44 
Obituary. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
I    January,  1903. 
United  States,  in  1850,  the  authorized  tincture  contained  50  per 
cent,  of  the  drug,  in  i860  the  strength  was  reduced  to  40  per  cent., 
and  in  1890  it  was  still  further  reduced,  being  made  what  it  is  now. 
That  a  substantial  additional  reduction  would  not  prove  repugnant 
to  the  pharmacists  seems  probable  from  Mr.  Wilbert's  frank  remark 
that  "  there  are  probably  few  pharmacists  who  would  not  be  willing 
to  double  their  stock  of  any  preparation  by  the  simple  addition  of 
alcohol  and  water." — Editorial  in  N.  Y.  Medical  Journal,  igo2. 
OBITUARY. 
DR.  BRUNO  HIRSCH. 
Dr.  Bruno  Hirsch,  for  many  years  a  corresponding  member  of 
this  college,  and  a  pharmaceutical  writer  of  international  reputation, 
died  at  Dresden,  Germany,  on  December  3,  1902. 
Dr.  Hirsch  was  born  at  Gorlitz,  Germany,  on  April  13,  1826, 
where,  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen,  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  local 
apothecary  who  with  the  drug  and  prescription  business  combined 
that  of  Colonial  produce,  better  known  to  us  as  groceries. 
It  was  among  such  unpromising  and,  for  the  scientific  develop- 
ment of  a  meagrely  educated  youth,  uncongenial  surroundings  that 
young  Hirsch  spent  the  long  years  of  his  apprenticeship ;  this,  too, 
at  a  time  when  the  duties  ot  an  apprentice  entailed  an  amount 
of  drudgery  little  appreciated  by  the  younger  generation,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  unduly  long  hours  and  the  absolute  as  well  as  prompt 
obedience  exacted  by  all  the  employees  older  than  himself. 
It  has  often  been  stated  that  rough  words  and  hard  work  have 
never  materially  injured  a  superior  character,  and  so  in  this  case, 
long  hours  and  harsh  treatment  only  proved  a  stimulus  for  extra 
efforts  on  the  part  of  the  apprentice,  to  demonstrate  that  he  was 
worthy  of  something  better. 
After  completing  his  apprenticeship  in  Gorlitz,  young  Hirsch 
went  to  Berlin,  where  he  acted  as  assistant  in  several  pharmacies. 
In  1847  he  matriculated  at  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  in  Novem- 
ber of  the  following  year  he  successfully  passed  the  required  State 
examinations. 
His  subsequent  career  as  assistant  in  Berlin,  as  proprietor  of  a 
pharmacy  in  Grunberg  and  later  in  Frankfurt,  a.  M.,  was  that  of  a 
student  and  careful  observer.    So  that,  when  ill-health  compelled 
