134  Minutes  of  Pharmaceutical  Meetings.  {^uJcx^iMni!^ 
to  the  Journal,  it  should  be  known  how  much  was  due  to  the  labors  of  that 
band  of  disinterested  men,  of  whom  Daniel  B.  Smith,  Elias  Durand,  Charles 
Ellis,  Dr.  George  B.  Wood,  Dr.  Samuel  Jackson,  Samuel  P.  Griffits,  Jr., 
Thomas  ICvans,  William  Hodgson,  Jr.,  John  C.  Allen  and  Joseph  Scattergood 
were  examples,  who  suggested  and  sustained  it  with  practical  contributions 
and  original  papers  at  a  time  when  such  laborers  were  scarce,  until  the  gradu- 
ates came  to  its  support.  The  first  desultory  numbers  were  wholly  thus  made 
up,  and  the  best  papers,  even  after  the  appointment  of  an  Editor,  were  from 
these  men.  The  labor  of  editing  in  its  early  history  was  increased  by  the 
scarcity  of  material.  [The  French  being  the  only  pharmaceutical  journals 
then  reaching  this  country,  and  the  medical  journals  being  meagre  in  subjects 
appropriate  for  selection.]  Dr.  Benjamin  Ellis  edited  the  two  first  regular 
volumes,  commencing  April,  1829,  Dr.  Griffith  the  next  five,  Dr.  Carson  the  next 
thirteen,  and  the  present  Editor  the  remaining  twenty-two  volumes.  Dr.  Oar- 
son's  numerous  papers  on  Materia  Medica  and  Botany,  ranging  through  the 
long  period  of  his  editorship,  are  a  fitting  memorial  of  his  connection  with  the 
work.  During  the  service  prior  to  1842  the  foreign  selections  involved  much 
editorial  labor  in  translating,  but  after  that  time  greater  facilities  in  the  foreign 
mail  service,  and  the  valuable  aid  of  the  English  and  French  journals  then 
commenced,  widened  the  means  for  selection.  With  the  advantages  thus  at- 
tained, and  the  growing  contributions  of  the  graduates  yearly  scattered  over 
the  country,  the  present  Editor,  as  the  Assistant  of  Dr.  ('arson,  commenced 
his  career  under  more  favorable  auspices  than  his  predecessors,  and,  on  his 
accession  to  the  Editorship,  it  is  no  matter  of  surprir.e  that,  with  reasonable 
industry,  the  Journal,  in  1853,  should  have  doubled  in  size  and  increased  in 
interest. 
Prof.  J,  Paris  Moore  and  Mr.  A.  P.  Sharp,  of  Baltimore,  being  called  upon, 
offered  a  few  remarks  in  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the  College  and  its  anni- 
versary, and  congratulated  the  members  on  its  success. 
The  meeting  then  adjourned  to  the  main  lower  hall,  where  an  ample  collation 
was  provided  for  the  company.  The  time  passed  rapidly  in  genial  intercourse 
of  old  and  new  friends,  and  in  examining  Prof.  Maisch's  practical  laboratory, 
the  cabinets  and  library  in  the  adjoining  rooms.  So  passed  the  first  Fiftieth 
Anniversary  of  our  College  ;  may  the  second  witness  even  greater  evidences  of 
the  progress  and  usefulness  of  our  Alma  Mater. 
At  the  meeting  held  January  17,  Dr.  Pile  continued  his  problems  on  alcoholic 
menstrua,  for  ascertaining  strength  of  and  preparing  alcohols  of  different  per 
centage  from  a  definite  strength  alcohol. 
1st.  To  reduce  alcohol  to  any  desired  strength. 
2d.  To  make  a  definite  quantity  of  any  desired  strength  from  a  stronger 
alcohol. 
3d,  To  make  a  mixture  of  any  desired  strength  by  mixing  a  stronger  and  a 
weaker  alcohol. 
