A^ptJember,him'}    International  Pharmaceutical  Congress.  457 
macy  at  26  years  of  age.  He  was  a  brilliant  teacher,  and  his  teach- 
ing exercised  the  greatest  influence  on  his  pupils.  At  a  compara^ 
tively  early  age  death  took  him  from  his  family  and  from  science. 
The  Caventou  family  originated  in  Poitou,  but  the  father  of  the 
savant  was  an  army  pharmacist  in  the  Nord,  Sambre  and  Meuse 
district.  When  he  left  the  army  he  settled  at  St.  Omer,  near 
Calais.  It  was  only  natural  that  young  Caventou  should  think  of 
following  his  father's  career.  He  went  to  Paris  to  study.  He  pre- 
sented himself  for  the  "  internat "  examination,  and  passed  in  1 81 5 
at  the  head  of  all  the  candidates.  In  March  of  that  year  Napoleon 
returned  from  Elba.  Caventou  enlisted  as  a  military  pharmacist, 
and  was  sent  to  Waarden,  a  small  Dutch  town,  where  he  remained 
till  after  Waterloo.  The  garrison  would  not  believe  the  news  of 
Napoleon's  defeat  until  a  French  officer  was  sent  to  bear  the  news. 
Then  they  surrendered  the  fortress  to  the  allies.  Caventou  was  20 
years  old  at  this  time.  He  returned  to  Paris  and  studied  at  the 
School  of  Pharmacy  and  Faculty  of  Sciences,  passed  the  "  internat  " 
examination,  and  was  appointed  pharmacist  at  St.  Antoine  Hospital. 
Here  he  made  Pelletier's  acquaintance,  and  their  fruitful  collabora- 
tion began.  Chlorophyll,  brucine,  veratrine,  quinine  and  other  dis- 
coveries were  the  results  of  their  united  labors,  and,  as  M.  Moissan 
put  it,  "  in  four  years  the  great  family  of  alkaloids  was  established."' 
M.  Moissan  explained  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  administration 
of  Peruvian  bark  before  the  discovery  of  quinine,  and  said  that  Pel- 
letier  and  Caventou  might  be  said  to  have  carried  out  the  idea  of 
Paracelsus  to  have  all  medicaments  reduced  to  active  principles.  He 
quoted  the  eulogium  of  Caventou  pronounced  at  the  Academy  of 
Medicine  by  Dr.  Bergerin,  "  Whatever  revelations  or  deceptions  the 
future  reserves  to  medicine,  one  fact  is  absolutely  established — the 
sovereign  efficacy  of  quinine,  not  only  for  malarial  fevers,  but  for  a 
long  series  of  pathologic  conditions  (from  the  majority  of  intermittent 
maladies  to  typhoid  fever  and  acute  rheumatism)  of  which  the  mere 
enumeration  would  fatigue  the  most  patient  audience."  M.  Moissan 
continued  by  sketching  the  difficulty  experienced  in  getting  quinine 
as  a  new  remedy  recognized,  and  paid  a  tribute  to  Dr.  Maillot,  the 
military  surgeon,  who  introduced  it  into  Algeria.  He  recalled  the 
presentation  of  Pelletier  and  Caventou's  thesis  on  their  discovery  to 
the  Academy  of  Sciences  on  September  11,  1820,  in  which  they 
stated  that  they  had  isolated  cinchonine  and  quinine  from  both  yel- 
