Am.  Jour.  Pnarin. ) 
August,  1907.  J 
William  Beatty  Thompson, 
379 
have  an  ash  of  26- 5  ;  but  as  there  is  no  standard  for  this  constant, 
further  investigation  was  postponed.  One  sample  of  powdered  cap- 
sicum was  reported  in  which  there  was  a  large  quantity  of  red  lead, 
bringing  the  percentage  of  ash  up  to  18*4.  Several  samples  of 
powdered  black  pepper  containing  from  12  to  19  per  cent,  of  ash, 
mainly  silica,  are  also  reported. 
WILLIAM  BEATTY  THOMPSON. 
By  Evan  Tyson  Eixis. 
William  B.Thompson  was  born  September  11,  1831,  and  died 
December  7,  1906.  His  father  was  John  Thompson,  who  was  well 
know,n  in  this  community,  having  rilled  the  offices  of  High  Sheriff  of 
Philadelphia,  and  for  many  years  that  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  when  the 
appointment  came  from  the  Governor  of  the  State  and  was  virtually 
a  life  tenure,  and  Judge  Thompson  was  especially  noted  for  his 
integrity. 
The  son  was  educated  in  the  private  academy  of  Thomas  James, 
a  famed  instructor  of  those  days,  and  in  1848  entered  employ  as 
apprentice  to  Edward  and  Charles  Yarnall,  whose  place  of  business 
was  on  Market  Street,  near  Second  Street,  Philadelphia,  and  had  been 
established  in  1 819.  From  a  memorandum  left  by  him  entitled 
"A  Chapter  in  Personal  History  "  I  quote  his  own  words  :  "Attended 
the  lectures  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  during  a  period 
of  my  apprenticeship  with  the  Yarnall  firm,  1848-49.  I  did  not 
present  myself  for  examination  and  the  diploma,  at  the  end  of  the 
second  term,  owing  to  the  fact  that  much  of  the  work  of  preparing 
and  putting  together  goods  for  shipment,  which  devolved  upon  the 
apprentices  of  that  day,  had  to  be  done  at  night,  and  regular  attend- 
ance upon  the  College  courses  was  much  interrupted.  The  College 
then  was  located  on  what  was  Zane,  now  Filbert  Street.  Consequently 
I  did  not  present  myself  for  examination  at  the  end  of  the  second 
session,  as  there  was  little  opportunity  in  the  wholesale  business 
such  as  the  Yarnalls'  of  obtaining  other  than  a  somewhat  super- 
ficial knowledge  of  drugs,  only  their  obvious  physical  character. 
Chemicals  were  few  and  rare  and  there  were  no  compounds  or  com. 
positions  made  at  wholesale.  Of  course  the  numbei  of  articles 
handled  and  their  great  variety,  chiefly  as  natural,  vegetable,  mineral, 
