426  Editorial.  {AS5Tt58?' 
Hiver  has  been  abandoned,  and  the  following  is  substituted  in  its  place  :  The 
party  will  leave  Baltimore  on  Saturday,  Sept.  13th.  at  4  o'clock  P.M.,  by  Bay 
line  steamers,  arriving  at  Fort  Monroe  and  Vue  de  l'Eau  early  Sunday  morn- 
ing. On  Monday  morning  they  will  proceed  to  Richmond  by  James  River 
steamers,  arriving  in  that  city  about  5  P.M.  After  the  final  adjournment,  it  is 
proposed  to  journey  to  Washington  via  Richmond,  Fredericksburg  and  Poto- 
mac Railroad,  and  to  visit  Mount  Vernon  on  the  way  there. 
Excursion  tickets  will  be  sold  on  the  boat  on  Saturday  and  Monday  (Sept. 
15th),  at  $11.  The  tickets  will  be  good  by  the  way  stated,  from  Baltimore  to 
Richmond  and  back  to  Washington,  D.  C.  Round  trip  tickets  over  the  route 
as  proposed  above  are  issued  from  and  back  to  New  York  at  excursion  rates 
($22. 30).  The  same  excursion  tickets  (No.  203  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad) 
will  also  be  sold  in  Boston  to  accommodate  the  members  from  New  England. 
In  all  cases  where  baggage  can  be  checked  to  Baltimore  only,  the  excur- 
sionists with  their  baggage  will  be  transferred  free  of  charge  from  the  connect- 
ing trains  to  the  boat.  Baggage  checks  must  be  handed,  on  the  train,  to  the 
Bay  line  agent,  or  to  the  agent  of  the  Union  Transfer  Company. 
Special  accommodations  will  be  provided  on  the  boat  to  the  excursionists; 
all  intending  to  participate  should,  therefore,  report  at  once  the  number  of 
berths  required  to  Mr.  J.  F.  Hancock,  Baltimore. 
American  Medicated  Pills  at  the  Vienna  Exposition. — The  "  Zeitschr. 
des  allgem.  oesterr.  Apoth.  Vereines"  contains  in  its  issue  of  July  10  a  paper 
•on  this  subject,  from  which  we  extract  the  following: 
Among  the  articles  on  exhibition  from  the  United  States,  belonging  to  Group 
III  (chemical  products),  our  attention  is  attracted  by  a  collection  of  white  and 
red  globules,  put  up  in  elegant  bottles  of  different  shapes  and  dimensions.  We 
would  suppose  them  to  be  some  dainties  if  they  were  not  embraced  in  Group 
III,  and  on  further  examination  we  find  here  almost  all  medicinal  substances 
of  the  United  States  in  the  form  of  pills.  We  requested  the  representatives 
of  these  firms  for  some  details  about  the  sugar-coated  pills,  as  they  are  called, 
and  learned  that  they  are  a  necessity  for  the  practical  American,  and  that  he 
•supposes  not  to  be  able  to  exist  without  them.  In  case  he  is  taken  sick,  he 
•asks  the  physician,  or  a  friend  in  whom  he  has  confidence,  what  can  be  done 
against  his  ailment,  and  receives  the  advice  to  take  some  kind  or  other  of  pills. 
The  patient  buys  them,  and  in  case  he  gets  well  he  will  never  again  be  without 
these  pills;  he  will  always  carry  them  with  him,  and  if  unwell  take  a  few  of 
them. 
We  must,  however,  not  forget  that  this  is  possible  only  in  a  country  like 
America  where  the  largest  portion  of  the  physicians  are  charlatans,  and  where 
pharmacy  may  be  practiced  according  to  the  notions  of  any  individual. 
But  these  pills  must  be  looked  upon  as  a  decided  progress  in  pharmacy,  and 
if  they  would  come  into  use  with  us.  and  be  ordered  by  physicians,  we  believe 
that  many  a  patient  would  overcome  his  disgust  at  the  taking  of  disagreeable 
and  nauseous  medicines,  and  calmly  swallow  his  pills  in  case  of  sickness.  Con- 
sider, for  instance,  how  disagreeable  to  take  are  the  preparations  of  bromine, 
valerian,  assafcetida,  &c  ,  and  what  difficulties  the  physician  has  to  overcome  to 
•exhibit  such  medicines  in  as  agreeable  a  form  as  possible,  particularly  to  chil- 
dren. All  this  is  avoided  by  these  pills ;  but  we  favor  them  only  when  pre- 
scribed by  the  physician,  for  it  cannot  be  denied  that  serious  harm  is  done  by 
the  free  sale  of  these  pills,  and  several  intentional  or  accidental  cases  of  poi- 
soning have  occurred  in  America  through  the  use  of  these  pills.    To  convince 
