Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Sept.  1, 1874.  J 
Editorial. 
443 
represent  in  spirit  the  American  chemists  at  the  unveiling  of  Priestley's  statue 
in  England.    The  following  telegram  was  sent  to  England  : 
"  Northumberland,  Penn.,  July  31,  1874. 
"The  brother  chemists  at  the  grave  to  their  brothers  at  the  home  of  Priest- 
ley, send  greeting  on  this  centennial  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  Chemistry." 
Near  the  close  of  the  session,  the  following  dispatch  was  received  and  read  % 
"  The  American  Chemists  assembled  at  Northumberland,  Penn. : 
"  Our  marble  statue,  representing  Priestley  discovering  oxygen,  will  be 
unveiled  to-morrow,  presented  by  the  subscribers,  through  Prof.  Huxley,  to 
the  town,  and  accepted  by  the  Mayor.  We  greet  you  as  colleagues  in  honoring 
the  memory  of  a  great  and  good  man. 
"The  Priestley  Memorial  Committee,  Birmingham,  Eng." 
Prof.  Smith  advocated  a  resolution  providing  for  a  meeting  of  chemists  in 
Philadelphia  during  the  year  1876,  and  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to 
confer  with  the  Centennial  Commission  with  the  view  of  adopting  measures 
providing  for  the  visit  of  the  European  chemists  to  this  country,  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  contemplated  meeting.  The  Committee  was  announced  as  follows* 
Prof.  J.  L.  Smith,  T.  Sterry  Hunt,  C.  A.  Joy,  J.  W.  Mallet,  R.  A.  Leeds,  E- 
M.  Horsford,  H.  C.  Bolton,  B.  Silliman  and  W.  Gibbs. 
An  excellent  address  upon  the  life  and  labors  of  Dr.  Joseph  Priestley  was 
delivered  by  Prof.  H.  H.  Croft,  of  Toronto,  after  which  Prof.  Horsford  exhib- 
ited and  read  extracts  from  many  letters  written  by  the  philosopher  to  George 
Thatcher,  member  of  Congress,  and  which  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society;  also  a  copy  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Columbia 
Chemical  Society,  of  Philadelphia,  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
with  which  Priestley  had  been  in  correspondence.  Afterwards  the  meeting 
adjourned,  and  the  company  proceeded  to  the  mansion  built  by  Dr.  Priestley 
on  the  banks  of  the  North  Branch  of  the  Susquehanna,  and  overlooking  for 
some  distance  the  picturesque  valley  of  that  river.  With  the  exception  of  the 
observatory,  which  has  been  removed,  the  building  stands  pretty  much  with 
the  same  arrangements  as  at  the  close  of  last  century;  adjoining  it  is  an  out- 
house which  was  used  by  the  great  philosopher  as  a  laboratory,  the  brick  fur- 
nace being  partly  in  ruins. 
At  the  residence  of  Mr.  Jos.  Bird,  on  Market  street,  was  displayed  the 
"  Loan  Cabinet,"  containing  the  works,  some  manuscripts  and  many  apparatus 
used  by  Dr.  Priestley,  and  remaining  in  the  possession  of  the  family  ;  also  other 
curious  apparatus,  engravings,  &c,  which  had  been  loaned  for  the  occasion 
from  different  parts  of  the  country. 
Before  the  second  session  several  photographs  of  the  visitors  and  local  com- 
mittee were  taken  in  front  of  the  "Loan  Cabinet;"  and  subsequently,  at  the 
school  house,  an  able  address  was  given  by  Prof.  T.  S.  Hunt,  reviewing,  in  a 
lucid  and  thorough  manner,  the  century's  progress  in  theoretical  chemistry. 
The  following  dispatch  to  Birmingham  was  read  : 
"Welcome  dispatch  received.    Profs.  J.  L.  Smith,  Youmans  and  Joy  were 
