EDITORIAL* 
381 
ment  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  etc.,  to 
the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies  ;  "  and,  inasmuch  as  mere  labels  are 
not  comprehended  within  the  meaning  of  said  Act,  you  will,  for  the  future,  refuse, 
in  all  cases,  to  record  or  issue  a  certificate  for  the  same  under  said  Act. 
I  am,  Sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant,  W.  L.  Marcy. 
The  American  Pharmaceutical  Association. — The  period  for  the  An- 
nual Meeting  of  this  Association  is  rapidly  approaching,  as  will  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  call  at  page  372.  In  the  interval  that  has  elapsed  since 
the  last  meeting,  what  have  its  friends  done  to  forward  the  reforms  aimed 
at  in  its  establishment  ?  This  question  will  be  answered  practically  by  the 
results  of  the  next  meeting.  It  is  for  the  members,  and  others  of  the  pro- 
fession, to  determine  whether  it  will  be  a  tame,  uninteresting  gathering, 
without  spirit  to  suggest  or  energy  to  act ;  or  whether  it  will  exhibit  results 
useful  to  the  profession,  creditable  to  the  Association  as  a  scientific  body, 
and  amply  repaying  the  members  present  for  the  trouble  they  have  taken  to 
meet  together.  It  may  be  asked  by  many,  in  what  way  can  I  contribute  to 
this  end  ?  my  scope  is  limited,  others  are  better  qualified  for  such  work,  and 
will  do  it.  There  is  the  great  mistake.  We  are  too  apt  to  despise  little  things, 
or  fancy  because  they  are  little  they  are  insignificant.  Thetrich  mines  of 
Potosi  might  have  yet  remained  unknown  but  for  the  accidental  pulling  of 
a  plant  by  a  hunter,  who,  though  not  a  metalurgist,  saw  a  something  that  in- 
duced him  to  mention  it  to  others  better  qualified  to  judge,  and  a  thousand 
millions  of  silver  have  resulted.  Equally  humble  was  the  origin  of  that 
golden  current,  which  now  ceaselessly  flows  from  California,  in  the  mill-race 
labors  of  Captain  Sutter.  It  was  the  accidental  mention  of  the  expulsion 
of  fixed  oil  from  almonds  by  ether,  in  the  experiments  of  Boutron-Charlard, 
that  inspired  Boullay  with  the  idea  of  the  process  of  displacement,  than 
which  no  greater  improvement  has  been  suggested  in  the  practice  of  Phar- 
macy in  latter  times.  The  humblest  member  of  the  body  has  opportunities 
for  observation  that  may  point  to  a  new  fact  of  surpassing  interest ;  and, 
although  he  may  not  grasp  the  results  that  flow  from  it,  yet  by  mentioning 
it  to  others  he  may  become  indirectly  the  instrument  of  great  usefulness.  It 
is  quite  time  that  the  Association  had  advanced  beyond  the  organizing  pe- 
riod of  its  existence;  its  function  of  contributing  to  the  progress  of  science 
and  skill,  by  developing  "and  directing  the  talent  of  the  profession  in  proper 
channels,  should  now  be  called  into  action  by  the  annual  appointment  of 
judicious  committees,  with  a  reasonable  amount  of  labor  to  perform,  in 
which  they  feel  an  interest;  by  the  offer  of  prizes  for  special,  well  defined 
discoveries  or  improvements  in  processes  or  instruments  ;  and  by  a  generous 
encouragement  to  the  brethren  in  every  section  of  our  country,  to  improve 
their  professional  standing  individually,  and  by  organization.  Let  our 
Southern  brethren  render  their  genial  climate  subservient  to  the  cause  by 
the  introduction  from  abroad  of  valuable  drug  yielding  plants  ;  let  the 
mechanical  ingenuity  of  the  North  improve  our  apparatus  and  discover  new 
processes,  and  let  genius  everywhere  make  use  of  these  in  giving  greater 
efficiency  to  our  art  as  the  indisjpensable  handmaid  of  practical  medicine. 
