Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
August,  1901.  J 
*  Obituary. 
413. 
the  cataloguing  and  arranging  of  coin  collections.  His  knowledge 
of  various  languages  was  of  great  assistance  here,  while  his  careful, 
accurate  pharmaceutical  habits  were  of  much  assistance  in  training 
for  this  work. 
His  was  a  familiar  figure  in  the  halls  ot  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy,  and  he  had  an  excellent  working  knowledge  of  phar- 
maceutical and  medical  books  in  all  languages.  He  was  unmarried, 
and  up  to  the  time  of  his  death  enjoyed  good  health.  He  died  sud- 
denly in  the  library  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  January 
25,  1901,  of  a  stroke  of  apoplexy,  His  sorrowing  friends  took 
charge  of  the  remains,  which  now  lie  peacefully  in  Northwood  Cerne- 
On  October  24,  1900,  this  eminent  medical  practitioner  passed 
away  at  his  home,  in  this  city.  He  was  born  in  Shotts,  Lanark- 
shire, Scotland,  in  182 1.  At  the  age  of  17  he  came  to  America  and 
shortly  thereafter  engaged  in  the  drug  business  with  John  Bring- 
hurst.  He  entered  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  and  was 
graduated  therefrom  in  1842.  His  inaugural  thesis  was  a  meritori- 
ous paper  upon  the  bark  of  the  American  Aspen,  Populus  tremu- 
loides,  his  investigation  proving  the  presence  of  salicin  as  the 
active  constituent  (American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  1843,  page 
Subsequently,  he  was  employed  in  the  chemical  laboratory  of  the 
late  Frederick  Brown,  and  while  engaged  there  he  published  several 
contributions  to  pharmaceutical  literature.  His  formulas  for  the 
preparation  of  the  scale  salts  of  citrate  of  iron  and  citrate  of  iron 
and  quinine,  which  have  since  become  popular  remedies,  attracted 
considerable  attention  and  in  recognition  of  his  skill  the  Franklin 
Institute  awarded  him  a  certificate  of  merit.  Dr.  Turnbull  is 
credited  with  the  discovery  of  the  bleaching  effect  of  sodium  borate 
upon  ointments  and  oils. 
Deciding  upon  the  study  of  medicine  he  secured  as  his  preceptor 
Dr.  John  K.  Mitchell  and  was  graduated  in  1845  fr°m  tne  Jefferson 
Medical  College. 
For  several  winters  he  lectured  at  the  Franklin  Institute  on 
chemistry  as  applied  to  the  arts. 
In  1850,  the  chair  of  Materia  Medica  in  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy  became  vacant  by  the  resignation  of  Professor  Joseph. 
tery,  Philadelphia. 
J.  P.  R. 
DR.  LAWRENCE  TURNBULL. 
275). 
