288 
EDITORIAL. 
OBITUARIES. 
DR.  FRANKLIN  BACHE. 
It  is  with  deep  regret  we  are  called  upon  to  record  the  death  of  Dr. 
Franklin  Bache,  who  died  at  his  residence  in  Philadelphia,  after  a  short 
illness,  on  the  19th  of  March,  in  his  72d  year.  Dr.  Bache,  as  a  chemical 
teacher  and  writer,  has  been  intimately  connected  with  the  progress 
of  Pharmacy  in  the  United  States,  and  his  last  work  as  Editor  of  the 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  and  as  Chairman  of  its  Committee  of 
Revision,  involved  an  amount  of  disinterested  labor  rarely  extended  by 
a  single  individual.  Whatever  he  undertook  was  done  well.  Uncompro- 
misingly strict  in  the  reception  of  evidence,  he  adopted  changes  or  sug- 
gestions with  caution,  and  was  highly  conservative  in  reference  to 
extending  the  boundaries  of  the  Materia  Medica.  Notwithstanding 
this,  he  was  easily  approached  with  sound  reasoning,  and  when  convinced 
of  the  claims  of  a  process  or  preparation,  he  gave  it  the  full  weight  of 
his  influence.  It  was  our  good  fortune  to  have  had  Dr.  Bache  as  chemi- 
cal preceptor  at  the  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  to  have  had  many  oppor- 
tunities of  observing  his  mental  peculiarities  in  a  long  subsequent 
intercourse  in  labor  connected  with  pharmacy.  We  never  knew  him  to 
flag  in  the  pursuit  of  duty,  or  to  hesitate  in  giving  his  full  attention  to  a 
matter,  however  troublesome,  if  it  involved  the  accuracy  or  usefulness  of 
the  work  in  which  he  was  engaged.  It  was  this  habit  of  accuracy  more 
than  anything  else  that  gives  value  to  his  portion  of  the  dispensatory, 
and  has  acquired  for  his  writings  the  confidence  of  Pharmaceutists.  As 
the  necrological  Committee  of  our  College  has,  at  page  276,  given  an 
official  obituary  notice,  we  will  avoid  further  comment  on  the  death  of 
one  for  whom  may  justly  be  claimed  a  high  place  in  the  enduring  memory 
of  the  pharmaceutists  of  the  United  States. 
DEATH  OF  PROFESSOR  EDWARD  HITCHCOCK. 
This  distinguished  scientific  man  died  at  Amherst,  Mass.,  Feb.  27th, 
ao-ed  nearly  71  years  ;  he  was  born  at  Deerfield,  Mass.,  May  21st,  1793. 
Prof.  Hitchcock's  labors  as  a  geologist,  have  placed  his  name  among 
those  who  have  materially  aided  in  building  up  that  great  science  ;  and 
as  President  of  Amherst  College  his  usefulness  has  been  largely  exhibited. 
In  the  language  of  Prof.  Silliman,  he  was  "  earnest,  simple  and  sagacious  ; 
indefatigable  under  all  discouragements,  his  clear,  firm  grasp  of  truth 
sustained  and  raised  him  above  all  difficulties,  and  have  secured  him  an 
honored  name  in  science." 
The  death  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Cutter,  of  Woburn,  will  be  deeply  felt  in 
the  community  of  which  he  had  so  long  been  a  prominent  and  valued 
member.  He  had  been  feeble  for  a  considerable  time  before  his  death, 
but  his  last  illness  was  of  short  duration.  Dr.  Cutter  was  born  in  West 
Cambridge  in  1803,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  class  of 
1824.  He  studied  medicine  with  Dr.  Francis  Kittredge,  of  Woburn. 
Many  valuable  contributions  from  his  pen  will  be  found  in  former  volumes 
of  this  Journal. — Boston  Medical  Journal. 
