Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Oct.,  1876.  j 
Editorial. 
477 
the  committee  on  entertainment,  started  from  the  College  building  in  carriages,  for 
a  drive  through  Fairmount  Park,  entering  it  at  Green  street  and  passing  over 
Girard  Avenue  bridge  to  Lansdowne  and  George's  Hill,  at  the  foot  of  which  the 
exhibition  grounds  are  located,  affording  an  excellent  bird's-eye  view  of  this 
locality,  and  further  in  the  distance  of  the  beautiful  banks  of  the  Schuylkill  river, 
with  a  portion  of  Philadelphia  in  the  back-ground.  The  drive  was  resumed  to 
Belmont,  the  Schuylkill  re-crossed  at  the  Falls,  and  the  romantic  valley  of  the 
Wissahickon  entered  and  followed  up  to  near  Indian  Rock.  On  the  return  the 
party  passed  through  a  portion  of  the  East  Park  to  Strawberry  Mansion,  where  a 
collation  was  served  5  night  had  set  in  when  the  excursionists  returned  to  their 
city  homes. 
The  incessant  rain  on  the  following  Sunday,  September  17,  made  that  day  one 
of  rest }  but  upon  the  following  morning  the  sun  rose  upon  a  cloudless  sky,  and 
about  ninety  ladies  and  gentlemen  went  on  the  excursion  to  Mauch  Chunk,  passing 
first  through  a  fertile  rolling  country  to  Bethlehem,  from  whence  the  road  follows 
the  tortuous  windings  of  the  Lehigh  river,  the  valley  becoming  continually  nar- 
rower, so  that  there  is  scarcely  any  room  left  there,  besides  what  is  occupied  by  the 
tracks  of  two  railways.  In  the  mean  time  the  sky  had  become  overcast,  a  drizzling 
rain  fell  occasionally  and  the  atmosphere  was  quite  chilly,  so  that  the  warm  rooms 
of  the  Mansion  House  were  quite  inviting.  After  dinner  the  weather  had  become 
sufficiently  stationary  to  venture  on  the  trip  to  the  Switch-back,  first  in  coaches 
through  Mauch  Chunk,  which  is  located  in  a  narrow  ravine,  and  up  a  steep  hill  to 
the  foot  of  Mount  Pisgah.  From  here  the  car  is  drawn  up  an  inclined  plane  to  a 
height  of  864  feet  from  its  starting  point,  and  a  foot  path  brought  the  party  then 
to  a  still  higher  point,  where,  from  a  rustic  pavilion,  a  beautiful  view  was  had  over 
mountain  tops,  into  wild  ravines  and  through  a  portion  of  the  narrow  Lehip-h 
valley.  Re-entering  the  car,  it  dashes  along  an  inclined  plane,  propelled  by  its 
own  gravity,  a  distance  of  six  miles  to  the  foot  of  Mount  Jefferson,  to  the  top  of 
which,  462  feet  high,  it  is  again  pulled  by  a  stationary  engine,  thence  to  descend 
again  through  the  force  of  its  own  gravity  to  the  mining  village  of  Summit  Hill, 
located  at  an  elevation  of  975  feet  above  the  Lehigh  river.  Here  the  "burning 
mine"  and  the  "ice  cave"  were  visited.  The  former  has  been  burning  since 
1843,  and,  though  filled  in  and  closed  soon  after,  smoke  still  issues  from  the  ground, 
several  acres  of  which  are  searingly  hot  and  vegetation  upon  it  totally  blighted. 
Within  the  distance  of  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  is  the  cave  in  which,  during 
the  winter,  large  quantities  of  ice  are  formed,  much  more  than  even  the  prolonged 
high  temperature  of  the  past  summer  could  melt. 
The  descent  from  Summit  Hill  is  made  solely  by  the  gravity  railroad,  often  at  a 
dizzy  speed  along  high  cliffs  and  around  short  curves;  and  after  again  reaching 
Mauch  Chunk  the  inclement  weather  forbid  a  visit  to  Glen  Onoko,  and  a  return  to 
Philadelphia  on  the  same  evening  was  decided  upon.  A  delay  of  the  train  would 
have  caused  some  unpleasant  inconvenience  if  the  forethought  of  the  entertain- 
ment committee  had  not,  by  telegraph,  provided  for  substantial  refreshments  at 
Bethlehem. 
On  Tuesday,  September  19,  between  40  and  50  members  with  ladies,  embarked 
on  a  steamer  for  a  visit,  down  the  Delaware  river,  to  Greenwich  Point,  in  the 
southern  part  of  Philadelphia,  where  a  branch  of  the  works  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Salt  Manufacturing  Company  are  located.  The  officers  conducted  the  visitors  over 
the  grounds  and  through  the  buildings,  and  gave  all  facilities  for  inspecting  the 
processes,  as  carried  on  here,  of  manufacturing  sulphuric  acid,  carbonate  and 
bicarbonate  of  sodium,  caustic  soda,  alum  and  so-called  concentrated  alum.  A 
trip  to  League  Island,  and,  after  returning  to  the  city,  a  pleasant  intercourse  at  the 
office  of  the  company  closed  this  day's  proceedings,  the  last  one  in  which  the  visi- 
tors to  the  24th  annual  meeting  participated. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  visitors  to  Greenwich  Point,  Prof.  E.  Painter,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, was  called  to  the  chair,  and  Prof.  John  M.  Maisch,  of  Philadelphia,  elected 
Secretary.    Messrs.  Chas.  S.  Eastman,  of  New  Hampshire,  and  R.  V.  Mattison,  of 
