Columbia University College of Pharmacy - Apothekan Yearbook (New York, NY)

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gators received absolutely no assistance from either Mr. Givens, who, after one semester with the class of ' 42, decided he just wasn ' t made to be a teacher, or from Prof. Taub, who seems to be a bit more perseverent. We really began to enjoy our chemical training in the senior year while pondering over the intricate determinations of Quantitative Pharmaceutical Analysis. Actually, we were taking a glorified quantitative analysis course without having to worry about equilibrium equations and ionization constants. The carrying out of official determinations and U. S. P. assays acquainted us with the work experienced by chemists throughout the pharmaceutical in- dustry. The use of delicate instruments by some of our none too delicate students kept the work interesting. We covered quite a bit of ground in this pharmaceutical analysis course mainly because our previous training in this work had acquainted us with the technique of scooping precipitates from the desk and qs-ing to 100 cc. in a 1000 cc. beaker, so the error would be practi- cally negligible — 40% more or less. We did quite a bit of calculating during the course but there was one phenomenon we were never able to figure out: why is it that a student who hands in the mean of two results that are as far apart as Klein is from being a pharmacist, can receive an A, while another set of results obtained with perfect precision will not get nearly as good a mark? In this chemical age, we are indeed thankful that we have been able to study as much chemistry as we did. There is no industry today, no science, no business, no art or field of endeavor that is not in some way dependent upon a knowledge of chemistry. We ' ve learned chemistry, and discounting the times we fooled around a little, we ' ve learned it well. It ' s not our fault that we have an efficient Chemistry Department. God bless them with gold atoms! Sitting: Mr. S. Liberman, Prof. A. Taub, Dr. A. DiSomma, Mr. E. Anzelmi Standing: Mr. S. Bell, Mr. Weil, Mrs. A. DiSomma

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Arthur W. Thomas, A.M., Ph.D. Chairman CHEMISTRY DEPARTMENT If one were to ask what we got most out of the pharmacy course he would be certain to get the answer Chemistry. This can be readily conceived if one realizes that chemistry is what actually puts the word science into pharmacy. Mr. Anzelmi certainly deserves a good deal of the credit for the chemistry departments be- ing voted one of the best liked of the four de- partments. Though we had the privilege of re- ceiving his interesting instruction only during our initial year in the school, we will long remember his unselfish understand- ing of our freshman problems and his realization that chemists are made only after years of laborious study. His intriguing lectures and experiments often held us spellbound and it didn ' t take us long to realize the vastness of this age-old science. The laboratory work was extremely interesting and served to acquaint us still more with this vital subject. It was in the second year, when Mr. Liberman presented us with problems of every type and description, that we realized a sound basic course in elementary chemistry is essential in understanding the more complex problems of inorganic chemistry. Although the courses of Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis are considered among the most difficult in the curriculum they are also among the most interesting. No doubt some of us still find trouble in calculating an ionization equilibrium problem because we ' re just not interested in that branch of chemistry called calculation. The laboratory experiments in the determination of unknowns, however, were especially fascinating. The laboratory technique of some of our more brilliant students constantly emphasized the need for accuracy and precision in this work. It wasn ' t until the third year, when we delved into the more complex realms of organic chemistry, that the laboratory technique of the class of ' 42, which had previously been con- sidered somewhat shady, actually received its dying blow. Some rather famous works have been developed as a result of some of these strange organic experiments. It seems Ben God- fried ' s love for inorganic chemistry inspired him to write a thesis on The Physical, Chemi- cal, Therapeutic, Diagnostic, Prophylactic, and Moral Action of Sodium and Related Com- pounds. The competitive nature of some of the students made sure that more work was done along these technical lines and as a result of the combined effort of Erich Kramer and Jules Rhett-kowitz another thesis was completed, en- titled The Hot-Plate and its Effect on Ethereal Abraham Taub. Ph.G., Ph.Ch., Solutions. It is sad to state that these investi- Associate Processor

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Charles W. Ballard, Ph.Ch., Phar.D., A.M., Ph.D. Chairman MATERIA MED ICA DEPARTMENT Since Socrates sucked the succulent sap of the poison hemlock, the department of Materia Medica has constantly reminded us how and why men live and die for science. In fact the department being on the spot at the time, and all being specialists in a single subject, have analyzed the situation with a cold exactness and taken the pains to illustrate the historical event so that this year book will forever contain a record of each one ' s selective eye. Professor Taub only noticed the muscular twitchings, especially of the eyelids, and the marked incoordination of the peripheral muscles. He insisted that the eyelids were dilated but not as irregu- larly as the young lady ' s in the subway at another historical event. He doesn ' t have to mention it because we know that the antidote must be strychnine or a half pound of salt — it always is. Socrates only took three grams and Professor Taub says he knows of cases where that much was taken without harm — but, that was in Africa on a leopard hunting expedition where conditions were different because the men had rheumatism and were not in a good state of health. Impossible? — No, that is very easily proven by Dr. Muckenfuch ' s formula for a sick adult ' s dose: 2P + yP 4 U x= Age — Weight (Stripped) Where X = dose for adult in bad health y=patient ' s height P= atmospheric pressure and U = Urgency of situation Dr. Ballard would have more to say had it not been a fatal dose. He would insist that the alkaloid is Coniine. Probably because the drug is Conium. He would draw the structural formula for the class from his little Lilly booklet. It is clearly a condensation product of two bagel rings and a 1-2 — di-Bublic- muctane group attached at the point of least resistance to a Schatz pessary. Had Socrates taken three grains instead of three grams; Dr. Ballard could have told the world of the marvelous alterative properties of Conium. Here is exactly how he would have done it in his usual style: -DEPRESSION -TOO CONIUM VOLUNTARY NERVE ENDINGS BOOM -DEATH E Dr. Redden was right there to administer first aid until rigor mortis set in. His treatment was simple — hold your first aid card in one hand, the patients hand in the other, give a shot of alcohol and don ' t let him die until the doctor arrives. Alternative treatment — Call in a priest and drink hot coffee. Something similar happened to Dr. Redden when he was enroute to Yellow- stone Park. A man fell down a mountain, fell two miles, started an avalanche.