Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
April  1,  1871.  J 
Obituary. 
191 
position  of  things  after  the  explosion,  it  appears  that  he  had  placed  the  retort 
on  the  furnace,  and  when  the  reaction  had  commenced  he  had  observed  that 
the  gas  was  not  accumulating,  and  judging  that  the  exit  tube  had  become  ob- 
structed, he  had  lifted  the  retort  off  to  the  hearth,  and  had  disconnected  the 
gas  bag,  with  the  intention  of  removing  the  obstruction.  The  immense  pressure 
of  the  constantly  developing  gas  at  this  moment  vented  itself,  whilst  the  opera- 
tor was  stooping  over,  by  blowing  off  and  shattering  the  whole  top  of  the  re- 
tort'; the  upper  half  of  the  neck  tube,  in  ascending  struck  his  forehead  imme- 
diately above  the  left  eye,  burying  itself  several  inches  in  the  brain.  The  ex- 
plosion was  heard  some  distance,  arousing  the  whole  neighborhood.  His  father, 
Edward  Bringhurst,  Sr.,  and  his  partners,  IC.  Bringhurst,  Jr.  and  Z.James  Belt, 
were  all  in  the  store,  and  hastening  to  the  laboratory,  a  fearful  sight  was  pre- 
sented. Ferris  Bringhurst  was  lying  against  a  barrel,  several  feet  from  the 
furnace,  the  blood  streaming  from  the  frightful  wound  in  his  forehead,  and  all 
around  bearing  evidence  of  the  violence  of  the  explosion,  every  window  being 
broken.  Pie  was  carried  to  the  yard,  medical  aid  summoned,  and  by  advice 
removed  at  once  to  his  residence  on  West  street.  On  Monday  a  piece  of  iron 
2|  inches  long  was  removed.  He  never  spoke,  being  in  a  stupor,  yet  at  one 
time  he  seemed  to  retain  some  consciousness,  and  though  unable  to  articulate, 
showed  by  pressure  of  the  hand  that  he  understood  what  had  been  said  to  him. 
He  gradually  sank,  and  early  on  Thursday  morning,  the  16th  of  March,  quietly 
passed  away  without,  probably,  at  any  time  having  suffered  pain.  Thus  early 
has  closed  the  earthly  career  of  one  of  the  brightest  minds,  in  the  wide  circle 
of  American  pharmaceutists,  it  has  been  our  privilege  to  know,  admire  and 
love.  So  genial,  so  true  and  earnest,  so  thorough  and  reliable  in  all  that  he  did, 
so  unselfish  and  generous  in  his  intercourse  with  his  professional  brethren,  so 
free  from  self-seeking  and  petty  ambition  in  his  endeavors  for  the  advancement 
of  the  interests  of  pharmacy. 
Ferris  Bringhurst  attended  the  lectures  at  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Phar- 
macy at  the  sessions  of  1855 — 1856  and  1856 — 57  ;  during  his  attendance  he 
placed  himself  under  the  care  of  Dr.  F.  A.  Genth  in  the  study  of  analytical 
<5hemistry,  and  acquired  those  nice  habits  of  manipulation  for  which  as  a  phar- 
maceutist he  was  noted.  He  graduated  in  the  spring  of  1857,  and  subsequently 
became  a  partner  in  his  father's  business.  He  stood  among  the  very  foremost 
in  the  esteem  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association^  which  he  joined  in 
1862  at  the  meeting  in  Philadelphia,  and  ever  since  has  been  an  active  and  use- 
ful member,  having,  as  Yice-President,  been  acting  President  at  the  Chicago 
meeting.  He  was  also  a  prominent  member  of  the  Alumni  Association  of  the 
Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  and  had  he  lived  two  weeks  longer  he 
would  have  been  elected  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy 
under  the  new  Constitution,  having  been  proposed  at  the  last  meeting. 
Ferris  Bringhurst,  though  a  young  man,  had  moral  excellencies,  intellectu- 
al capabilities,  and  manly  energies  that  were  appreciated  by  those  who  knew 
him  well,  and  which,  had  he  lived,  would  have  developed  in  the  Association  to 
its  great  advantage,  for  its  true  interests  were  dear  to  him,  and  he  was  prodi- 
gal of  his  labor  in  a  good  cause." 
He  was  the  President  of  the  Wilmington  Fountain  Society,  and  also  of  the 
