206  Influence  of  Pharmacists  on  Chemistry. \Av^^'  f92irm" 
of  the  United  States  for  a  sum  not  exceeding  $5000,  although  the  manufac- 
ture of  it  was  nearly  if  not  quite  as  large  then,  as  now. 
"I  commenced  work  in  earnest  to  experiment  in  purifying  glycerine 
in  1858 — and  expended  long  and  weary  efforts,  all  my  earnings,  as  well  as 
some  borrowed  money.  I  at  first  succeeded  in  producing  an  article  suf- 
ficiently pure  for  use  in  gas  meters  (in  place  of  alcohol)  to  prevent  freezing 
and  stoppage  of  the  instrument — it  was  not  however  until  about  the  middle 
of  i860  that  I  succeeded  in  making  and  placing  in  the  market  a  'pure  inodor- 
ous glycerine/  even  then  the  amount  sold  was  quite  insignificant.  Inferior 
grades  made  their  appearance  about  the  same  time  in  the  West.  The  bland 
and  neutral  nature  of  the  article,  and  the  discovery  of  various  uses  for  it, 
soon  increased  the  demand  to  a  marked  extent ;  I  was  enabled  from  time 
to  time  to  increase  my  works,  and  in  increasing  them  was  making  steady 
inroad  into  the  supply  of  the  crude  article.  At  this  period,  say  in  1863,  the 
business  of  refining  glycerine  was  scarcely  known  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  and  I  exported  small  quantities  to  Hamburg  paying  a  profit;  Bel- 
gium, France,  Germany  and  Austria  were  immense  producers  of  crude  glyce- 
rine, but  like  its  sister  product  here  in  previous  years,  it  only  found  its 
way  to  the  sea.  As  before  stated,  the  use  and  sale  of  the  refined  continued 
to  improve,  the  crude  growing  more  scarce  each  season,  until  a  point  has 
been  reached  when  every  available  pound  is  worked  into  a  valuable  product. 
It  would  not  be  out  of  the  way  to  place  the  total  value  of  all  the  glycerine 
sold  in  the  United  States  at  this  time  at  $500,000.  This  sum  could  never 
have  been  reached  had  it  not  been  for  the  discovery  of  a  mode  for  refining, 
to  which,  so  far  as  this  country  is  concerned,  I  lay  claim ;  by  a  careful  man- 
agement of  my  business  for  some  years  I  kept  the  process  a  secret;  but  in 
time  some  portions  of  it  came  to  the  knowledge  of  other  persons,  who  have 
been  enabled  to  produce  very  fair  articles.  There  are  besides  myself,  here, 
two  refiners  in  Cincinnati,  one  in  Chicago,  and  one  in  'New  York." 
There  were,  of  course,  other  drug  and  chemical  firms  who 
were  well  and  favorably-  known  in  the  early  half  as  well  as  the 
later  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
We  have  already  mentioned  the  name  of  Christopher  Marshall, 
Jr.,  who  was  active  in  Revolutionary  days.  Himself  the  son  of  a 
druggist,  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Charles  Marshall,  and  his 
grandson,  Charles  Marshall,  Jr.,  who  in  18 14,  established  himself 
in  the  wholesale  business  at  310  Market  Street. 
With  this  Charles  Marshall,  Jr.,  entered  as  an  apprentice, 
Geo.  W.  Carpenter,  who  later  became  one  of  the  most  prominent 
as  well  as  successful  of  wholesale  druggists  in  Philadelphia.  The 
old  store  of  Carpenter  &  Henszey  at  Eighth  and  Market  Streets, 
I  remember  quite  well  as  it  stood  about  forty  years  ago. 
A  very  well-known  drug  firm  of  the  latter  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  that  of  Bullock  &  Crenshaw.    They  were  the 
