time when such a movement was not generally popular. The members discussed parts by weight when it was a burning pharmacopoeial revision question. The procedings of earlier days record the consideration of several other similar subjects. Missouri was one of the very first states to undertake National Formulary propaganda work. It was the activity in Missouri which helped materially in placing the National Formulary on a really national basis. At one time, there was danger of this work being revised by a small committee located in a single section of this great country. Every revision of the Pharmacopoeia since pharmacists have been active in that work has been influenced by the experience and judgment of Missouri pharmacists. The Mo. Ph. A. has always given more or less attention to the bread and butter side of pharmacy. That important feature of the pharmacist's very existence has gradually gained recognition at Mo. Ph. A. meetings until the convention of 1915 devoted an entire day to commercial pharmacy. If the trend of affairs continues, it is not unlikely that the 1916 meeting will appeal even more strongly to the commercial interests. The present day is fraught with such timely commercial topics that it is difficult for retail pharmacists to assemble on such an occasion without having their thoughts largely directed to those questions which vitally affect the very existence of the drug store, as it is known today. At Pertle Springs, this year, the Stevens Price Maintenance Bill was discussed from every angle and unanimously endorsed. The profit-sharing coupon system was ventilated in an equally thorough manner and met with universal condemnation. The dispensing physician who continues as a thorn in the side of commercial pharmacy received some attention. Chain drug stores were also mentioned in the list of obstacles to the expansion of the retail drug business. The itinerant vender, which on previous occasions, received much attention, was in the rush of work overlooked this year. Missouri, however, is on record as opposed to the policy of the itinerant vender. The Mo. Ph. A. started out in life through the initiative of retail pharmacists and practicing physicians particularly interested in pharmacy. Very early in its history, the pharmaceutical teachers took an active part. The pharmaceutical press was soon well represented. Then came the innovation of making the annual meetings something of a social affair and in the nature of a vacation. This was done by members taking their families and leisurely transacting business so that some opportunity for recreation was afforded during each day of the meeting. in the course of time, the program was spread out over four full days. Some traveling salesmen who had drug store experience early affiliated with the Mo. Ph. A. Later on, others formed the habit of attending the meetings. The social feature became known as the "Missouri idea" and spread to other state pharmaceutical associations. In the course of time, the Missouri Pharmaceutical Travelers' Association was organized, being the first body of the kind in this country. The entertainment feature has since been taken care of almost entirely by the salesmen. It has grown in extent and nature until it is larger than the average member realizes. On more than one occasion, the entertainment at the annual meeting of the Mo. Ph. A. has represented an expenditure in money and goods of about $2,000.00. Some years, the number of salesmen in attendance has actually exceeded that of active retail pharmacists. The 1915 meeting of the Mo. Ph. A. stands out prominent in the list of thirty-seven conventions, owing to the comparatively large attendance and the evident interest which all present had in the papers and discussions. Even a casual observer must have recognized the popularity of commerical subjects and the amount of work that some members, particularly the retiring president, performed for the good of the cause. The entertainment features were not what could be called excessive, but certainly ample. Next year, the association will meet near a large city and in new surroundings. The local arrangements and the entertainment program will be prepared at the hands of comparatively new workers. Efforts will be made to greatly increase the attendance and the officers and committees can be depended upon to continue the deliberations on commercial pharmacy and its many perplexing problems. We have but one note of warning to echo at this time. We have in mind the natural tendency which results when a convention of any kind is held near a large city. A large delegation comes for a single day or perhaps for only a half day session. Such persons are not in touch with the work of the previous session, nor do they stay to carry out the program of the remaining sessions. Unless the presiding officer is schooled in his duties, much time is taken up in explaining what has been done or what is proposed for subsequent days. Such a delegation swells the numerical attendance but does not contribute to a really successful meeting. What counts is the number of members who are on hand at the opening session and which continues in the deliberations until the end. This latter condition of affairs has contributed materially to the success of Mo. Ph. A. meetings during a number of years past May it continue in vogue as a custom for years to come. Pharmaceutical Conventions in War Times. An annual meeting of the Association of French Pharmacists in the School of Pharmacy, at Paris, June 25, reports proceedings in strong contrast with those of pharmaceutical conventions in the United States. The meeting was not largely attended, but was a very representative body. Among the delegates was one from the section of France entirely occupied by the enemy. One of the four vice-presidents occupied the chair. The president and the other three vicepresidents are at the front in the war. The president made mention of the members whose names had been conspicuous for gallantry in war dispatches. He also referred to those who had given their lives for their country and those who are now prisoners of war. The secretary made a strong appeal for financial aid for pharmacists in territory occupied by the enemy. He held up as an example the liberal contributions for such purposes made by English pharmacists. The chairman stated that many of the non-mobilized men had lost just as heavily as those mobilized, but he added with emphasis, "We must not look at what we have lost. We must look at what we have left." The discussion of the question of manufacturing in France medicinal substances heretofore produced in Germany sounded very much like present day discussions in the United States. This was particularly true of the statement of an officer who said, "It is unwise to put undue confidence in parliamentary initiative." Those in the United States who are waiting for legislative measures to encourage home manufacture of chemicals are also unwise. The French Association of pharmacists decided not to elect officers this year but to adjourn to meet again in 1916. as King Rubber.-Very early in the history of rubber, its possibilities were startling. As time passes and the ingenuity of man is exercised, we find that rubber continues to play a very important part in making possible practical inventions of great importance. We are reminded of this as we read of the development of the submarine. This craft is fully dependent on rubber as is the automobile. Those of our readers who have given some attention to the construction of submarines must realize that the prime essential in the construction of this vessel is a degree of tightness which is not ordinarily attained. A submarine must be tight in a new sense just as objects used in microscopical work must be clean in a microscopical sense. The submarine must not only be leak-proof against the inrush of water but must be equally tight against the escape of gases and the conduction of electrical power. The ability of the manufacturer to make a submarine which is leak-proof as far as water, gas and electricity are concerned is made possible through the proper use of rubber. Perhaps some other means will in time be discovered but it is only in prospect, the same as may be said of the substitute for rubber in automobile tires. Fortunately, the quantity of rubber required in the manufacture of submarines is not sufficiently great to make serious inroads on the rubber supply. What rubber is used, however, is absolutely necessary, and we find that rubber is king of the submarine as well as of the automobile. Smuggling rubber out of the United States is something that requires skill on account of the rigid inspection made by the government officials. Not long ago, rubber was found hidden in barrels of rosin and more recently a smuggler attempted to hide rubber in bales of cotton. Five men have been convicted in connection with these attempts. The Unfair Competition which the Stevens Bill is expected to correct consists chiefly in advertising at cut prices well known goods as a means of inducing the public to buy unknown goods of doubtful quality. The A. Ph. A. Special Train for the San Francisco meeting will leave Chicago July 29 at 11 p. m. Only Eleven Months to the Mo. Ph. A. convention at Excelsior Springs, June 13, 1916. |