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

Page 19 text:

rolled over once at the bottom — and was not hurt. He breathed peculiarly . . . once every five minutes. He was responding to treatment nicely until a huge copperhead snake crept up and bit him. The snake ' s elliptical eyes, inflamed anal spot, and forked fangs marked the snake as poisonous. Dr. Redden ran into his hip pocket and fetched the universal antidote — Spiritus Frumenti. The victim lay helpless. Coma, respiratory, paralysis, and death followed. If Socrates was given first aid treatment he would have died the same way. Professor Hart was also there with an oil immersion lens in one hand and Dr. Blumberg in the other. She was waiting for those secondary invaders to set in. The organism to watch out for in this case is the virulent smooth colony, virus of Treponema Coniaceaeaeaeaeaeaeii (more commonly known as Poison Hemlock Fever); a member of the Spirochetales, local No. 606, until recently disproven by the late Dr. E. Pluribus Newman of the Chronological Institute in South Africa. Dr. Newman incidentally also proved that a bacteria is the rear of a cafeteria, to sulphur is to bear pain, and oxygen is to ask a question a second time. Dr. Blumberg agreed. He always does. Mr. Pokorny did not even look at Socrates. He picked up the pieces of drug and proceeded to identify them in order to see if it was a U.S. P. sample. Pokorny said he saw it growing in Central Park. Honestly fellows — How many know where the Indian Caves are? Well — by the first cave — around that shoe tree, by the little brook, behind the statue of Eddie Kohen hanging from the lampost, by the big rock— there— IS A POISON HEMLOCK! Directly opposite it is a poison Yalelock. Both are in the same family and both are used as bitter tonics and blood purifiers. Don ' tcha see? Paying tribute to the specialists of the Materia Medica department in this way may seem a bit strange, but may we say, respectfully, that after four years at Columbia, the graduating class leaves with nothing in their minds but respect and honor for the intellect of this department. Sitting: Prof. F. Hart, Dr. C. W. Ballard, Dr. R. Halsey Standing: Mr. F. Pokorny, Dr. B. Blumberg

Page 18 text:

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.

Page 20 text:

Curt P. Wimmer, Ph.G., Phar.D., A.M., Ph.M. Chairman PHARMACY DEPARTMEIVT It was the .time of Foonakisaki and Sea Food Mamma that we first became acquainted with the history of pharmacy. The course known as Pharmacy Orientation was conducted by ' Dr. Wimmer and was highly informative and superfluous — but good to know in the store. This course was designed to introduce pha r- macy as a profession to the students, stress being laid upon the development of pharmacy in the United States. It was here that we learned that Pun Tsao was not a union organizer for the Chinese launderers and also that he was not related to Cheng Loon Hooi, our Chinese classmate. Dr. Wimmer ' s lectures inspired each of us to perpetuate the fine ideals of pharmacy and to regale in its glorious past. Concurrent with this course came the study of General Introductory Pharmacy. It was here that we started to culture photographic minds and attempt to develop remarkable memories, for we were literally flooded with definitions, types, standards and methods of manufacture of official preparations. Together with this we had a laboratory course designed to foster technique and familiarity with the popular medi- cinals. The laboratory course, conducted by Prof. Carter, was complete to the last detail and at times was very burdensome. This additional amount of work was not the fault of the faculty, but was due to a change in program that required the class to condense two years of lab work into one. The hard work was not without the usual fun, for in Prof. Carter ' s laboratory we learned Ida Bailey Allen ' s successful method of baking apples and many an afternoon was spent in enjoying the fruit of Mintzer ' s labor — freshly baked apples gar- nished with simple syrup (U.S. P.). The apples were placed in an evaporating dish, and baked at just the right temperature on a water bath with a piece of large filter paper over the dish to keep out the dirt and faculty. Wooden tongue depressors served as spoons. Pharmaceutical Calculations covered the application of mathematical cal- culations to all procedures and processes in the manufacturing, dispensing and testing of drugs. Our course in Latin, under the well liked Prof. Dorfman, will long be remembered as one of the most enjoyable. Directions and terms used in official compendiums and in physicians prescriptions topped off by homespun Hebrew philosophy served to facilitate the remembering of phar- maceutical latin. Prof. Dorfman ' s confidence in our ability was often flattering and best exemplified by his favorite statement Leave him alone, he knows what ' s all about. His inspired guidance and worldly wise nature earned our deepest respect, and we regretted his leaving the college. We sincerely hope that he will return to Columbia in the near future. Dispensing Pharmacy provided our basic training and development of technique in compounding various forms of medication. Let us open the door of room 10 and listen to a greatly exaggerated, satirical lecture: All right men, you ' re seniors now. Put your best foot forward and show those underclassmen that you can come up to their standards. What you men need is accuracy, neatness and dispatch. (Have to find out what dispatch means.)