246 
Life  of  Robert  Bridges,  M.  D. 
Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1884. 
college  was  established  in  its  present  well-adapted  quarters,  No.  145 
North  Tenth  street,  September,  1868. 
Under  the  authority  of  the  Society,  the  t(  American  Journal  of 
Pharmacy,"  which  is  devoted  to  the  advancement  of  pharmaceutical 
knowledge,  and  the  advocacy  of  thorough  education  of  pharmacists, 
was  established  in  1825.  It  was  issued  quarterly,  till  1853,  then 
bi-monthly  till  1871,  since  that  date,  monthly,  and  continues  to  be  a 
prosperous  periodical.  Dr.  Bridges  was  assistant  editor  of  this  journal 
about  six  years,  from  1839  till  1845,  and  contributed  several  original 
papers  to  it. 
The  college  grew  very  slowly.  But  the  strict  probity  observed  in 
its  management  and  the  great  care  taken  to  select  only  the  most  com- 
petent and  conscientious  teachers,  have  enabled  it  to  surmount  all 
impediments  in  the  way  of  its  progress.  Now,  graded  courses  of 
instruction  are  given  on  materia  medica,  botany,  the  theory  and  prac- 
tice of  pharmacy,  chemistry  (practical  and  analytical),  and  pharmaceu- 
tical manipulation,  by  a  faculty  consisting  of  four  professors  and  three 
assistants.  The  teaching  is  very  thorough.  Since  the  establishment 
of  the  school,  7,109  students  have  matriculated,  upon  2,049  of  whom, 
28'82  per  cent.,  the  degree  of  graduate  in  Pharmacy  has  been  con- 
ferred.1 
Dr.  Bridges  entered  the  college,  May,  1831,  as  private  assistant  of 
the  professor  of  chemistry,  Dr.  Franklin  Bache,  and  was  elected  an 
active  member  of  the  society  December  18,  1838,  and,  March  25,  1839, 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  also  of  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee, to  which  he  was  annually  elected,  till  1861,  twenty-one  years,, 
when  he  declined  re-election.  He  was  elected  chairman  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees,  October  9,  1860,  and,  being  annually  re-elected,  held  the 
position  till  the  close  of  his  life.  When  Dr.  Bache  gave  up  the  chair 
of  chemistry  to  take  the  professorship  of  the  same  department  in  the 
Jefferson  Medical  College,  Dr.  Bridges  was  a  candidate  for  the  vacant 
place,  but  Dr.  Win.  R.  Fisher  was  elected,  May  31,  1841,  by  a  majority 
of  two  votes.  He  resigned  the  following  April,  and  Dr.  Bridges  was- 
unanimously  elected  Professor  of  General  and  Pharmaceutical  Chemis- 
try, May  16,  1842.  Still  he  continued  to  be  the  private  assistant  of 
Dr.  Bache,  till  his  death,  in  1864,  severed  their  continuous  laboratory 
association  of  forty  years.    Dr.  .Bridges,  also  aided  Dr.  George  B. 
1  Sixty-third  Annual  Announcement  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy,  1883. 
