2 
PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTES  OF  TRAVEL. 
I  entered  England  from  the  south,  and  so  will  ask  the  reader 
to  go  with  me  directly  into  the  heart  of  the  great  Metropolis  ; 
and  having  visited  the  Tower,  Saint  Paul's,  Westminster,  the 
Tunnel,  the  Great  Eastern,  the  Parks,  Crystal  Palace,  and 
other  objects  of  world-wide  interest  that  absorb  the  attention  of 
the  astonished  stranger,  who  finds  himself  for  the  first  time  in 
London,  to  accompany  me  to  Bloomsbury  Square  in  search  of  the 
house  of  the  London  Pharmaceutical  Society.  This  we  shall 
find  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  the  British  Museum,  on  a 
retired  street,  surrounded  by  dwellings  of  the  better  class,  oppo- 
site a  neat  private  plot  of  trees,  flowers  and  green  grass — off 
from  the  thoroughfares,  and  yet  near  enough  to  Oxford  street 
for  convenient  access  by  omnibus  from  almost  any  part  of  the 
Metropolis. 
The  building,  which,  at  the  time  of  my  late  visit,  was  about 
being  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  the  adjoining  house,  was  origi- 
nally a  commodious  dwelling,  three  stories  high,  "rough  cast"  and 
painted ;  since  its  purchase  by  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  it 
has  been  adapted  to  their  use  by  the  necessary  alterations. 
On  the  first  floor  is  the  Museum,  which  is  lighted  by  two  large 
windows  fronting  on  the  street,  and  adjoining  it  is  the  Council 
room.  Back  of  the  main  stairway  is  the  office  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Society,  who,  I  understand,  after  the  projected  improve- 
ments, is  to  be  a  resident  officer.  The  lecture  room  is  on  the 
second  floor  fronting  the  street,  and  back  of  it  the  library. 
The  practical  laboratory  consists  of  two  divisions ;  one  in  the 
basement,  which  is  used  for  the  rougher  and  heavier  operations, 
and  the  other  in  the  third  story,  devoted  to  analytical  processes, 
and  the  preparation  of  fine  chemicals. 
The  arrangement  of  the  laboratories  struck  me  favorably, 
and  the  course  of  instruction,  as  explained  by  Professor  Bed- 
wood,  appeared  well  calculated  to  train  up  scientific  pharmaceu- 
tists. The  laboratories  are  open  from  9  o'clock  in  the  morning 
till  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  every  day  except  one,  which  is 
devoted  to  study  in  the  Museum.  Each  pupil  has  certain  arti- 
cles of  apparatus  given  him  for  his  use,  and  is  held  responsible 
for  the  careful  keeping  of  these.  He  first  enters  upon  a  course 
of  synthetical  operations,  making  and  testing  the  principal  me- 
tallic compounds  ;  then  upon  metrical  manipulations,  determina- 
