420 
Edward  Robinson  Squibb,  M.D. 
/Am.  Jour.  Piiarm 
t  September.  1901, 
eluded  to  enter  the  Navy,  and,  passing  the  examination  before  the 
Naval  Board,  received  his  commission  as  Assistant  Surgeon  in  the 
United  States  Navy  on  April  26,  1847,  the-  document  bearing  the 
signature  of  James  K.  Polk,  then  President  or  the  United  States,  and 
J.  Y.  Mason,  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 
At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  War  he  was  assigned  to  service  on 
U.  S.  Brig  "  Perry;"  subsequently,  the  "  Perry  "  was  engaged  in 
breaking  up  the  South  American  slave  trade,  which  was  then  actively 
carried  on  by  vessels  owned  in  the  United  States.  He  saw  active 
sea  service  for  four  years,  and  became,  as  he  often  said,  very  tired  of 
having  so  little  to  do.  In  January,  1852,  he  was  fortunately  ordered 
to  the  Naval  Hospital  in  Brooklyn,  which  at  that  time  had  for  its 
Director,  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache,  a  worthy  member  of  a  dis- 
tinguished family  whose  services  to  their  country  should  never  be 
forgotten. 
While  serving  in  the  Navy,  Dr.  Squibb  had  abundant  opportu- 
nities of  observing  the  poor  quality  of  many  of  the  medical  sup- 
plies furnished  to  the  Navy  ;  these  goods  were  bought  upon  the 
contract  system,  and  from  the  lowest  bidders;  but  through  the  efforts 
of  Dr.  Bache,  Dr.  Squibb  and  other  officers,  Congress  was  induced 
to  make  an  exception  in  the  case  of  medical  supplies  and  gunpow- 
der, and  "  quality  first  and  price  second  ''  became  the  rule  of  the 
Department. 
In  addition  to  this,  the  Navy  Department  was  authorized  to  estab- 
lish a  pharmaceutical  laboratory  for  the  manufacture  of  important 
articles  on  the  list  of  naval  supplies.  This  laboratory  was  organized, 
built  and  equipped  with  the  names  of  Dr.  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache 
as  Director,  and  Dr.  Edward  Robinson  Squibb  as  Assistant  Direc- 
tor, in  1852.  At  this  time,  ether  was  coming  into  general  use  as  an 
anaesthetic,  and  it  was  here,  probably,  that  ether  was  first  made  by 
steam  heat,  thereby  lessening  the  great  danger  of  explosions  and 
accidents  through  the  inflammability  of  the  liquid  and  its  vapor.  But 
one  thing  is  certain,  that  Dr.  Squibb  gained  in  his  small  laboratory 
a  practical  knowledge  and  experience  in  manufacturing  which  was 
destined  to  yield  enormous  results. 
The  success  of  this  laboratory  induced  Dr.  J.  Lawrence  Smith  to 
make  a  proposition  to  build,  equip  and  start  a  similar  enterprise  in 
the  city  of  Louisville,  Ky.  Dr.  Squibb  accepted  the  proposition, 
and  in  1857  he  resigned  his  commission  in  the  Navy  and  returned 
to  civil  life. 
