478 
Our  Centennial. 
( Arn.  Jour.  Pharm . 
\     October,  1962. 
Where  sit  those  "ex-presidents  and  officers,  we,  who  look  upon  them, 
see  other  forms.  Where  journalists,  authors,  scientists,  educators, 
men  of  learning  and  men  of  action  gather  before  us,  others  wedge 
in,  invisible  to  all  but  such  as  knew  these  other  men  in  these  places. 
Messages  of  kindly  greeting  offered  in  days  gone  by  awaken  as 
their  faces  spring  before  us  and  touch  our  hearts.  Conjured  into 
shape  and  form  are  these  greetings  by  memory's  charm,  but  real 
as  life  are  they  to  him  who  feels  the  touch.  Gone  are  rivalries,  the 
antagonisms,  the  differences  and  varying  ambitions  of  all  these  men. 
Lost  are  they  to  sight  and  touch  under  the  soporific  influence  of  the 
hand  that  winds  the  years  away. 
Let  us  not  mistake,  my  friends,  the  dominating  feature  of  this 
semi-centennial  of  our  Society  is  the  tribute  of  praise  we  offer  our 
absent  comrades.  A  monument  of  love  it  is  to  their  good  works, 
and  our  joy  is  largely  in  this  opportunity  to  voice  our  pride  in  their 
gift  to  humanity,  our  inheritance. 
Bid  now  a  momentary  farewell  to  the  phalanx  memory  creates. 
Turn  thought  onward.  A  second  fifty  years  begin.  The  future 
looms  before  us.  The  spindle  of  time  turns,  the  years  reel  off. 
One  by  one  the  faces  of  the  men  present  this  day  turn  to  dust  and 
disappear  in  vacancy.  The  babe  unborn  creeps,  rises  and  stands 
upright,  strong  in  life's  pride.  The  child  of  to-day  becomes  of  age 
mature.  The  Society  lives  on.  Then  comes  at  last  another  knot 
in  the  line  Time  spins.  A  second  day  of  jubilee  is  here.  Another 
fifty  years  have  passed. 
Unheard  are  the  voices  of  those  who  this  year,  1902,  made  the 
call  for  this  semi-centennial.  The  printed  envelope  bearing  the 
invitation  of  this  second  jubilee  celebration  is  dated  1952.  It  comes 
not  to  our  homes.  The  program  of  the  day  bears  not  our  names. 
Men  we  have  never  seen  have  taken  our  place  in  thought  and 
work.  Gone  are  we  into  the  silences.  Other  feet  seek  this  spot 
where  their  forefathers  one  hundred  years  before  met  to  organize 
the  society  that  through  our  hands  came  into  their  keeping.  Their 
eyes  turn  backward,  as  ours  do  now,  and  we  are  seen  as  we  now 
behold  those  who  met  in  this  place  fifty  years  ago.  To  the  mind 
of  him  who  then  thinks,  and  of  him  who  then  reflects,  will  come  a 
cherished  touch,  like  that  which  comes  to  you  now,  my  friends. 
The  same,  it  must  be  the  same,  and  yet  not  altogether  the  same. 
As  we  look  back  and  note  the  stopping  place  of  this  or  that  friend, 
