400 
Correspondence. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      August,  1901. 
Dear  Sir  : — Your  typewritten  letter  of  February  9th  forwarded 
here  where  I  am  wintering. 
I,  of  course,  knew  Mr.  Procter  intimately  and  well,  and  thought 
very  highly  of  him.  I  do  not  get  the  Journal,  as  I  am  many  years 
retired  from  any  active  part  in  my  company,  and  now  an  aged  man 
waiting  my  time  to  pass  over  to  the  great  majority. 
Mr.  Procter  was  an  exceedingly  modest  man,  and  I  feel  as  if  his 
best  wish  in  regard  to  a  memorial  would  be  in  establishing  a  schol- 
arship or  to  secure  a  medal  to  the  person  (student)  who  did  the  best 
work  each  year  in  some  scientific  institution  in  the  line  of  study  he 
enjoyed  most. 
Thanking  you  for  your  letter,  and  wishing  you  success,  I  am 
Very  truly, 
Cairo,  Egypt.  Frederick  Stearns. 
Dear  Sir: — I  do  not  know  enough  about  the  history  of  research 
laboratories  to  give  you  an  opinion  worth  anything,  regarding  the 
probability  of  the  success  of  such  a  project  in  this  country. 
Most  of  the  discoveries  in  science  are  the  result  of  work  to  an 
objective  point  which  is  necessary  either  to  the  routine  or  success 
of  some  purpose,  and  if  a  research  laboratory  were  established  by 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  or  by  other  joint  owner- 
ship, where  skilled  and  confidential  research  could  be  had  for  a 
fair  consideration,  I  believe  it  would  be  measurably  successful,  but 
it  seems  to  me  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  raise  a  large  fund  for  a 
laboratory  in  which  the  interest  would  be  purely  scientific  and 
unselfish,  and  the  ends  indefinite.  Horatio  N.  Fraser. 
New  York  City. 
Dear  Sir: — I  am  not  exactly  sure  that  I  fully  understand  the 
purport  of  your  proposition  upon  which  to  base  an  intelligent 
opinion. 
The  first  essential  to  success  in  the  establishment  of  a  "  Research 
Laboratory,"  whether  by  itself  or  in  connection  with  some  pharma- 
ceutical school,  is  an  ample  endowment,  a  definite  revenue,  sufficient 
to  attract  and  compensate  the  best  talent.  Upon  this  basis  there 
would  be  hope  of  progress  and  permanence,  for  decadence  sets  in 
as  soon  as  progress  ceases.  This  principle  applies  to  institutions  as 
well  as  to  individuals. 
Again,  the  field  o!  pharmaceutical  research   s  already  somewhat 
