1 56 
Editorials. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  1891. 
which  took  place  in  San  Francisco.  As  the  latter  was  well  attended  from  all 
sections  of  the  United  States,  taking  into  consideration  the  great  distances  and 
the  time  required,  so  will  doubtless  the  next  meeting  witness  assembled  a  large 
number  of  members  from  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Western  States,  in  addition 
to  those  coming  from  Louisiana  and  the  neighboring  Southern  States.  The 
Committee  on  Arrangements,  of  which  the  Local  Secretary,  Mr.  A.  K.  Fialay, 
is  Chairman,  has  been  at  work  and  outlined  a  plan  by  which  it  is  intended  to 
combine  pleasant  recreation  and  profitable  business.  In  a  circular  issued  by 
the  committee,  it  is  stated  that  "  New  Orleans  at  that  season  of  the  year  pre- 
sents many  attractive  features,  aside  from  the  interesting  things  to  see,  which 
can  onty  be  noticed  in  our  quaint  old  city.  You  will  never  regret  the  time 
spent  in  our  midst." 
The  Committee  on  Transportation,  appointed  at  Old  Point  Comfort,  has  been 
hard  at  work,  and  Mr.  Alexander  has  informed  us,  that  he  has  succeeded  in 
securing  for  the  district  of  St.  Louis,  and  through  Mr.  Hogan  for  that  of  Chicago, 
the  round  trip  for  a  single  fare.  Negotiations  in  the  other  districts  were  still 
pending,  but  expected  to  be  concluded  shortly.  Propositions  for  membership 
have  begun  to  make  their  appearance  at  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Membership.  The  committees  of  the  different  Sections  have  been 
quite  active,  and  essays  and  subjects  for  profitable  discussions  will  not  be 
lacking.    In  fact,  the  prospects  for  a  successful  meeting  are  very  encouraging. 
The  Author  of  the  first  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States  of  America. — In 
our  volume  for  1884,  pp.  483-491,  we  republished  in  full  that  little  work  possessed 
of  historic  interest,  a  copy  of  which  had  been  loaned  to  us  for  the  purpose  by 
Dr.  Chas.  A.  Heinitsh.  The  author  of  that  Pharmacopoeia  was  Dr.  Wm. 
Brown,  of  whose  life,  however,  we  could  learn  nothing  at  that  time.  More 
recently  attention  was  again  called  to  the  above  work  in  the  November  num- 
ber, 1890,  of  "Christian  Culture,"  published  at  Lancaster,  Pa.,  and  this  has 
elicited  a  biographical  sketch  of  Dr.  Brown  from  one  of  his  descendants,  Posey 
S.  Wilson,  residing  at  Denver,  Col.,  which  was  published  in  the  same  periodi- 
cal, January  1891,  p.  8,  and  from  which  we  make  the  following  abstract  : 
Dr.  William  Brown  was  born  in  1748,  as  the  son  of  Rev.  Richard  Brown, 
who  had  settled  near  the  stream  of  Bull  Run,  and  was  the  son  of  Gustavus 
Brown,  a  Scotch  physician  and  surgeon,  the  latter  having  come  to  Virginia 
when  a  young  man,  where  he  made  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  physician,  and 
was  a  friend  of  the  Thorntons,  Washingtons,  Lees,  Fairfaxes  and  Alexanders. 
William  was  taught  by  a  private  tutor  at  his  father's  house,  and  later  was  sent 
to  Edinburgh,  where  he  finished  his  academic  education,  attended  medical 
lectures,  and  returned  to  Virginia  to  practice  his  profession  in  the  vicinity  of 
Alexandria,  where  he  intermarried  with  the  Alexander  family.  When  the  war 
of  independence  came  on  he  offered  his  services,  and,  although  but  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  soon  rose  to  a  responsible  position,  having  charge  of  the 
hospital  at  Lititz,  where  he  compiled  the  first  Pharmacopoeia. 
There  is  little  to  be  said,  of  popular  interest,  in  the  life  of  a  physician, 
even  in  time  of  war.  In  peace  the  members  of  this  noble  profession  are 
called  upon  to  "  set  their  breast  against  the  thorn,"  as  Tom  Hood  expresses 
it ;  their  sacrifice  of  personal  comfort  and  wishes  is  constant  ;  their  charities 
innumerable,  and  their  humanity  as  freely  extended  to  the  poor  as  the  rich. 
