696 
BRISTOL PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. 
a large class of students. Before he was of age, he prepared a translation of the 
London Pharmacopoeia, which was afterwards published, and you wall all acknowledge 
your obligations to him as an author. Learning German and French in order better 
to prosecute his studies, which now occupied him sixteen hours a day, rising at six in 
the morning to read, and following his researches with the ardour of true genius, he 
rapidly advanced in the estimation of men of science. His lectures on materia medica 
appeared first in the pages of the ‘ Medical Gazette,’ and in 1839-40 Longmans pub¬ 
lished the first and second volumes of his ‘ Elements.’ 
In March, 1842, Pereira delivered his first lecture to the promoters of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society, and at once recognising the talent of the man, his vast stores of 
information, and his fitness to interest and instruct, his services were immediately 
enlisted, and in 1843 he became Professor of Materia Medica to the Society, and was 
eagerly listened to by a throng of members and associates. 
From this date he became one of our best friends, and he continued his lectures in 
Bloomsbury Square until 1852. To him we owe a collection of upwards of 500 speci¬ 
mens which he transferred to the Society, many of them derived from original sources, 
and authenticated by special information. 
An unhappy accident seems to have led to, or hastened his death, but even on a 
sick-bed he exhibited the same interest in, and devotion to, science which had marked 
his entire life. He died in January, 1853, and his earnest labours and indefatigable 
research single him out as one of the highest authorities on, and most distinguished 
exponents of, the principles of materia medica. 
A host of other names occur to one as worthy of notice did time permit, but I must 
content myself by merely naming such men as John and Jacob Bell, Payne, Hanbury, 
Hudson, William Inee, Morson, Savory, and George W. Smith, all amongst the 
original founders and Council of the Society. 
Our own city was amongst the first to form a pharmaceutical association. 
The name of the Society was afterwards altered, and it became known as the 
“ Bristol Chemists’ Association,” and for some years it flourished under this title. 
Amongst the earliest promoters and lecturers appear the familiar names of Dr. Hera- 
path, Dr. Staples, It. W. Giles, Joseph Lancaster, Richard Owen, G. F. Schacht, 
F. W. Griffin, and Dr. Fripp. 
The meetings wei'e held in Tailors Court, now fallen from its high estate, and substi¬ 
tuting party politics for science. 
On the twenty-fifth of September, 1850, this second association was dissolved, and 
a branch of the Pharmaceutical Society was formed under the presidency and vice¬ 
presidency of the late Richard Ferris and R. B. Giles. In this organization the late 
Jacob Bell took a warm interest, and attended several of its meetings; it appears, 
however, to have been but short-lived, and for eighteen years there has existed no such 
Society in Bristol. 
We may hope that the days of comparative indifference are past, and that we shall 
henceforth continue to unite together, for the furtherance of our common interests, 
the promotion of scientific knowledge, and the proper training of the students of 
pharmacy. 
Every important centre in the provinces has possessed kindred institutions, and the 
transactions of provincial societies are amongst the most interesting records of our 
progress. 
For more than a quarter of a century we have been slowly but steadily climbing the 
hill difficulty ; and at last, after many baitings and much soi-e and weary work, we 
find ourselves fairly, although not yet fully, recognized by the State. It is a happy cir¬ 
cumstance that the pluck and persistence of Englishmen, when enlisted in a good and 
righteous cause, rarely desert them. If you have ever in fog and mist made the 
ascent of one of our native mountains, only when you reached the summit to find the 
fog thicker , and the mist more dense than at its base, you will understand and appre¬ 
ciate the sensation of gratification and relief experienced when the sun bursts out, 
and the heavy clouds above and below grow thinner and ■whiter, and at last one by 
one roll silently away, and reveal to your delighted vision, glistening tarn and silvery 
lake, witching glimpses of mountain range and sylvan valley, rugged peaks lit up by a 
summer’s sun, by whose light you can trace the weary paths and steep passes you 
