248 
Life  of  Robert  Bridges,  M.  B. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1884. 
a  token  of  its  high  estimation  of  his  character  and  official  services. 
The  Board  of  Trustees,  after  due  deliberation,  "in  view  of  his  faithful 
and  efficient  labors,"  conferred  upon  hira,  May  6,  1879,  the  title  of 
Emeritus  Professor  of  Chemistry,  with  an  annual  salary  of  one  thou- 
sand dollars,  to  be  paid  in  equal  installments  quarterly,  in  advance, 
during  his  life,  from  the  first  day  of  July  ensuing. 
In  the  spring  of  1842,  the  Philadelphia  Association  for  Medical 
Instruction  was  formed.  The  constituent  members  or  founders  of  it 
were  Dr.  John  F.  Meigs,  who  taught  obstetrics  till  1845,  and  after- 
wards lectured  on  the  diseases  of  children  j  Dr.  Joshua  M.  Wallace, 
who  taught  surgery;  Dr.  Robert  Bridges,  chemistry;  Dr.  Francis 
Gurney  Smith,  Jr.,  physiology;  and  Joshua  M.  Allen,  anatomy.  Dr. 
Bridges  was  the  only  constituent  member  of  the  Association  who 
remained  in  it  until  it  was  dissolved  at  the  close  of  1860,  a  period  of 
eighteen  years.  Several  retired  to  accept  professorships  in  medical 
colleges,  and  their  places  were  supplied  by  new  appointments,  so  that 
during  the  career  of  the  Association  the  names  of  many  distinguished 
physicians  are  recorded  on  its  list  of  members.1 
Dr.  Bridges  was  elected  professor  of  chemistry  in  the  Franklin 
Medical  College  in  1846,  and  filled  the  office  till  the  institution  was 
dissolved  in  1848. 
His  contributions  to  medical  and  scientific  literature  are  valuable, 
but  not  very  numerous.  His  papers  in  the  "American  Journal  of 
Pharmacy"  are  entitled,  "Chemical  Symbols,"  and  "Pyroacetic  Spirit 
and  its  Derivative  Compounds,"  in  1839;  "The  Manufacture  of  Sul- 
phuric Acid,"  and  the  "Adulteration  of  Lac  Sulphuris,"  in  1840; 
"  Notice  of  Professor  Kane's  Researches  on  Ammoniacal  Compounds," 
"  Poisoning  by  long  continued  use  of  Acetate  of  Lead,"  in  1841  ; 
"  Observations  on  two  species  of  Aristolochia  which  afford  Serpentaria," 
"Observations  on  the  Action  of  Ether  on  Galls,"  "  Report  on  Procter's 
Hydrated  Peroxide  of  Iron,"  in  1843.  "Experiments  on  the  Absorb- 
1  David  H.  Tucker,  William  V.  Keating,  J.  H.  B.  McClellan,  Ellerslie 
Wallace,  Addinell  Hewson,  John  H.  Brinton,  S.  Weir  Mitchell,  Alfred 
Stille,  Morton  Stille,  J.  M.  DaCosta,  Francis  West,  James  Darrach,  and 
Edward  Hartshorne,  were  teachers  in  this  Association.  Including  the 
constituent  members,  a  corps  of  better  qualified  instructors  than  those 
associated  in  this  summer  school  could  not  be  easily  found  anywhere. 
