382  William  Beatty  Thompson.  {Ai„JSSm' 
dispensing  druggists  of  preceding  generations.  In  our  frequent 
interviews  he  loved  to  descant  on  the  merits  of  these.  A  paper  of 
some  length  is  left  and  we  take  from  it  the  following.  It  is  entitled 
"Reminiscence  and  Precept,"  September  28,  1906. 
"When  tradespeople  of  a  craft  assemble  together,  or  when 
opportunity  is  afforded  for  social  and  conversational  intercourse,  the 
elders  appear  quite  naturally  to  dwell  upon  the  reminiscence  of  time 
and  days  long  since  past.  Such  retrospect  seems  to  yield  a  charm 
to  memory,  and  with  manifest  and  warm  interest  the  participants 
fondly  recall  the  incidents  of  business  and  personal  life,  invested 
with  all  its  varied  experiences  and  observation.  Thus  it  has  some- 
times happened  with  the  present  remnant  or  diminishing  group  of 
surviving  pharmacists  of  the  earlier  days  of  local  trade  history, 
especially  of  our  own  city  of  Philadelphia,  the  natal  place  of  an 
important  era  in  pharmacy,  as  also  that  of  medical  lore.  These 
recollections  are  chiefly  such  as  are  suggested  by  that  period  of  time 
which  lapsed  with  the  third  and  fourth  decades,  and  the  closing 
years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  become  descriptive  in  part  of 
the  personality  of  men,  and  manners  of  those  whose  business 
activities  and  life  pursuit  gave  impress  of  profound  and  lasting 
character. 
"  The  more  is  desired,  because,  whilst  the  day  and  time  produced 
a  far  less  number  of  professional  representatives,  it  also  brought 
into  view  a  class  of  men  whose  sterling  individuality  stood  for  so 
much  that  has  been,  and  properly  cherished  ever  will  be,  a  control- 
ling example — especially  to  those  more  numerous,  who  are  indus- 
triously following  in  such  worthy  tread  and  character  footprint. 
"  There  was  much  less  disposition  in  the  earlier  days  to  measure 
and  gauge  character  by  vocation.  However  petty  and  trifling  by 
comparison  the  transactions  of  smaller  tradesmen  appeared  to  be, 
there  was  as  much  individual  character  strength  to  be  found  dealing 
in  and  doling  out  simples,  as  existed  in  the  larger  branches  of  busi- 
ness, so  that  the  apothecary,  who  might  be  viewed  as  in  the  smallest 
class  of  traffickers,  was  no  less  honored  in  the  public  esteem  on  this 
account. 
"  Let  these  submitted  facts  be  duly  considered,  however,  that  the 
usefulness  and  value  to  every  community  of  persons  of  the  knowl- 
edge and  application  of  pharmaceutical  skill  and  education  to 
human  needs  and  physical  requirement  is  to-day  greater  than  ever. 
