ANcJvT;iP8?iRM1    Memoir  of  Prof .  Wm.  Procter,  Jr.  521 
been  very  burdensome.  I  need  more  faith  and  confidence  in  the 
course  of  events." 
A  circular  issued  on  opening  his  store,  bearing  date  Fifth  month 
13th,  1844,  is  before  us ;  it  says,  "  in  reference  to  that  important 
branch  of  the  business,  embracing  the  compounding  of  medicines  and 
physicians'  precriptions,  he  believes  that  a  regular  education  at  the 
Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  twelve  years'  experience  in 
one  of  the  first  establishments  of  this  city,  will  enable  him  to  give 
satisfaction."  The  names  of  Drs.  Wood,  Bache,  Jackson,  Mutter, 
Hartshorne,  Meigs,  Harris,  Rutter,  and  Henry  M.  Zollickoffer  are 
given  as  references. 
The  neighborhood  of  Ninth  and  Lombard  streets,  at  that  time, 
would  not  have  presented  many  attractive  prospects  to  the  generality 
of  beginners,  so  well  qualified  as  William  Procter,  Jr.,  for  the  higher 
branches  of  pharmacy.  The  square  on  the  south  side  of  Pine  street, 
between  Eighth  and  Ninth  streets,  was  then  an  open  lot.  South 
street  was  the  boundary  of  the  city  proper,  and  beyond  this  limit,  for 
a  long  time,  the  acts  of  unrestrained  "  rings  "  of  lawless  associations, 
presented  but  little  inducement  to  a  settlement  in  that  part  of  the 
city  of  the  well-to  do  citizen. 
Quietly,  however,  William  Procter,  Jr.,  pursued  his  course,  attend- 
ing to  his  own  business,  and  abiding  his  time.  The  unemployed  time  he 
speaks  of,  was  far  from  being  misspent;  his  active  habits  and  in- 
quiring mind  were  not  content  with  waiting  for  the  routine  of  counter- 
work. His  attention  was  directed  to  the  improvement  of  many  of 
the  formulae  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  devising  new  preparations,  and 
original  investigation  on  many  subjects,  where  more  light  was  want- 
ing. As  time  passed  on,  the  vacant  lot  was  occupied  by  first-class 
residences,  on  Pine  and  on  Ninth  streets.  A  consolidated  police  force, 
under  the  vigorous  rule  of  Marshall  Keyser,  restored  order  in  the  dis- 
tricts, and  the  business  at  Ninth  and  Lombard  streets  began  to 
assume  proportions  more  befitting  to  the  capacity  of  the  proprietor 
of  the  store. 
A  widowed  sister  lived  with  him  as  a  companion  and  housekeeper, 
and  her  daughter,  in  the  early  years  of  womanhoood,  beloved  by  all 
who  knew  her,  added  an  attraction  to  the  little  circle,  which  will 
long  be  remembered  by  those  who  had  familiar  intercourse  with  the 
family  at  that  time.  The  clouds  which  obscured  the  horizon  of  his 
field  of  action  had  dispersed,  and  left  him  no  longer  to  doubt  the 
