576 
OBITUARY. 
pages  of  the  Journal  de  Pharmacie  teem  with  the  results  of  his  labors, 
from  1816  to  the  present  year. 
M.  Guibourt  was  twice  an  occupant  of  the  presidential  chair  of  the 
Societe  de  Pharmacie,  and  held  it  at  the  time  of  his  death.  In  1865  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  first  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress,  at 
Brunswick,  and  was  one  of  the  commissioners  to  prepare  for  the  Congress 
at  Paris.  In  1866  he  resigned  his  professorship  in  obedience  to  bodily 
weakness,  but  continued  his  scientific  labors  to  the  last,  having  presided 
at  the  Society  of  Pharmacy  two  weeks  prior  to  his  decease,  and  he  was 
named  provisional  president  by  the  French  Pharmaceutical  Congress 
which  met  on  the  17th  of  August,  four  days  before  his  death.  When  the 
International  Congress  met  on  the  21st  of  August,  some  supposed  M. 
Guibourt  would  be  its  president,  but  he  did  not  appear  at  the  first  session, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  second  his  decease  was  announced.  During 
a  short  sojourn  in  Paris,  in  May  last,  the  writer  called  at  6  rue  Censier, 
and  was  kindly  received  by  M.  Guibourt,  who  at  the  time  was  engaged  in 
his  garden  training  vines.  The  impression  gained  at  this  interview  was 
a  very  pleasant  one,  and  it  was  with  no  ordinary  regret  that  the  announce- 
ment of  his  death  was  received.  The  funeral  took  place  at  noon  on  the 
24th  of  August,  proceeding  to  the  church,  and  thence  to  the  grave  at 
the  cemetery  of  Mont  Martre.  The  faculties  of  the  Academie  de  Medicine 
and  of  the  Ecole  de  Pharmacie  were  present  in  their  professional  garbs, 
and  MM.  Planchon,  Mialhe,  Buignet  and  Mayet  delivered  furneml  dis- 
courses. W.  P.,  Jr. 
Faraday. — In  our  last  issue  the  death  of  this  great  man  was 
announced  through  the  agency  of  the  Atlantic  Cable.  The  journals  now 
afford  abundant  materials  for  a  more  extended  notice,  Faraday  as  a  phi- 
losopher belongs  to  all  the  world  •  but  as  a  man  and  citizen  he  was  a  true 
Briton  in  his  cast  of  intellect  and  manner  of  life.  He  was  too  truly 
great  to  be  spoiled,  else  the  temptations  of  place  and  wealth  would  have 
ruined  him  by  turning  him  aside  from  that  high  path  of  scientific  research 
to  which  he  perseveringly  held. 
"  Michael  Faraday  was  born  in  1791,  at  Newington,  in  Surrey.  His 
father  was  a  blacksmith,  and  we  deeply  regret  that  we  have  no  authentic 
record  of  his  youth  until  the  time  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  book  binder.  It 
is  certain,  however,  that  at  the  time  of  his  apprenticeship  he  was  enthusi- 
astically fond  of  science,  and  he  even  made  an  electrical  machine  and 
other  scientific  apparatus.  The  almost  incredible  skill  which  he  had  with 
his  hands  (a  skill  which  is  born  with  a  man  and  which  in  its  perfection 
cannot  be  taught),  induces  us  to  believe  that  he  could  find  much  less 
difficulty  than  most  men  in  acquiring  the  power  of  using  the  materia  tech- 
nica  of  chemistry  and  physics  ;  and  the  readiness,  with  which  Sir  Hum- 
phrey Davy  received  him  as  an  assistant  into  his  laboratory  is  a  pretty 
