Editorial. — Obituary. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      .Time,  1882. 
vioLisly  prepared  this  important  report  for  tliree  years.  Of  the  (luality  of 
his  reports  it  is  not  necessary  to  speak,  since  all  who  read  the  annual  Pro- 
ceedings of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  of  which  publica- 
tion it  forms  a  most  important  part,  accord  to  its  merits  due  praise. 
We  have  thought  it  proper  to  give  the  above  brief  historical  sketch, 
which  will,  we  think,  fully  explain  the  words  of  caution  that'we  feel  are 
due  to  a  project  evidently  not  weighed  in  all  its  bearings.  We  refer  to 
reports  on  the  progress  of  pharmacy  by  some  of  the  State  Pharmaceutical 
Associations.  Such  reports  have  heretofore  been  made  to  several  of  these 
organizations,  and  those  who  have  taken  occasion  to  examine  them  and 
comi)are  them  with  any  of  those  mentioned  above,  will  readily  concede 
that  though  they  may  be — as  some  of  them  really  are — valuable  collections 
of  abstracts  as  far  as  they  go,  yet  that  they  are  necessarily  meagre,  not  in 
the  least  approaching  in  completeness  the  former,  and  consequently  as 
reports  on  the  progress  of  pharmacy,  of  no  utility.  Such  reports  must  em- 
brace the  literature  of  nearly  all  countries,  and  to  prepare  them  properly 
is  a  task  which  requires  not  only  intelligence  but  also  a  special  training 
and  peculiar  aptitude,  qualities  which  are  not  too  commonly  found. 
Moreover,  such  a  report  acquires  its  commensurate  importance  only 
through  the  circle  of  its  readers,  and  instead  of  leading  the  energies  pro- 
ducing it  into  a  multitude  of  channels,  each  a  weak  one,  it  is  by  far  better 
to  concentrate  the  efforts  upon  one  common  object,  thus  insuring 
not  only  its  vitality,  but  also  increasing  its  efficiency  and  usefulness. 
There  is  no  more  reason  for  a  State  association  than  for  a  county  society 
or  for  an  individual,  to  prepare  a  report  on  the  progress  of  pharmacy;  on 
the  contrary,  all  reputable  pharmacists  throughout  the  country  should  con- 
sider it  a  duty  to  further  the  usefulness  of  one  of  the  most  valuable  publi- 
cations of  its  kind  by  consulting  it. 
Much  more  might  be  said  on  this  subject,  but  we  consider  the  above  as 
amply  sufficient  to  prove  the  futile  character  of  such  divided  labors;  and 
while,  on  the  one  hand,  we  hope  that  the  practice  of  preparing  such  reports, 
where  it  still  exists,  may  soon  be  abandoned,  we  sincerely  trust  that  it  may 
not  be  undertaken  in  other  State  associations,  where  its  introduction  has 
been  recently  recommended. 
OBITUARY. 
Professor  Joseph  Decaisne,  the  eminent  botanist,  died  at  Paris  Febru- 
ary 8th  last,  having  nearly  completed  his  seventy-fifth  year.  He  was  born 
at  Brussels,  and  while  quite  young  came  to  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  as  gar- 
dener. He  wrote  the  monographs  on  Asclepiadaceae  and  Plantaginacese 
for  DeCandolle's  Prodromus,  was  editor  of  the  "  Annales  des  Sciences 
Naturelles  "  since  1842,  and  published  numerous  essays  and  several  works 
on  botany,  of  which  the  Trait6  general  de  Botanique,  written  in  conjunc- 
tion with  Le  Mouat  in  1868,  has  particularly  attracted  the  attention  of  bot- 
anists. For  many  years  he  was  Director  of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes  and  Pro- 
fessor at  the  Museum  of  Natural  History  at  Paris. 
