EDITORIAL. 
287 
a  higher  education.  These  and  all  other  points  tending  to  improve  the 
internal  condition  of  the  profession,  should  be  urged  forward  and  encouraged 
by  the  Association. 
But  there  is  another  vocation,  for  which  it  seems  peculiarly  fitted,  and 
which  would  add  largely  to  its  usefulness.  We  allude  to  the  adoption  of 
measures  calculated  to  enlist  the  talented  members  of  the  profession,  and  to 
direct  their  efforts  to  some  of  the  objects  of  investigation  of  the  deepest 
interest  to  medicine  and  pharmacy.  The  noble  results  that  have  been  called 
forth  by  the  annual  questions  of  the  French  Academy,  are  an  example  of 
what  can  be  accomplished  by  this  kind  of  encouragement.  The  annual 
meetings  of  the  Association  would  become  rich  treats  of  intellectual  pleasures, 
affording  an  ample  return  to  the  members  for  the  sacrifices  they  make  to 
get  to  them;  its  character  as  a  body  would  aequire  firmness  and  respectability; 
its  published  transactions  would  become  valuable  contributions  to  the  lite- 
rature of  science,  and  a  field  would  be  opened  and  a  tribunal  be  erected, 
where  the  honorable  exertions  of  aspiring  talent  and  industry  would  meet 
with  a  just  appreciation. 
Biography  of  Dr.  Dalton. — Dr.  John  Dalton,  the  illustrious  discoverer 
of  the  law  of  multiple  proportions  and  author  of  the  Atomic  theory,  died  in 
1844,  and  bequeathed  his  papers  to  Dr.  William  Charles  Henry,  as  his 
literary  executor.  Dr,  Henry  has  nearly  completed  a  biography  of  Dr. 
Dalton,  which  will  be  published  under  the  auspices  of  the  Cavendish  Society, 
than  which  no  more  appropriate  publisher  could  have  been  chosen. 
Castillon's  Elixir. — A  correspondent  having  inquired  for  the  formula 
for  the  above  preparation,  which  has  been  prescribed  to  some  extent  in  this 
city,  the  following  has  been  given  to  us,  as  the  recipe  for  making  it. 
j$.     Pulv :  Cinchonae  Rubra, 
Pulv:  Gentianae, 
Pulv:  Columbse,  ' aa  ^j. 
Pulv:  Ipecacuanhae,  ^ss. 
Pulv:  Cinnamomi  gj. 
Capsulse  Papaveris.  ^ij. 
Spiritus  Vini  Gallice,  Oiij. 
Macerate  the  ingredients  for  twelve  hours  and  displace,  using  diluted 
alcohol  to  remove  the  last  portion  of  the  tincture. 
Nickel's  Patent  Elastic  Plaster. — Since  noticing  these  plasters  in 
the  January  number,  we  have  received  from  Mr.  Henry  Lowe,  of  Fayette 
and  Park  Sts.,  Baltimore,  (who  has  obtained  the  Agency  for  the  United 
States,)  several  samples  of  the  plaster  of  different  kinds  and  qualities.  The 
tissue  upon  which  the  plaster  is  spread  being  woven  and  elastic,  it  admits 
of  application  over  any  inequalities  of  surface,  as  at  the  joints;  The  prices 
quoted  are  $1.50  and  $1.75  per  yard  eight  inches  wide,  according  to  the 
fineness  of  the  tissue. 
