15 



The list of publications, which included books, travels, and 

 taxonomic descriptions, is long and cannot be included in this 

 short tabulation. He was the recipient of many honors throughout 

 his long and active life. He was Hanbury Medallist in 1929, a 

 unique honor bestowed by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great 

 Britain, and one of his choice possessions. 



For fifty years Dr. Rusby exerted a profound influence upon 

 pharmaceutical education in this country. He was a dominant 

 character and if the principle of the subject was right he was an 

 untiring fighter. Students benefited from his influence, although 

 it must be confessed that at times he strayed from his subject and 

 ventured into the fields of intellectual .philosophy, "for the good 

 of the cause," as he aptly expressed it. 



Very few people in the Torrey Botanical Club ever had the 

 privilege of collecting with Rusby. The writer was fortunate enough 

 to enjoy many days in New Jersey when Rusby was nearing the 

 seventies. Rests were frequent and those half hours spent in the 

 shade of a tree were moments when one could really get close to 

 Dr. Rusby. These trips were in the nature of "escapes" from a 

 routine that administrative work demanded. It was regrettable 

 that time did not permit him to write a text on the flower behavior 

 of the plants in this area. His information was gained through 

 actual observation in the field and his knowledge on this subject 

 was vastly superior to that which has appeared in textbooks to 

 date. Though practically his entire life was spent in undergraduate 

 teaching it has always seemed a pity that some far-sighted adminis- 

 trative head did not pick Dr. Rusby and put him in with graduate 

 contacts in the fields of cytology and genetics where without doubt 

 he would have anticipated many of the discoveries that have 

 occurred in the last two decades. ^^^ ^ -^ 



Wm. J. BONISTEEL 



Alginic acid has long been known but it is onl}^ in recent years 

 that the production of sodium alginate has assumed commercial 

 importance. Sodium alginate enters into the production of ceramics, 

 plastics, and as a binder in the paper industry. It is used as an 

 emulsifier, in the treatment of waste waters and is an important 

 constituent of cosmetic preparations. 



