82 THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 



GUSTAV LUDWIG RAMSPERGER. 



The applause and honors that arc bestowed by the public on 



men of prominence arc not always justly divided, and many a man 

 is raised to a high place of admiration during his lifetime, who 

 hardly deserves such distinction, only to be soon forgotten after 

 his death. The large and unthinking crowd will always be caught 

 by men of daring deeds, of flattering words, of brazen appearance. 

 Men that excel in warfare or showy enterprices. orators that catch 

 their audience by smooth or hold phrases, or those who are 

 endowed with a wonderful voice or other natural gifts, will receive 

 the largest share of public applause : while the quiet thinker, the 

 man who modestly works out hard problems of science or art to 

 the benefit of thousands, the man of stern honor and strict adher- 

 ence to his duty, no matter how arduous it is. will hardly be 

 noticed. 



These thoughts are not new. but they are apt to rise in our 

 minds when we undertake to pay tribute to a dear friend who has 

 stood before us during his whole life as a shining, but modest 

 ex-ample and faithful worker, for the good and true in our pro- 

 fession. When, about six months ago, Gustav Ludwig Ramsperger, 

 at the occasion of the celebration of the 6oth anniversary of the 

 German Apotheker Verein, sat next to me, and 1 had the honor 

 and pleasure of introducing this venerable Nestor of pharmacy to 

 the large audience of his fellow workers, scarcely anybody thought 

 that this would he actually the "last appearance among his 

 colleagues. The sweet and cheerful words that he delivered that 

 evening still resound in our hearts and we can hardly realize that 

 this man. whom we were wont to see among us at all festive 

 occasions, will never return. With him the last founder oi the 

 "German Apotheker Yerein, the oldest pharmaceutical association 

 of this country, has passed away, and we might almost say that 

 with him a chapter in the history of American pharmacy has 

 closed. For he represented a time that now lies behind us, that 

 many of us only know from the sayings of older men. New ideas, 

 new commercial conditions prevail to-day, and many of the old 

 men of thirty and forty — even of fifty years ago — are hardly able 

 to understand this change of conditions. But our friend 

 Ramsperger. though old in years, remained young in heart, and 

 to the very last day of his life he understood and grasped the 



