viii. 
INTRODUCTION 
The " Journal of Pharmacy," issued by the authority and 
under the auspices of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, 
from the stand it has taken abroad and the position it holds in 
the United States, may be justly entitled to consideration as a 
National work. Established mainly by the personal efforts of 
the lamented Dr. Benjamin Ellis and his associates of the 
College, and since so ably sustained by his successor, Dr. R. 
E. Griffith, it has continued gradually increasing in reputa- 
tion and usefulness, and the effects of its influence are becom- 
ing daily more apparent. The extension of enlightened views 
in every department of science and every liberal pursuit, de- 
manding the constant exercise of mental labour and ingenuity, 
is more appreciated in this country than formerly. A corres- 
ponding impulse has been communicated to the profession of 
Pharmacy; and there is no doubt, that the day will soon be 
hailed, when there will exist no just foundation for the charge, 
but recently made against us, " that Pharmacy, which has so 
greatly contributed to augment chemical discoveries, and to 
enrich medicine with a host of new remedies, is considered 
rather as a business than a scientific profession." The agency 
capable of being exercised by the Journal in hastening this 
period, will be acknowledged by all; and it is of the utmost 
importance, in the present crisis of affairs, to sustain it upon 
the footing which it has already obtained; while at the same 
time, most vigorous efforts should be made to augment its 
sphere of influence. A review of its past career affords full 
encouragement to those who are deeply interested in its suc- 
cess, to look forward to a further increase of the patronage 
which it has acquired; and the sustaining hand of the public 
must be extended to render it efficient in furthering the inte- 
rests of the profession with which it is inseparably connected. 
The obstacles which have laid in its path have, happily, not 
