8 



Come back with me, in imagination, to the period of time jnst 

 mentioned. It is the evening of the last day of the week, near the 

 close of January, and the nipping air sweeps eagerly up this broad 

 thoroughfare from the icy river below. Let us cross over and take 

 refuge from the wintry blast in yonder quaint-looking house at the 

 northwest corner of Second and High streets. From the imposing 

 array of many-colored bottles, seen through the dimly-lighted 

 window, and the inevitable sign of the pestle and mortar sur- 

 mounting the doorway, you gather, at a glance, that it is the shop 

 of a druafffist. Let us enter, for this is one of the centres of the 

 literary and scientific gossip of the town. Passing through an 

 atmosphere odorous with the emanations of camphor, rhubarb, 

 and musk, we find ourselves in a little room at the rear, and in the 

 presence of a group of men gathered around a table and engaged 

 in earnest conversation. At the further end of the room stands a 

 young man, who, with animated countenance and impressive ges- 

 ticulations, appears to be addressing the others upon a subject of 

 some importance. The lineaments of his face bear the stamp of 

 an earnest, ingenuous, and benevolent mind ; and now, as he ceases 

 speaking, and his face falls again into its accustomed repose, it 

 assumes an unmistakably reflective character. This is the pro- 

 prietor of the store one John Speakman, a native of Bucks count}', 

 and a member of the religious society of Friends. That young 

 gentleman sitting at the right of the table is Jacob Gilliams, a 

 dentist by profession, and an ardent lover of the natural sciences. 

 The individual by his side, bending over the table, with his eyes 

 intently fixed upon the speaker, is John Shinn, Jr., a manufactur- 

 ing chemist from New Jersey. In front of the latter, and upon 

 the opposite side of the table, sits a native of France, Nicholas J. 

 Parmantier, by name, who follows the occupation of a distiller and 

 manufacturer of cordials. That man yonder, apparently older 

 than his comrades, and whose broad and massive brow clearly 

 betokens a mind given to profound thought, is Dr. Gerard Troost, 

 a Hollander of Bois-le-Duc, a man of large attainments in mine- 

 ralogy and chemistiy especially, and at one time & protege of the 

 King of Holland. In the gentleman at the near end of the table, 

 who appears to be recording the remarks of the chairman, you 

 perceive another physician, Dr. Camillus M. Mann, an Irish refu- 

 gee, who having boldly but unsuccessfully struck, in 1798, for the 





