Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.

THE ANNUAL COMMENCEMENT of the fiftieth session of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy was held on Wednesday evening, March 15th, 1871, at the American Academy of Music. The degree of Graduate in Pharmacy was conferred on the Graduating Class by the President of the College, Dillwyn Parrish. Seven of the graduates were passed at the June examination, 1870, the remainder (62) at the present March examination.

The Valedictory Address, made by Prof. Edward Parrish, was appropriate to the occasion, and very well received.

The public presentation to the College of a portrait of Prof. John M. Maisch by the Graduating Class, was prevented by a misunderstanding, by which the picture was not sent to the Academy.

The usual liberal donation of boquets, and other presents of books, etc., to the graduates from their fair friends, was observed, and it was curious to notice the usual variableness which marked the gifts of fortune to the donees, yet we believe all were remembered.

By order of the Board of Trustees, the Report of the Examining Committee and the list of queries are published, and are as follows:

To the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.

The Professors and the Examining Committee respectfully report that the following 62 candidates have passed the examination and are, therefore, recommended for the degree of Graduate in Pharmacy. Their names, in the order of their merit, commencing with the most meritorious, are as follows:

(snip)

The Board having determined to change the method of examining candidates for the diploma from verbal to written queries and answers, arrangements were made in the two lecture halls so that the entire number of candidates could be seated at separate desks, so as not to communicate with each other. But one branch was considered each day, and each student had the printed questions before him, with paper and pencil. A professor was in each room, to reply to proper queries. As soon as a student announced the completion of his task he was taken to the ten specimens relating to the particular branch under consideration, and wrote the names of each according to his judgment. So that all the answers of each student to all queries and specimens was on record.

The following are the queries adopted for the present year

CHEMISTRY. Prof. Robert Bridges, M. D. Session 1870-71.

• No. 1. Give the source, mode of preparation and the properties, including solubilities and tests of Iodine.
• No. 2. How is Muriatic Acid prepared? State its composition, its properties in the gaseous and liquid state, and its reactions.
• No. 3. What solutions of Ammonia are officinal? State their mode of preparation and specific gravities; also the chemical properties of Ammonia.
• No. 4. What officinal preparations are made from Iron and Sulphuric Acid, with and without the aid of Nitric Acid? Show, by equation, the reactions occurring in these processes.
• No. 5. Give a process for the preparation of Iodide of Potassium and state the rationale of it.
• No. 6. How is Phosphate of Soda obtained, what other salt or salts is it likely to be contaminated with, and how tested?
• No. 7. How is Nitro-Muriatic Acid made? In what respect does its chemical action differ from that of either acid used in making it, and why?
• No. 8. Give the characteristic tests for Sulphuric, Boracic, Nitric, Acetic and Phosphoric Acids and their soluble compounds.
• No. 9. How are the soluble salts of Baryta, Lime and Magnesia distinguished from each other by chemical tests?
• No. 10. What double tartrates are officinal and how are they made?

MATERIA MEDICA. Prof. John M Maisch Session 1870-71.

• No. 1. Where and from which plant or plants is Assafoetida obtained? Describe its composition, commercial varieties and the usual adulterations.
• No. 2. Give a description of Sweet and Bitter Almonds. From what plants and from what countries are they obtained? What are their medicinal products and how obtained?
• No. 3. What is the source of Colocynth, where is it obtained and what is the cause of its shrivelled or plump appearance? Which part, and what percentage of the entire drug is rejected in medicine?
• No. 4. What is the origin of the commercial varieties of Buchu leaves, and how do they differ from all other officinal leaves?
• No. 5. State the country, source, constituents and properties of Quassia wood. How and in what doses is it administered?
• No. 6. State the area—geographical, horizontal and vertical—of the native distribution of the genus Cinchona; and how may the true and false cinchona barks be distinguished?
• No. 7. Describe the difference in the appearance and physical properties of Serpentaria and Spigelia.
• No. 8. Give the outlines of the process for obtaining Colchicia, stating which part of the plant contains the largest proportion, and what are its chemical reactions?
• No. 9. What is the meaning of the terms: Root, Rhizome, Tuber and Bulb? Give examples of officinal drugs of each.
• No. 10. What are the botanical characters of the natural order of Labiatae? Name some medicinal herbs belonging to that order.

PHARMACY. Prof. Edward Parrish. Session 1870-71.

• No. 1. Give the number of minims in a fluid-ounce and in a pint, the number of grains in 12 troy ounces and in a pound avoirdupois; also the weight of a fluid-ounce of water.
• No. 2. Give the proportions, doses, and modes of preparation of Camphor Water, Creasote Water, Bitter Almond Water, Infusion of Buchu, Infusion of Wild Cherry, Infusion of Digitalis, Tincture of Digitalis, Tincture of Arnica, Tincture of Belladonna.
• No. 3. Give the officinal names, menstrua, proportions and doses of the galenical preparations of Opium.
• No. 4. Give the process for Fluid Extract of Ipecacuanha.
• No. 5. Give the specific gravities of Stronger Alcohol, Alcohol, Diluted Alcohol, Stronger Ether, Ether, Chloroform, Acetic Acid, Glycerin, Spirit of Nitrous Ether, Syrup.
• No. 6. Give an outline of the process for preparing Sulphate of Quinia; also its solubilities and characteristic tests.
• No. 7. How is Gallic Acid prepared and how distinguished from Tannic Acid.
• No. 8. Give a formula for preparing a Castor Oil mixture.
• No. 9. What officinal pills contain Aloes? Give the composition of each.
• No. 10. What three officinal preparations contain Tartrate of Antimony and Potassa, and in what proportions?

The following specimens were submitted for recognition

The above examinations were by the several professors.

In addition to these the Examining Committee, consisting of four members if the Board of Trustees, have also a special examination, two of the Committee serving each day, and direct their queries to the practical parts of pharmacy and the recognition of drugs.

SPECIAL REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON EXAMINATION.

The committee on examination respectfully report, that they have attended to the responsible duty assigned to them, and passed their judgment on seventy-one candidates for the honor of the Diploma of the College.

Your committee feel it their duty to call the attention of the Board to a deficiency of information in the case of a large number of candidates, in the practical details of chemistry and pharmacy.

The committee fear that there has been a growing laxity of attention on the part of employers in giving personal supervision to the instruction of the young men learning their business with them, and in encouraging them by study, and cultivation of habits of earnest attention to details, to train their minds to the exercise of all their faculties, instead of making their daily duties those of merely manual performance.

When we remember that an apprentice (under the code Ethics of the College) is taken for a term of three or four years, and that his pecuniary compensation is during that time hardly sufficient for his support, there appears to be a moral obligation on the employer to use due diligence in instructing his apprentice in such a way that if he is not well qualified for the responsible duties of his profession, the fault may not lay at the door of his instructor.

Impressed with these views, your committee would respectfully suggest that the Board of Trustees should call the attention of the members of the College to this important subject, and exhort them to a more systematic training of their apprentices, and by personal attention and stated examinations, endeavor to elevate the standard of information.

We all agree with Prof. Procter, "that no amount of tuition by lectures will be equivalent to that which the earnest student receives in the dispensing shop and practical laboratory, under the personal instruction of a well qualified pharmaceutist, who takes an interest in his pupil."

Committee: Chas. Bullock, James T. Shinn, William C. Bakes, A. B. Taylor.

The American Journal of Pharmacy, Vol. XLIII, 1871, was edited by William Procter, Jr. (Issues 1-4) and John M. Maisch (Issues 5-12).