528 
Obituary. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Phabm.. 
\    Nov.  1,  1872. 
Facts  of  Vital  Statistics  in  the  United  States,  with  Tables  and  Diagrams.  Ex- 
tracts from  an  address  by  J.  M.  Toner,  M.  D.  Published  in  the  circular  of 
information  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education  for  March,  1872. 
These  statistical  tables  and  diagrams  possess  considerable  interest.  A  very 
important  portion  of  the  pamphlet  treats  of  the  number  of  children  of  both 
sexes  under  15  to  1000  females  between  15  and  50  years  of  age.  Table  III 
compiles  the  statistics,  in  this  respect,  of  the  census  reports  from  1800  to  1860, 
and  the  author  sees  therein  evidence  of  physical  degeneracy,  but  "  does  not 
propose  to  adopt  any  theory  or  to  attempt  to  explain  this  extraordinary  condi- 
tion." In  table  II,  however,  in  which  the  census  returns  of  different  countries 
are  compared,  we  find,  leaving  Sardinia  and  the  Papal  States  out  of  considera- 
tion, to  which  States  other  ages  apply,  that  the  number  of  children  is  greater 
for  the  United  States  (1694),  than  for  any  of  the  14  countries  and  provinces 
enumerated,  with  the  only  exception  of  Upper  and  Lower  Canada,  for  which 
the  figures  2019  and  1954  are  given,  while  France  is  mentioned  with  the  lowest 
number  (1043),  and  Belgium  approaches  nearest  to  the  United  States  with 
1572. 
OBITUARY. 
John  Cargill  Brough  died  at  Esher,  England,  on  September  7th,  1872,  at 
the  age  of  38  years.  He  was  born  at  Pontypool,  Monmouthshire,  and  was  a 
younger  brother  of  the  brothers  Brough,  well  known  to  literature  and  to  the 
stage.  He  passed  through  a  strange  apprenticeship,  type  being  usually  the  mas- 
ter, and  thus  he  was  thrown  in  contact  with  all  sorts  of  people,  and  intimately 
knew  so  many  who  have  made  their  mark  and  become  distinguished. 
The  first  undertaking  that  brought  him  into  notice  was  the  editorship  of  the 
"  Chemist  and  Druggist,"  the  prosperity  of  which  he  strove  his  utmost  to 
secure.  He  was  also  editor  of  the  {t  Ironmonger,"  writing  the  technical  de- 
tails of  machinery;  sub-editor  of  "  Nature,"  which  he  soon  had  to  relinquish; 
editor  of  a  scientific  periodical  called  the  "  Laboratory,"  one  of  the  ablest  that 
has  ever  been  issued  and  patronized  by  the  most  celebrated  English  and  foreign 
contributors;  yet  commercially  it  was  a  failure  and  lasted  only  six  months.  He 
was  elected  as  the  first  editor  of  the  Year  Book  of  Pharmacy;  great  hopes 
were  entertained  that  his  remarkable  knowledge  of  this  subject  and  skill  in  ab- 
stract and  arrangement  would  have  produced  an  authoritative  compendium. 
These  hopes  were  never  destined  to  be  realized,  as  always  sickness  gave  its  in- 
exorable veto  and  forbade  the  attempt. 
With  a  tact  beyond  praise,  he  endeavored  1o  effect  a  reconciliation,  or  rather 
a  mutual  understanding,  between  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  and  the  druggists 
of  Great  Britain,  and  between  their  respective  mouthpieces,  the  "  Pharmaceu- 
tical Journal  "  and  the  "  Chemist  and  Druggist." 
Quitting  the  editorial  chair  and  general  literature  in  1870,  he  became  libra- 
rian of  the  London  Institution,  a  post  for  which  by  nature,  training  and  all 
his  antecedents  he  was  specially  qualified. 
He  was  never  legally  qualified  as  a  pharmacist,  but  circumstances  led  him 
into  the  domain  of  pharmacy,  and  his  iuterest  in  the  reform  of  British  phar- 
macy never  abated  until  the  grim  messenger  closed  his  eyes. — Abridged  froim 
the  Pharm.  Journ.  and  Trans. 
