Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
April,  1920.) 
A  Bit  of  History. 
2 11 
as  at  present,  Europe  was  battle-scarred,  then  as  a  result  of  the  canir- 
paigns  of  Napoleon.  America  was  battle-scarred,  too,  for  the  burning 
of  Washington  and  the  victory  of  New  Orleans  were  still  discussed 
as  recent  happenings.  Men  had  gone  to  war ;  some  had  not  returned. 
Many  industries  had  been  ruined.  Certainly  America  in  1920  can 
realize  the  conditions  which  obtained  a  hundred  years  ago.  In  19 14 
America  could  not  have  done  so. 
But  despite  conditions  seemingly  so  unfavorable,  the  period  of 
1820  marks  a  glorious  renaissance  in  science  and  art.  In  literature, 
during  the  war  period,  or  immediately  thereafter,  Moore,  Shelley, 
Wordsworth,  Keats,  Byron,  DeOuincy,  Scott,  Coleridge,  Lamb, 
Goethe,  Victor  Hugo,  were  producing  masterpieces;  yes,  and  Wash- 
ington Irving  and  J.  Fenimore  Cooper.  It  was  the  era  of  the 
romantic  movement,  the  greatest  manifestation  of  literary  genius 
since  the  time  of  Shakespeare. 
Of  composers  there  were  Beethos^en,  and  Shubert,  and  Mendels- 
sohn, and  other  masters  of  the  first  rank.  It  was  a  golden  age  in  music. 
In  science,  there  were  Berzelius,  Humphrey  Davy,  Faraday, 
Cuvier,  Dalton,  Drummond,  Gay  Lussac,  Proust.  It  was  the  dawn 
of  the  modern  productive  era  of  science,  which  has  continued  to 
the  present  time,  making  the  last  hundred  years  the  most  prolific 
in  discovery  in  the  history  of  the  human  race. 
True  enough,  every  sequence  is  not  necessarily  a  consequence. 
And  wars  in  the  past  have  not  without  exception  been  followed  by  a 
notable  advance  in  the  conquest  of  nature.  But  who  will  question 
that  the  great  war  exploits  which  terminated  with  Waterloo  and 
New  Orleans  did  not  stir  to  the  depths  the  emotions  of  men,  inspiring 
writers,  composers,  painters,  and  also  men  of  science,  and  in  the 
latter  awakening  imaginative  faculties,  so  useful  in  research?  And 
if  this  be  true,  may  we  not  expect  that  the  stupendous  struggle  so 
recently  ended  will  also  be  followed  by  a  pronounced  quickening  of 
creative  and  inventive  genius?  And,  if  so,  we  may  be  sure,  America 
will  furnish  its  generous  share  in  results. 
In  1820,  America  could  not  be  expected  to  figure  prominently 
in  art  or  science.  Our  country  was  new.  The  population  was 
a  largely  rural.  A  considerable  proportion  was  distributed  over  vast 
areas  but  sparsely  settled,  where  life  was  rather  primitive,  and  where 
men  were  hard  put  to  it  to  provide  the  elemental  needs — food, 
clothing,  shelter — then  medical  service  for  the  sick,  rudimentary 
schooling  for  the  children.    And  when  the  scientists  of  the  old  world 
