Am.  'our.  Pharm. 
May,  1902. 
Emit  ScJieffer. 
213 
the  drawers  were  a  pattern  of  orderliness  both  as  to  contents  and 
condition;  the  prescription-counter,  flanked  on  the  side  by  a  costly 
and  accurate  analytical  balance,  was  spacious  and  appointed  with 
every  convenience  that  might  facilitate  and  expedite  the  compound- 
ing and  delivery  of  medicines.  A  good,  well-ventilated  cellar,  the 
pink  of  orderliness  and  cleanliness,  served  for  the  storage  of  perish- 
able goods,  while  the  stock  of  herbs,  roots  and  barks  was  stored  in 
a  dry  and  lofty  apartment  over  the  store.  To  the  immediate  rear 
of  the  store  was  the  laboratory,  leading  into  a  storeroom  for  the 
excess  of  unperishable  stock ;  and  in  a  separate  building,  in  the  rear 
of  all,  was  located  a  supplemental  laboratory  for  processes  of  fusion, 
calcinations  and  operations  evolving  noxious  or  corrosive  gases. 
These  laboratories  were  not  only  well  appointed  in  all  respects  for 
the  preparation  of  galenicals  and  chemicals — organic  as  well  as 
inorganic — but  they  were  in  daily  use.  And  yet,  when  one 
approached  the  house,  there  was  little  to  distinguish  it  from  its 
equally  humble  neighbors,  except,  indeed,  the  cleanliness  of  the 
glass  in  the  three  double  doors  composing  the  front  of  the  store. 
Equipped  as  explained,  what  wonder  that  SchefTer  should  have 
drawn  his  patrons  from  all  parts  of  the  city  and  from  all  classes. 
For  many  years  he  enjoyed  the  patronage  of  the  wealthiest  as  well 
as  of  the  humblest,  and  he  secured  and  maintained  the  confidence 
and  respect  of  the  foremost  physicians  of  his  adopted  home,  who 
consulted  him  freely,  and  for  whom  he  prepared  many  preparations 
and  chemicals  that,  although  now  as  common  as  cream  of  tartar  or 
quinine,  were  during  the  third  quarter  of  the  past  century  unobtain- 
able or  rarely  found  in  the  drug  market.  His  general  knowledge  of 
technical  operations  also  served  to  increase  his  popularity,  for  he 
was  daily  consulted  by  dyers,  tanners,  artificers  and  manufacturers 
in  different  lines  requiring  advice  on  chemical  processes — all  of 
which  was  given  freely  and  gratuitously.  Moreover,  the  complete- 
ness and  variety  of  his  stock,  and  his  comprehensive  knowledge, 
enabled  him  to  supply  his  brother  pharmacists  with  many  medica- 
ments and  preparations  that  were  not  profitably — or  for  other 
reasons — stocked  by  them,  and  he  was  quite  as  frequently  consulted 
by  them  on  questions  with  which  they  were  unfamiliar.  Implicit 
reliance  was  placed  by  the  latter  in  all  that  came  from  Scheffer's 
drug  store,  a  fact  which  was  plainly  demonstrated  when,  in  1882, 
he  closed  his  drug  business  definitely.    Conditions  had  undergone 
