476 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.  1875. 
party  from  Philadelphia  and  vicinity,  and  on  Tuesday  morning  the  train  from  Fall 
River  brought  the  many  members  and  their  families  who  had  taken  the  steamer  at 
New  York  on  the  preceding  evening,  while  the  railroads  from  other  sections  concen- 
trating in  Boston,  carried  considerable  numbers.  The  Western  States  were  not  as 
well  represented  as  had  been  hoped,  because  many,  as  we  were  informed,  had  post- 
poned their  trip  to  the  Atlantic  States  until  next  year,  when  the  meeting  of  the 
Association  in  Philadelphia  will  at  the  same  time  afford  an  opportunity  to  visit  the 
International  Exposition. 
The  attendance  at  this  meeting  was  more  than  double  the  number  of  any  pre- 
vious occasion,  Boston  and  vicinity  being,  as  a  matter  of  course,  well  represented ; 
but  the  visitors  were  unusually  numerous,  and  it  was  particularly  noteworthy  that  a 
fair  number  of  pharmacists  were  present  from  the  States  south  of  the  Ohio  and 
Potomac  rivers,  some  having  come  even  from  the  Gulf  States.  With  a  single  excep- 
tion, all  Committees  from  whom  reports  could  be  expected  were  prepared  to  report; 
and  though  the  acceptors  of  queries  did  not  respond  In  the  same  degree,  yet  the 
number  of  essays  presented  (45)  was  much  larger  than  at  any  previous  meeting, 
many  of  them  possessing  considerable  scientific  or  practical  Interest. 
Less  time,  we  think,  was  consumed  upon  purely  technical  points  than  at  many 
previous  meetings  5  but  the  large  amount  of  work  before  the  Association  appeared 
to  Interfere  also  with  the  discussions  of  the  subjects  introduced  by  the  reading  of 
the  essays,  many  of  which  deserved  a  much  fuller  notice  by  the  members  present 
than  was  or  could  be  accorded  to  them  ;  and,  even  with  these  limited  discussions,  it 
became  necessary  to  read  nine  essays  merely  by  title,  and  refer  them  to  the  Exec- 
utive Committee.  Guided  by  the  experience  of  former  years,  Mr.  Colcord  had  pro- 
posed last  year  to  prolong  this  year's  meeting  for  several  days,  and  several  members 
expressed  themselves  In  favor  of  the  proposition,  and  of  not  hurrying  over  the  papers 
read.  The  Association  has,  in  former  years,  repeatedly  held  seven  and  even  eight 
sessions  at  an  annual  meeting,  without  having  been  by  courtesy  compelled  to  adjourn 
at  specified  hours,  to  avoid  coming  Into  conflict  with  the  local  arrangements.  The 
limit  in  the  duration  of  each  session  and  In  the  number  of  sessions,  as  previously 
laid  out  by  the  Local  Committee,  necessitated  a  contraction  of  many  subjects  into 
the  least  possible  space  of  time,  and  as  a  consequence  thereof  it  Is  not  to  be  won- 
dered that  some  business  needing  attention  was  crowded  out  or  overlooked.  Limited 
time  cannot  well  be  pleaded  next  year,  when  every  attendant  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Association  may  naturally  be  expected  to  be  desirous  of  visiting  also  the  Centennial 
Exposition,  To  harmonize  these  various  Interests  will  be  one  of  the  most  Impor- 
tant questions  to  be  discussed  by  the  Committee  of  Arrangements,  acting  In  con- 
junction with  any  local  committee  that  may  be  appointed,-  and,  as  a  result,  we  may 
expect  that  the  sessions  hereafter  will  not  be  limited  either  In  number  or  in  hours, 
but  that  they  must  depend  on  the  importance  of  and  the  interest  attached  to  the 
questions  brought  before  the  Association. 
The  Entertainments  at  the  Boston  Meeting  were  of  a  character  that  their 
recollection  will  be  long  cherished  by  those  who  were  forunate  enough  to  partic- 
ipate. On  the  evening  of  September  7th,  a  reception  was  tendered  to  the  visiting 
members  and  their  ladies  by  the  pharmacists  and  druggists  of  Boston  and  vicinity. 
About  400  persons  were  assembled  in  the  parlors  of  the  St.  James  Hotel,  the  head- 
