234 
EDITORIAL. 
€5itorial  Department- 
The  U.  S.  Army  Laboratory  at  New  York. — This  extensive  Labora- 
tory, located  at  Astoria,  on  Long  Island,  a  few  miles  from  the  city  of 
New  York,  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  Monday  morning,  the  20th  of  Feb- 
ruary. The  fire,  which  occurred  in  the  day  time,  commenced  in  the 
ceiling  over  the  drying  room,  which  must  have  been  improperly  con- 
structed. From  this  point  the  flames  rapidly  extended  to  other  parts  of 
the  building,  which  was  soon  a  heap  of  ruins,  including  the  apartments 
occupied  by  Dr.  J.  H.  Bill,  Ass.  Surg.  U.  S.  Army,  whose  chemical  know- 
ledge had  caused  him  to  be  selected  as  the  director  of  the  Laboratory. 
The  loss  to  the  Government,  variously  estimated,  is  said  to  be  $50,000, 
a  portion  of  which  was  probably  stock.  We  understand  Dr.  Bill  made  a 
statistical  report  to  the  Washington  Bureau  some  time  ago  which  was 
highly  favorable  to  the  usefulness  and  economy  of  this  Laboratory. 
As  the  establishment  of  the  two  Laboratories  was  an  act  of  the  late 
Surgeon-General  Hammond,  without  adequate  authority,  Surgeon- 
General  Barnes  declined  re-establishing  this  without  an  act  of  Congress. 
An  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  magnitude  of  the  operations  of  the  Astoria 
Laboratory,  when  one  House,  since  the  fire,  has  been  called  upon  to. 
powder  for  the  Army  27  cases  of  opium,  32  ceroons  of  ipecac,  18  ceroons 
of  calisaya  bark,  and  280  bags  of  cubebs,  and  other  things  in  proportion, 
St.  Louis  College  of  Pharmacy. — We  are  informed  by  Mr.  Enno 
Sander,  of  St.  Louis,  that  the  College  there  have  established  a  Chair  of 
Botany  as  the  first  effort  in  connection  with  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  to 
be  commenced  the  ensuing  winter;  and  Prof.  Wadgymar,  now  of  the 
Academy  of  Christian  Brothers,  is  the  occupant. 
The  Dispensatory  of  the  United  States  of  America.  By  George  B.  Wood, 
M.  ]).,  &c,  and  Franklin  Bache,  M.  D.,  &o.  &c.  Twelfth  Edition, 
carefully  revised.  Philadelphia  :  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.  1865.  Pp. 
1704.  Octavo. 
After  an  interval  of  more  than  seven  years  since  the  eleventh  edition, 
a  new  edition  of  the  Dispensatory,  long  looked  for,  has  been  received.  In 
appearance  it  is  like  its  predecessors,  having  the  same  size  and  style  of 
type,  and  the  page,  though  a  little  larger,  appears  the  same*.  Many  of  the 
additions  are  in  notes,  in  small  type,  in  the  first  and  second  parts  ;  whilst 
the  third  part,  on  non-officinal  drugs  and  medicines,  has  been  consider- 
ably extended.  The  book,  though  not  so  thick  as  its  predecessor,  has  one 
hundred  and  twenty  more  pages, — the  paper  being  thinner  than  in  earlier 
editions. 
