384 
EDITORIAL. 
acta  ungratefully  toward  him  in  not  wholly  abstaining  from  prescribing  at 
the  counter  and  from  selling  quackery.  It  would  be  well  to  call  his  atten- 
tion to  the  fact,  (Proc.  Amer.  Pharm.  Assoc.,  1853)  that  of  274  retail 
druggists  in  Philadelphia,  57,  or  one-fifth,  are  kept  by  practicing  physicians, 
who,  as  they  enter  into  competition  with  regular  apothecaries,  the  lat- 
ter, to  compete,  too  often  are  induced  to  prescribe  to  retain  their  business. 
Add  to  this  the  immense  amount  of  medicines  dispensed  by  physicians  in 
the  rural  districts,  where  apothecaries  do  not  exist,  and  in  villages  and 
small  towns  where  they  do,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  "  Old  Physic," 
however  kindly  he  may  feel  towards  his  offspring,  has  not  yet  become 
willing  to  trust  him  with  the  sole  management  and  income  of  his  pharm- 
aceutical estate. 
Iodide  or  Potassium  and  the  Mercurials. — It  is  due  to  us  to  state 
that  when  the  paper  on  the  above  subject,  in  our  last  number,  was  published, 
the  author  had  entirely  overlooked  the  extensive  and  important  paper  of 
M.  Melsens,  which,  though  written  for  a  different  object,  included  roost  of 
the  results  obtained  by  him. 
Bronze  Labels  for  Shop  Furniture.— The  Committee  of  the  College 
of  Pharmacy  on  Latin  Labels  have  published  the  first  edition  of  bronze 
labels,  and  a  specimen  of  them  may  be  seen  in  the  advertising  department 
of  this  number. 
The  relation  between  the  atomic  weights  of  the  Chemical  Elements.  By  Josiah 
P.  Cook,  Jr.,  Erving  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  Harvard  University. 
(From  the  Memoirs  of  the  American  Academy).  Cambridge.  1854.  pp. 
22,  quarto,  with  a  chart. 
"We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Wm.  A.  Brewer,  President  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  for  a  copy  of  Mr.  Cook's  paper,  of  which  the 
above  is  the  title.  The  author  appears  to  have  given  much  thought  to  the 
subject  and  has  developed  some  new  views,  but  our  space  does  not  admit  of 
entering  upon  an  analysis  of  the  paper  for  the  benefit  of  our  readers  at  this 
time. 
Death  of  Sir  James  Wtlie. — Many  of  our  readers  have  heard  of  Sir 
James  Wylie,  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  chief  physician  to  the  Kussian  Court. 
A  notice  of  him  was  published  last  year  in  Prof.  G.  B.  Wood's  introductory 
lecture  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Sir  James  Wylie  was  born  in 
Scotland  in  1768,  was  knighted  at  Ascot  Heath  Kaces  in  1814  by  George  the 
Fouith,  then  Prince  Regent;  and  subsequently,  at  the  request  of  Alexander 
of  Russia,  was  created  a  baronet  of  England,  as  he  refused,  though  intend- 
ing to  reside  in  Russia,  to  give  up  his  allegiance  to  the  English  crown. 
Death  of  M.  Roux.  This  eminent  French  surgeon  died  recently  at  Paris, 
aged  74.    He  was  a  cotemporary  and  early  rival  of  Dupuytren. 
