474 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December in, 1870. 
"kind of cardamom figured by Mr. Hanbury. The plant is 
closely allied to Alpinia calcarata, which flowers readily 
in the Calcutta Botanic Gardens; but was determined 
by Dr. Hancc to be a perfectly distinct and well-defined 
■species, to which he gave the name Alpinia officinanun. 
A diagnosis of the species was given by Dr. Hance. 
ANDERSONIAN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL 
SCHOOL. 
At the opening of the Winter Session of the Medical 
School at the Andersonian University, Glasgow, on 
November 26, Dr. Thorpe, late of Owens College, Man¬ 
chester, the recently-appointed Professor of Chemistry, 
delivered the introductory lecture. There was a large 
attendance. In the absence of the President, the chair 
•was taken by Mr. Harvey. 
The Chairman said the institution had been fortunate 
in the possession of men of great talent. To go back, 
they had, in the first instance, Dr. Ure, then Dr. Gregory, 
Dr. Graham, and lastly, one not the least among them, 
Dr. Penny. He trusted that the selection of Dr. Thorpe, 
whom he had now the pleasure to introduce to the au¬ 
dience, would be equally fortunate. Dr. Thorpe had 
done much for the science, young as ho was, and he (the 
Chairman) trusted he would live still further to extend 
that knowledge which he had already brought before 
the world, and which was worthy of older men, and that 
he would be able to produce something of value to his 
students. 
Dr. Thorpe took the opportunity of expressing the 
deep sense of his obligation to the trustees of the insti¬ 
tution, who had elected him as successor to men whose 
names gave an imperishable lustre to science and the 
history of that place. He continued—No one could be 
more profoundly sensible than I am of the high honour 
which has thus been conferred upon me, and no one 
more keenly alive to the great responsibility which is 
thus attached to my office. And although I feel how 
utterly it is beyond my power even to attempt to extend 
the boundaries of chemical science as did Graham, or 
the range of chemical literature like Gregory, or to 
emulate the power of clear and lucid exposition possessed 
by my predecessor, Dr. Penny, I trust that I may not 
be found wanting in the desire to show forth the labours 
of these and other men, conscious that by so doing to 
the best of my ability, I shall reap the approbation of 
your trustees, and obtain the cordial co-operation of my 
colleagues. Thanks to the untiring exertions and zeal 
of the late Professor Penny, the chemical reputation of 
this place has become a thing to be highly prized; and I 
.assure you, gentlemen, that it will be my constant effort, 
so far as I am able, to cherish and maintain it. But, to 
turn now to my more immediate subject, I feel that it 
would be in the highest degree presumptuous in me to 
attempt to give you anything like the usual address on 
occasions of this nature. Fully impressed with the truth 
.and wisdom of the old maxim, “Ne sutor ultra crepi- 
,-dam,” and acting under the advice of some of my col¬ 
leagues, I wish rather to confine myself to the subject 
with which I am connected, and attempt to indicate to 
you the province of the science which I have the honour 
to teach. 
Dr. Thorpe, then proceeded to give an address upon 
modern chemistry, which we purpose printing as soon 
•.as we have space. 
THE ST. ANDREW’S MEDICAL GRADUATES’ 
ASSOCIATION. 
On Friday and Saturday, the 2nd and 3rd inst., the 
members of this Association met at the Freemasons’ 
Tavern; Dr. Richardson, the President, took the chair 
an the first day. Several honorary members were 
•elected. 
The Treasurer’s and Council reports having been read, 
Dr. H. Day, of Stafford, was elected President, while 
Dr. Richardson, the retiring President, was elected to 
the new office of President of the Council. 
Dr. Whitmore read a paper on “ Sanitary Defects and 
Sanitary Needs of the Day,” giving statistics to prove 
that in the last thirty years there has been no decrease, 
but rather an increase in the rate of mortality, especially 
during the last ten years, in which sanitary reforms 
have been most actively carried out. This ho attributed 
to the fact that sanitary enactments were frequently a 
dead letter, whilst density of population and other causes 
of disease have much increased. 
Dr. Richardson delivered an eloquent address on 
“ The Future of Physic,” in which ho said that he had 
been led to think that it would be a pleasing and useful 
task to construct a history of the science of medicine in 
the Victorian era. In carrying out this idea, a vista of 
the future of medicine had often presented itself, of the 
course that medical science will take under the influence 
of change of thought respecting the physical forces of 
the universe, giving rise to the question, What can we 
who now exist do for the future ? At present we live in 
uncertainty; we appear to dabble with questions of legis¬ 
lation without teaching or influencing the legislator, 
trusting to Government protection for the right to apply 
our skill instead of throwing away the oppressive shield 
it loans to us. He advocated the complete isolation of 
medicine from the trammels of such legislation as leads 
to useless and endless attempts to put down quacks by the 
power of the law. The influence of a William Harvey 
does more to reform medicine than all the medical re¬ 
formers that ever lived. One of the first things required 
is the simplification of the language used by medical 
men. The bringing into use of a simple and reasonable 
scientific language would be an important service ren¬ 
dered to physic. It is essential also that some alteration 
be made in training our sons for the medical profession. 
The necessity of revising and extending our methods of 
observation was then alluded to, and the enlarged field 
of research opened up by recent discoveries. In the 
future of physic, too, it would be only according as the 
' good of the community was sought rather than that of 
the individual, that the prosperity of the profession 
would be secured. 
A report of the Second Annual Meeting of the Ashton 
and Dukinficld Chemists’Association has been received, 
too late for insertion, in consequence of having been 
wrongly sent to the publishers instead of the editor. 
MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
Monday, 3Iedical Society, at 8 p.m. 
London Institution, at 4 p.m. —“On Chemical Action” 
(Educational Course). By Professor Odling. 
Tuesday, Loyal Medical and Chirurgical , at 8.30 P.M. 
Photographic Society, at 8.30 p.m. 
Wednesday, Society of Arts, at 8 p.m. 
Microscopical Society, at 8 p.m. 
Thursday, Loyal Society, at 8.30 p.m. 
Linnean Society, at 8 p.m. 
Chemical Society, at 8 P.M. 
London Institution, at 7.30 p.m. —“On Count Rumford 
and his Philosophical Work.” By W. M. Williams. 
London Chemists' Asssociation, at 9.30 p.m. —“The Waste 
Products of the Pharmacopoeia Processes.” By G. 
Brownen. 
We regret to have to record the death of Mr. Charles 
Coles, Pharmaceutical Chemist, of Hampstead, which 
happened on December 1, after a few days’ illness, from 
inflammation of the lungs. The deceased gentleman, 
who was always ready to render any service to the 
Pharmaceutical Society, attended at Bloomsbury Squpe 
for the last time upon the occasion of the late election 
of the annuitants on the Benevolent Fund, when he 
I signed the report as one of the scrutineers. 
