92 
EDITORIAL. 
their  characters,  and  compare  the  same  species  from  different  localities. 
He  has  issued  a  circular  of  invitation,  accompanied  with  directions  for 
putting  up  the  specimens  so  as  to  keep  well.  All  those  persons  who  feel 
disposed,  from  their  interest  in  science,  to  promote  the  professor's  object, 
will  do  well  to  address  a  note  to  (i  L.  Agassiz,  Professor  of  Zoology,  &c, 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts,"  when  he  will  forward  them  the  necessary 
directions. 
Massachusetts  College  of  Pharmacy. — We  are  glad  to  learn  that  our 
Boston  brethren  are  awake  in  regard  to  providing  the  means  of  education 
for  their  assistants  and  apprentices,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  ex- 
tract from  the  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  of  December  7th, — "A 
course  of  scientific  lectures,  under  the  patronage  of  this  important  institu- 
tion, at  the  Medical  College,  in  this  city,  to  be  delivered  twice  a  week,  has 
been  commenced.  Every  apprentice  or  assistant  in  an  apothecary  or  drug 
store,  throughout  the  city,  should  have  the  privilege  of  attending.  They 
would  thus  become  scientifically  familiar  with  the  exact  medicinal  character 
of  the  articles  in  which  they  deal,  and  the  public  would  be  more  secure 
against  a  repetition  of  those  fatal  mistakes  that  have  been  made  by  selling 
overdoses  of  medicines,  as  well  as  poisonous  drugs,  the  specific  effects  of 
which  are  not  always  known  to  clerks.  Physicians  should  give  to  the 
College  of  Pharmacy,  in  Boston,  the  whole  weight  of  their  influence." 
New  York  Journal  of  Pharmacy. — The  Editor  announces  that  "with 
the  present  number,  the  Journal  <  published  by  authority  of  the  College  of 
Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York  ;  terminates.  ^  When  it  again  appears 
— and  if  the  contemplated  arrangements  are  carried  out,  this  will  be  after 
the  regular  monthly  interval — the  College  will  no  longer  be  even  nomi« 
nally  responsible  for  its  contents  or  its  pecuniary  obligations." 
The  course  of  the  New  York  Journal  of  Pharmacy  has  thus  far  been  digni- 
fied, straightforward,  and  honorable.  We  had  anticipated  a  longer  life 
for  it  in  its  primary  form,  as  the  organ  of  the  New  York  College,  yet  there 
is  no  good  reason  why,  as  an  independent  Journal,  it  may  not  greatly  flourish 
and  bear  much  and  good  fruit  to  the  credit  of  American  Pharmacy. 
The  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph  :  with  an  historical  account  of  its  rise,  pro- 
gress, and  present  condition.  Also,  practical  suggestions  in  regard  to 
insulation,  and  protection  from  the  effects  of  lightning ;  together  with  an 
appendix  containing  several  important  telegraphic  decisions  and  laws.  By 
Lawrence  Turnbull,  M.  D.,  Lecturer  on  Technical  Chemistry,  at  the 
Franklin  Institute  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Second  edition,  revised 
and  improved.  Illustrated  by  numerous  engravings.  Philadelphia,  A. 
Hart,  1853,  pp.  264,  octavo. 
We  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  this  interesting  volume  from  the 
author.    But  a  few  years  have  elapsed  since  all  were  struck  with  amaze- 
