AaASusr;,Xm"}  John  Michael  Maisch.  357 
young  pharmacist,  was  at  one  time  told  by  Mr.  Shoemaker  (P.C.P. 
Alumni  Report,  Vol.  XXX,  p.  7). 
Some  time  after  being  employed  by  Robert  Shoemaker  &  Co., 
Mr.  Maisch  was  taken  quite  ill  and  went  home.  His  employer, 
who  took  more  than  an  ordinary  interest  in  the  young  man,  called 
several  days  later  to  inquire  how  he  was  progressing.  He  found 
him,  still  sick,  propped  up  in  bed,  with  a  book  on  his  lap  and  a  table 
with  retorts,  test  tubes  and  other  chemical  appliances  alongside,  car- 
rying on  chemical  experiments.  This  anecdote  also  illustrates  the 
indomitable  spirit  and  the  ceaseless  activity  that  permeated  his 
whole  subsequent  career. 
A  man  with  the  scientific  turn  of  mind  possessed  by  young  Maisch 
would  naturally  grasp  at  an  opportunity  to  develop  himself  along 
lines  of  original  research  and  the  practical  application  ot  his  knowl- 
edge. It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  when  Edward  Parrish 
offered  young  Maisch  the  opportunity  of  superintending  the  practi- 
cal instruction  in  his  school  of  pharmacy,  it  was  eagerly  seized. 
A  reproduction  of  the  small  leaflet,  published  at  the  time,  to 
advertise  the  new  arrangement  will  be  found  on  opposite  page. 
This  advertisement  represents,  too,  his  first  appearance  as  a 
teacher  of  pharmacy,  an  occupation  which  he  continued  in  almost 
uninterruptedly  to  the  time  of  his  death. 
In  1 86 1  he  was  offered,  and  accepted,  the  chair  of  materia  medica 
and  pharmacy  in  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
His  time  here  not  being  fully  occupied,  he  was  fortunate  enough  to 
connect  himself  with  the  manufacturing  establishment  of  Dr.  E.  R. 
Squibb,  and  thus  found  an  opportunity  of  cultivating  a  personal 
acquaintance  and  friendship  that  was  not  alone  lasting,  but  was  also 
of  practical  advantage  to  him. 
It  was  on  the  personal  recommendation  of  Dr.  Squibb  that  Pro- 
fessor Maisch,  in  1863,  was  appointed  Superintendent  of  the  Army 
Medical  Laboratory,  about  being  established  in  Philadelphia. 
The  story  of  this  laboratory,  the  kind  and  amount  of  work  that 
was  done  in  it,  and  the  political  as  well  as  commercial  objections 
that  were  raised  to  it,  would  make  interesting  reading  at  the  present 
time.  Some  insight  into  its  history  may  be  had  from  opinions  and 
accounts  published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  during 
the  latter  years  of  the  Civil  War;  also  from  a  statistical  account  of 
the  work  done,  given  in  a  paper  by  Professor  Maisch,  read  before 
