INTRODUCTORY. 
Hard upon thirty years ago the first number of the 
‘ Pharmaceutical Journal ’ was printed for “ the pur¬ 
pose of circulating information respecting the nature 
and objects of the Pharmaceutical Society . . . the 
Editor solicited the support and assistance of his 
friends in the supply of scientific articles.” That 
Editor was Jacob Bell; and, in his zeal to advance 
his order, he determined to continue the publication 
until he saw his way clear to “ propose the esta¬ 
blishment of a monthly or quarterly journal of phar¬ 
macy.” 
The soil on which he proposed to work had always 
lain fallow; there might be, and were, cultivated 
spots in the land of pharmacy, but so hedged in as 
to be utterly useless to all save their owners : there 
were no highways through which their produce 
could be carried, no courses through which their 
pleasant waters could escape to fertilize the sur- 
v ounding fallow. 
Bell’s Journal furnished the needed outlet, and at 
the end of six months he found that the influx of 
scientific papers and other matter had increased to 
such an extent that it was difficult to restrict the 
dimensions of each number within the prescribed 
limits. Chemists and druggists found the advantage 
of a periodical interchange of ideas, and the old no¬ 
tion, that they were the most exclusive of Englishmen 
as regarded each other, was happily dispelled. 
Through eighteen years Bell laboured and was 
rewarded by success,—the advancement of pharmacy 
and [the elevation of pharmacists were to him the 
highest of all rewards. But then came a cloud over 
the scene, and, in what appeared to be the full tide 
of his energy, the guiding spirit of the Journal and 
of the Society was called away. So ended the first 
series of the ‘ Pharmaceutical Journal.’ 
But living and dying, the welfare of the Pharma¬ 
ceutical Society was an object of the deepest interest 
to its originator, and in the immediate anticipation 
of the close of his labours, Jacob Bell passed the 
copyright of his Journal over to the Society as a free 
gift of what had become a valuable property, accom¬ 
panied by suggestions for its maintenance, founded 
on the experience of the past eighteen years,—sugges¬ 
tions of dangers to be avoided as well as objects to 
be pursued. 
Third Series, No. 1. 
The Council on whom, as trustees, the duty of 
publication was thus conferred, resolved unanimously 
to carry out their work in the manner indicated by 
Mr. Bell, and accordingly secured the services of 
those gentlemen who had from the commencement 
been his coadjutors, to co-operate with a Com¬ 
mittee, consisting of the President of the Society for 
the time being, Mr. Morson, and Mr. Daniel Han- 
bury: thus the second series of the Journal was 
commenced, which ended last month on the comple¬ 
tion of its eleventh volume. 
Other members of the Council were afterwards 
added to the Publication Committee, but twelve 
months since it was deemed that single responsibility 
was better than divided authority for such work. 
The Journal seemed to lack that unity of purpose 
and independence of tone which it had possessed 
originally; and when we remember that Mr. Bell, as 
sole proprietor, was responsible to no man for its 
contents, it is easy to account for the absence of a 
certain amount of spirit which had in his day cha¬ 
racterized its articles. 
As proof, however, that the ,’nterest of the work 
has not flagged, we may point to the resolution just 
arrived at, to alter the monthly to a weekly issue, in 
accordance with which we tliis day send forth the 
first number of the third series. 
Various circumstances combine to render tliis 
change desirable; the enlarged sphere of operation 
which has been accorded to the Pharmaceutical So¬ 
ciety by recent legislation; the great extension of the 
Society, but chiefly the greater demand for such in¬ 
formation as it is our province to convey in these 
pages,—a demand first engendered, and since in¬ 
creased by the ‘Pharmaceutical Journal’ itself, an 
appetite increased by the food supplied. We believe, 
could Jacob Bell look down on the present condition 
of Pharmacy in Great Britain, he would say, “ Well 
done !” He would say, too, “ Go on, but ever re¬ 
member the principles on which we founded our So¬ 
ciety and its Journal; let private interest find no 
place among you; love of science has increased im¬ 
measurably in the minds of Chemists and Druggists, 
let the special sciences of our trade have due space 
accorded to them; but fail not also to remember that 
we have still a trade to care for, and let not the ques¬ 
tions concerning that trade be overlooked ; let Pliar- 
