THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
NOVEMBER,  1879. 
HAS  THE  STUDY  OF  ORGANIC  CHEMISTRY  A  PRAC- 
TICAL VALUE  FOR  PHARMACISTS  ? 
Introductory  lecture  of  the  course  of  1879-80  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Phar- 
macy, delivered  October  1st,  1879,  by  Samuel  P.  Sadtler, 
Ph.  D.,  Professor  of  Chemistry. 
A  branch  of  study  like  chemistry,  we  will  find  upon  examination  of 
its  history,  must  pass  through  several  stages  of  progress  before  it 
reaches  that  precision  of  methods  which  entitles  it  to  rank  among  the 
exact  sciences. 
As  chemistry  treats  of  the  essential  nature  and  composition  of  mat- 
ter, its  study  began  very  early  in  the  history  of  the  world's  progress. 
Coming  down  to  us  from  the  ancient  Egyptians  through  the  hands  of 
the  alchemists  and  physicians  of  the  middle  ages,  we  find  that  already 
in  the  last  century  it  consisted  of  a  vast  number  of  facts  and  isolated 
observations  upon  mineral  and  vegetable  substances.  These  observa- 
tions had  been  made  by  all  kinds  of  men,  and  possessed,  of  course,  very 
varying  value,  erroneous  and  defective  results  being  very  closely  inter- 
woven with  others  of  lasting  value.  The  science  stood  then  upon 
foundations  shifting  and  uncertain.  This  may  be  said  to  have  been  the 
first  stage  in  its  progress.  With  the  beginning  of  this  century,  how- 
ever, the  introduction  of  the  analytical  balance  by  Lavoisier  and  the 
determination  of  the  atomic  weights  of  most  of  the  elements  by  Berze- 
lius  paved  the  way  for  more  exact  working,  and  observations  had  to  be 
submitted  to  sharp  analytical  tests  before  being  considered  worthy  of 
record.  The  rapid  development  of  these  analytical  methods  and  their 
application  to  the  study  of  minerals  and  drugs  soon  gave  to  mineral  or 
inorganic  chemistry,  at  least,  a  firm  foundation.  While  the  science  was 
still  purely  an  empirical  one,  it  had  now  acquired  more  claim  to  be 
ranked  as  an  exact  one.  This  may  be  called  the  second  stage  in  the 
progress  of  chemistry.  Our  knowledge  of  inorganic  chemistry  indeed 
might  have  been  brought  to  a  very  high  pitch  merely  by  advancing 
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