428 
Edward  Robinson  Squibb,  M.D. 
I  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(  September,  1901. 
ciation,  and  a  life  member  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Relief  ot 
Widows  and  Orphans  of  Medical  Men.  He  was  elected  an  honor- 
ary member  of  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  in  October, 
1872,  and  an  honorary  member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  ot 
Great  Britain  on  May  i,  1878.  The  degree  of  Master  in  Pharmacy 
was  conferred  on  him  February  6,  1 894,  by  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  American  Chemical 
Society  on  March  3,  1877.  He  was  a  resident  member  of  the  Lin- 
nean  Society  in  New  York,  a  life  member  and  Fellow  of  the  Brook- 
lyn Institute  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  a  Fellow  of  the  American  Asso- 
ciation for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  and  a  member  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society  of  Philadelphia. 
Dr.  Squibb  took  a  most  active  part  in  the  development  and 
improvement  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  since  the  i860 
Revision.  He  was  a  member  of  the  committee  at  that  time,  but  in 
subsequent  revisions  he  declined  membership  in  the  committee, 
but,  nevertheless,  rendered  most  valuable  service  until  almost  the 
day  of  his  death. 
An  incident  in  connection  with  Pharmacopoeia  revision  in  i860 
was  told  the  writer  by  Professor  Procter,  and  it  is  reproduced  be- 
cause it  is  characteristic  of  the  man.  The  meetings  of  the  Com- 
mittee were  held  periodically  in  Philadelphia,  and  Dr.  Squibb  came 
over  from  New  York  and  spent  the  day  in  the  Quaker  City  with 
his  friend  Procter.  The  meetings  were  held  at  Dr.  George  B. 
Wood's  residence.  The  subject  under  discussion  on  one  occasion 
was  aloes,  Dr.  Squibb  stating  that  the  commercial  aloes  which 
came  to  this  market  was  filled  with  mechanical  impurities  of  all 
sorts — sticks,  stones,  earth,  goatskins,  bits  of  iron  and. lead,  etc.,  etc. 
Dr.  Wood,  Professor  Procter,  Alfred  B.  Taylor,  and  other  members 
of  the  committee  thought  that  Dr.  Squibb  was  exaggerating,  and 
one  of  them  said  playfully,  that  New  York  aloes  might  have  all  of 
those  impurities  in  it,  but  he  did  not  believe  that  the  aloes  imported 
into  Philadelphia  was  of  that  character.  Thus  challenged,  Dr. 
Squibb  promptly  asked  Professor  Procter  to  buy  the  best  cask  of 
aloes  he  could  get  in  Pniladelphia,  on  his  account,  ship  it  to  New 
York,  and  he  would  melt  and  soften  the  aloes,  adding  alcohol  and 
water,  strain  it,  weigh  the  impurities,  ascertain  the  percentage,  and 
send  to  the  committee  the  record  with  the  package  containing  the 
debris,  accompanied  by  a  sample  of  the  purified  product. 
