Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1899. 
Obituary. 
303 
The  papers  having  been  considered,  attention  was  directed  to  the  following 
exhibits:  (1^  A  device  for  holding  a  funnel  in  stable  position  either  while 
pouring  a  liquid  into  a  bottle,  or  for  the  purpose  of  filtration.  It  consists  of  a 
cylindrical  piece  of  tin  with  conical  expansions  of  the  same  dimension  at 
either  end,  the  one  designed  to  hold  the  funnel  and  the  other  to  fit  over  the 
shoulder  of  the  bottle  ;  (2)  a  device  for  dividing  powders,  the  essential  features 
of  which  were  described  by  the  inventor,  Wm.  G.  Toplis,  as  follows  :  It  consists 
of  two  distinct  parts  ;  the  first  is  simply  an  oblong  rectangular  block  of  hard 
wood,  having  in  one  side  a  V-shaped  groove  running  through  its  length.  This 
groove  receives  the  powder  ;  to  prevent  the  same  from  falling  out  of  the  ends 
of  the  groove  brass  plates  are  screwed  to  the  ends  of  the  block,  one  plate  being 
movable  so  that  the  powder  may  be  slid  out  of  the  groove  after  division.  The 
division  is  accomplished  by  the  second  part  of  the  apparatus.  It  consists  of  a 
narrower  block  than  the  first  one,  but  exactly  twice  its  length  ;  to  this  stick 
there  is  attached  a  number  of  V-shaped  metal  teeth,  equidistant  from  each 
other  ;  these  teeth  fit  accurately  the  V-shaped  groove  in  the  first  block.  Now 
it  will  be  readily  seen  that  when  the  powder  is  evenly  adjusted  in  the  groove, 
and  then  the  teeth  inserted,  the  powder  will  be  encased  in  so  many  separate 
compartments.  Now  if  the  plate  be  removed,  the  powders  may  be  pushed  out 
one  after  another  onto  papers,  as  desired  ;  and  {3)  the  "  Acme  Medicine  Glass 
Cover  and  Dose  Indicator,"  and  the  "  Acme  Powder  Measure." 
The  chairman  reappointed  the  same  Committee  on  Pharmaceutical  Meetings 
for  the  ensuing  year. 
On  motion,  the  meeting  adjourned. 
Thomas.  S.  Wiegand, 
Registrar. 
OBITUARY. 
Prof.  Dr.  Ludwig  Buchner,  the  famous  author  and  philosopher,  died  in 
Darmstadt,  his  native  city,  April  30th,  in  the  75th  year  of  his  age. 
After  the  completion  of  his  studies  at  the  University,  he  practiced  medicine 
in  Darmstadt,  and  later  (in  1854)  became  Privatdocent  and  assistant  in  the 
Clinic  in  Tubingen.  It  was  while  here  that  his  principal  work,  "Kraft  und 
Stoff  "  ("Force  and  Matter  ")  appeared.  In  it  he  first  advocated  the  doctrine 
that  force  and  matter  are  indestructible,  and  while  this  opinion  is  universally 
accepted  to-day,  the  views  set  forth  in  this  work  caused  him  to  lose  his  posi- 
tion. He  then  resumed  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Darmstadt  and  later 
devoted  himself  almost  entirely  to  his  literary  pursuits.  Buchner  may  b'e 
said  to  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  advocates  of  the  Darwinian  theory,  and 
by  some  is  ranked  with  Haeckel  and  Vogt  as  representatives  of  this  theory  in 
Germany.  He  applied  these  principles  to  social  problems  and  of  his  works  on 
this  subject  we  may  mention  "Die  Darwin'sche  Theorie  von  der  Entstehung 
und  Umwandlung  der  Lebewelt,"  "  Die  Machtder  Vererbung,"  "  Darwinismus 
und  Socialismus,"  etc. 
Professor  Friedei<.— We  learn  through  the  Chemist  and  Druggist 
that  Professor  Friedel,  the  eminent  chemist,  died  at  Montauban,  near  Paris, 
on  April  19th,  of  a  pulmonary  affection.  He  was  67  years  of  age,  having 
been  born  at  Strasbourg  in  1832.    During  the  earlier  part  of  his  professional 
