Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan  ,  1885. 
Advances  in  Instruction. 
5 
but  on  the  other  hand  it  increased  18  per  cent.  The  year  1870  was 
marked  by  the  establishment  of  a  College  laboratory  and  the  election 
of  Professor  Maisch  to  the  directorship.  The  long  cherished  wish  of 
the  younger  members  of  the  College  and  of  the  Alumni  was  thus  ac- 
complished as  the  following  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Alumni  As- 
sociation, five  years  before  (1865)  clearly  show  : 
Whereas,  As  graduates  of  a  time-honored  Institution,  we  feel  the 
warmest  interest  in  its  future  welfare  and  usefulness,  and  deem  it  no  less  a 
privilege  than  a  duty  to  use  every  effort  to  secure  for  our  Alma  Mater  the 
position  to  which  she  is  entitled  ,  and 
Whereas,  Many  of  us  have  long  cherished  the  idea  of  establishing  a 
Practical  School  in  connection  with  our  College,  where  the  branches  of 
Pharmacy  and  Chemistry  might  be  more  thoroughly  acquired,  therefore, 
Be  it  Resolved,  That  a  Sinking  Fund  be  created  for  this  purpose,  out  of 
the  surplus  funds  of  the  Association;  and  that  a  committee  be  aj^j^ointed 
hy  the  Executive  Board,  to  be  known  as  the  Trustees  of  Sinking  Fund, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  take  charge  of  and  solicit  subscriptions  to  this  fund, 
and  invest  the  same  as  they  may  judge  safe  and  profitable,  until  a  sufficient 
amount  shall  have  been  acquired  to  aid  in  the  accomplishment  of  the  end 
in  view. 
In  the  next  year  1871  the  method  of  conducting  examinations,  orally, 
which  had  been  in  operation  for  nearly  half  a  century,  was  abandoned, 
and  thus  passed  away,  one  of  the  most  imperfect  methods  of  examination 
that  was  ever  devised.  Although  the  oral  examination  of  the  can- 
didates was  conducted  by  the  Faculty  and  Committee  of  Examination 
in  a  fearless  and  conscientious  manner,  the  faults  of  the  method  were 
too  apparent  to  be  overlooked,  and  it  had  to  give  way  to  a  systematic 
plan  whereby  each  student  wrote  the  answers  to  the  same  questions 
upon  paper  and  handed  in  the  results  within  a  given  time.  Professor 
Parrish  who  had  long  advocated  this  change  in  the  method  of  exami- 
nation did  not  live  long  enough  to  witness  its  advantages — he  died 
during  the  next  year.  1872  witnessed  the  recall  of  Professor  Procter 
from  the  period  of  rest  that  he  had  enjoyed,  and  he  was  re-elected  to 
the  old  chair,  that  he  had  resigned  in  1866,  his  health,  however,  had 
not  been  re-established,  he  passed  away  suddenly  on  the  11th  day  of 
February,  1874.  The  present  Professor  of  Pharmacy  was  elected  in 
the  same  year  to  fill  the  vacant  chair. 
1876,  the  Centennial  year,  was  a  memorable  one  for  the  College — 
the  building  was  thrown  open  to  pharmaceutical  visitors  and  strangers, 
the  cabinet  received  many  valuable  accessions  and  the  class  was  con- 
