Drug  therapy  has  kept  up  its  prestige  in  the  eyes  of  prac-


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titioners  and  the  public  for  a  long  time.  Nevertheless,  since
the  days  of  antiquity  it  has  been  intimated  that  we  are  like  the
augurs  who  could  not  think  of  themselves  without  laughing;
we  are  sometimes  accused  of  lying  like  tooth-pullers.  We  hear
old,  experienced  practitioners  say  to  their  younger  brothers:
"  Hurry  up  and  use  this  medicine  while  it  is  still  efficacious."
One  of  them,  and  one  of  the  most  distinguished,  too,  said:
"  We  never  take  medicine  ourselves ;  we  sometimes  give  it  to
our  friends,  and  always  to  our  patients."

Are  not  these  mere  sallies  of  wit?  Let  us  beware;  when
we  begin  to  make  fun  of  dogmas,  it  means  that  faith  is  waver-
ing, and  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  we  have  helped  to  create
the  situation.  Pharmacy  somewhat  resembles  those  arsenal
museums  where  the  catapult  elbows  the  modarn  cannon,  and
it  is  like  going  there  to  choose  our  weapons.  We  are  not  very
critical  in  our  choice,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  matter  much,  for
we  have  fostered  genuine  medical  superstition  in  our  public.
