378 
EDITORIAL. 
Chemistry,  under  the  supervision  of  the  author,  who  will  adapt  it  to  our 
Pharmacopoeia.  This  wiil  be  a  good  text-book  for  our  Colleges,  who 
may  institute  practical  schools,  and  will  also  be  a  most  valuable  aid  to 
home  students  in  the  shop,  to  direct  their  efforts  at  gaining  a  knowledge 
of  practical  chemistry  by  their  own  efforts.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that 
a  large  proportion  of  students  of  pharmacy  can  get  the  tuition  they  need 
in  college  schools,  and  it  is  time  that  some  efforts  should  be  directed  by 
disinterested  members  of  our  profession  towards  encouraging  this  home 
effort  among  the  present  generation  of  apprentices  and  assistants. 
The  Scientific  Soiree  of  the  Biological  and  Microscopical  Section 
OF  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  of  Philadelphia,  was  held  at  the 
hall  of  the  College  of  Physicians,  Thirteenth  and  Locust,  on  Friday  even- 
ing, May  13th.  The  occasion  will  long  be  remembered  as  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  successful  gatherings  ever  convened  to  popularize  science. 
The  exhibition  consisted  of  anatomical  and  physiological  specimens  and 
models  in  the  upper  east  room,  of  a  most  extensive  collection  of  micro- 
scopes, each  with  an  object  ready  for  examination  arranged  around  a 
series  of  tables  to  facilitate  their  inspection  by  the  crowd  of  visitors  in 
the  library  apartment.  This  was  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Tyson  and 
Mr.  Walmsley  and  several  other  gentlemen,  and  was  a  rare  treat  from 
the  variety  and  rarity  of  the  specimens  and  the  excellence  of  many  of  the 
instruments.  In  the  lower  east  room  Prof.  Robert  E.  Rodgers  exhibited 
a  variety  of  electric  and  electro-magnetic  experiments,  and  in  the  west 
room  Dr.  J.  S.  Cohen  had  charge  of  instruments  illustrating  sound  and 
the  vibrations  on  which  it  depends.  In  the  lecture  room  Dr.  J.  Gibbons 
Hunt  exhibited  a  great  variety  of  microphotographs  of  animal  and  vege- 
table structure,  and  many  other  views,  by  means  of  the  gas  microscope 
and  stereopticon.  The  rooms  were  open  from  half-past  7  until  11  o'clock, 
and  most  of  the  time  were  crowded  with  a  company  representing  the 
most  intelligent  class  of  society,  a  large  proportion  of  whom  were  ladies. 
The  microscopes,  numbering  more  than  eighty,  certainly  were  most  attrac- 
tive and  many  of  them  were  instruments  of  great  power,  including  several 
that  were  binocular.  The  upper  and  lower  halls  were  decorated  with 
exotic  plants  and  flowers,  and  the  whole  brilliantly  lighted.  The  Direc- 
tors, Dr.  S.  Wier  Mitchell  and  Dr.  Wm.  Pepper,  and  their  aids,  were  un- 
ceasing in  their  efforts  to  add  to  the  interest  and  satisfaction  of  the  visi- 
tors, and  all  passed  off  satisfactorily. 
Metric  Weights  and  Measures. — We  learn  through  the  Chemist  and 
Druggist^  that  at  a  meeting  of  the  "  International  Decimal  Association, 
held  at  the  rooms  of  the  Society  of  Arts,  Sir  Charles  A  dderly,  m.p.,  moved 
the  following  resolution  :  "  That  the  great  inconvenience  to  agriculture, 
manufacturers  and  commerce,  as  well  as  to  science,  resulting  from 
the  numerous  complicated  and  anomalous  weights  and  measures  now 
