Am.  .Tour.  Pharm.  1 
February,  1903.  J 
The  Story  of  a  Drug  Store. 
63 
business,  Dr.  Caspar  Morris,  in  his  "Tribute,"  says:  "  The  faithful 
accuracy  with  which  prescriptions  were  compounded,  and  the  intelli- 
gent effort  to  secure  drugs  of  the  first  quality,  which  had  earned  for 
the  establishment  its  deserved  eminence,  were  now,  if  possible, 
increased ;  and  the  country  physicians  seeking  their  supplies  from 
the  stock,  which  commanded  the  confidence  of  their  city  brethren,  a 
wholesale  drug  business  grew  up  naturally,  as  the  result  of  faithful 
attention  to  the  retail  branch.  It  is  impossible  to  place  too  high 
an  estimate  on  the  influence  exerted  by  Charles  Ellis,  not  only  on 
his  own  profession,  but  on  the  community  at  large.  No  one  but 
the  physician  can  appreciate  the  anxiety  with  which  he  investigates 
the  nature  of  disease  and  prescribes  the  appropriate  remedy.  With 
prudent  caution  the  symbols  of  the  required  dose  and  the  directions 
for  the  proper  combinations  are  placed  upon  the  paper,  but  the  effect 
produced  depends  on  the  quality  of  the  articles  employed,  the  care 
with  which  the  quantities  are  measured  or  weighed,  and  the  skill 
with  which  they  are  compounded.  Life  or  death  hangs  in  the  bal- 
ance. The  character  of  Charles  Ellis  on  these  points  stood  unques- 
tioned." 
About  this  period  (i825-3o),it  may  be  said  that  Philadelphia  was 
the  commercial  centre  of  the  drug  trade,  as  of  all  other  kinds  of 
trade  in  the  United  States.  The  houses  then  established  were 
importers  to  a  very  considerable  extent. 
About  old  things  and  furniture :  I  can  remember  as  a  child  a  lot 
of  mystical,  urn-shaped  jars  on  the  top  shelves  marked  "  Confect.," 
"  Theriac,"  "  Confect.  Damocratis,''  etc.,  as  some  of  you  no  doubt 
saw  at  the  recent  (1902)  American  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  exhibi- 
tion ;  but  there  never  was  such  in  my  time,  for  old  things  were  dis- 
carded as  new  ones  came  into  play;  and  when  we  left  Chestnut 
Street  in  1857,  we  placed  an  entire  new  up-to-date  outfit  on  the 
shelves,  and  no  doubt  gave  the  old  to  some  one  starting  out.  There 
was  a  solid  marble  mortar  that  remained,  25  to  30  gallons  capacity, 
which  was  one  of  the  most  useful  things  around  the  laboratory.  I 
never  saw  another  like  it. 
"  The  establishment  at  56  Chestnut  Street  was  renowned  for  the 
extent  and  integrity  of  its  transactions,"  says  Dr.  Morris.  "  Num- 
bers of  members  of  the  College  have  received  their  pharmaceutical 
education  within  its  walls ;  some  still  survive,  and  may  cherish 
pleasant  and  grateful  recollections  of  the  time  spent  in  acquiring  a 
