owner of the Polnische Apotheke, in which he had an interest until 1894, when he in turn handed the business over to his son. He was not only a practical druggist but was known for his original investigations on pharmaceutical subjects. Dr. John Bley, who died on August 22, 1905, at Los Angeles, was a life member of the college, having joined in 1868. Robert C. Brodie, who died on January 4, 1906, in this city, was eighty-one years of age at the time of his death. He was elected. a member of the college in 1845, and had therefore been a member for sixty years, there having been few members who were connected with the college for a longer period than he. Mr. Brodie was in the drug business fifty-six years, retiring from business in 1903. For many years he was treasurer of the Philadelphia Wholesale Drug Company, and served St. Alban Lodge, No. 529, F. A. M., in the same capacity for twenty-five years. He was the father-in-law of our late Registrar, W. Nelson Stem. Dr. Joseph P. Bolton died on February 24, 1906. He graduated from the college in 1860 and became a member in 1867. He was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College, in which institution at the time of his death he was. demonstrator of chemistry, and also assistant neurologist at the Jefferson Hospital. He resided in Germantown, where he had conducted a drug store for a number of years. Henry Cramer, of Germantown, who died on July 28, 1905, became a member of the college in 1866. He was of German birth and was not a graduate of the college. For a number of years he was a member of the firm of Cramer & Small, at 320 Race Street. He was much interested in the work of the college and sent a communication to the Procter Memorial meeting, held November 15, 1905, which was a beautiful tribute to Professor Procter. Edward Tonkin Dobbins died at the University Hospital on February 17, 1906, as the result of a fall in the street near his home. Mr. Dobbins was born at Pemberton, N. J., May 29, 1841. He graduated from the college in 1862, became a member of the Amer ican Pharmaceutical Association in 1867, and of the college in 1898, being elected a member of the Board of Trustees in the succeeding year. His will provided for the establishment of a scholarship in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy to be known by his name. Mr. Dobbins first started in the drug business as an apprentice with William B. Webb, corner of Tenth and Spring Garden Streets, and entered the employ of John Wyeth the year of his graduation, first in the retail department; later he entered the manufacturing department. He then became a member of the firm and was for a number of years second vice-president of the firm, but for some years past had not been active in its management. He was one of the early members of the Union League, Philadelphia; was a member of the Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, the Sons of the Revolution, and of the Country Club. He was interred at St. Andrew's Churchyard, Mt. Holly, N. J., near the chapel there, which was erected by his family as a memorial chapel some years ago, in 1879. Mr. Dobbins was a man of great integrity, always ready to help those in need, and his kindly assistance will be missed by many. Louis Koch died on February 24, 1906. He joined the college and the American Pharmaceutical Association in 1872, and though not a graduate of pharmacy, took considerable interest in the development of the professional side of pharmacy. Mr. He was a Allen Shryock died on November 14, 1905. Mr. Shryock graduated from the college in 1860 and became a member in 1870. Shryock was in the drug business for a number of years. teacher of music at the time of his death. THE PHILADELPHIA BRANCH OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. THE COUNCIL ON PHARMACY AND CHEMISTRY OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION. There are probably but few present-day activities that promise to have a more far-reaching influence on the rise and the development of the science of pharmacy, in the United States, than the organization and support of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry by the American Medical Association. The work that has been undertaken by this Council, while thoroughly well appreciated by the leading medical practitioners of this country, does not appear to be so well known to, or at least is not so thoroughly well understood by, the average retail pharmacist. This evident lack of appreciation and interest on the part of the pharmacist is all the more unfortunate in that no class of persons . Jour. Pharm November will or can derive the same amount of material or moral benefit from a proper appreciation and support of the work undertaken by this Council. For many years pharmacists have complained that their prescription work is decreasing in amount and in profit, and that physicians are either dispensing their own medicines or are confining themselves more and more to prescribing ready-made proprietary preparations, the dispensing of which left little or no profit to the pharmacist. Despite the marked changes that have been brought about in the practice of pharmacy itself, comparatively few of its votaries have been impressed by the fact that the reduction in the number of prescriptions, the increase in the use of proprietary medicines, and the corresponding decrease in the profitableness of the prescriptions dispensed are all due largely, if not entirely, to their own lack of interest in the more professional side of their vocation, and to the accompanying lack of practical knowledge of the needs and the wants of medical men. To give retail pharmacists an opportunity of becoming more thor. oughly acquainted with the objects, needs, wants and accomplishments of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical Association, it is proposed to devote the November meeting of the Philadelphia Branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association to the discussion of various phases of: The Work of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical Association. The November meeting of the Philadelphia Branch will be held in the lower hall of the College of Physicians, northeast corner of Thirteenth and Locust Streets, on the evening of Tuesday, November 6, 1906, and the discussion will be opened by the following communications:— Prof. S. P. Sadtler: The Work of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical Association. Dr. Alfred Stengel: The Endorsement of the Work of the Council by Medical Practitioners. Prof. Charles H. LaWall: The Effect of Publicity on the Standing and the Use of Nostrums. Prof. W. A. Puckner: The Needs of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry of the American Medical Association. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY DECEMBER, 1906. THE ROOT-STRUCTURE OF SPIGELIA MARILANDICA L., (With five figures drawn by the author.) In the very comprehensive work of Dr. Solereder,' dealing with the anatomy of dicotyledonous plants, the Polemoniacea are characterized as lacking crystals, with the only exception of Phlox Carolina. But in this plant, better known as Phlox ovata L., Dr. Solereder states that Professor Henry Greenish has found large, fusiform cystolithes in the cortical parenchyma of the roots. Having for several years been engaged in studying the anatomy of our native plants, the writer has always been desirous of comparing the anatomical characters of the various families. While examining the structure of the Acanthacea that occur in the vicinity of Washington, I noticed a very peculiar structure, especially in the roots, which led me to undertake a more detailed investigation of certain tissues with their cell-contents, and quite especially the cystolithes. Being well acquainted with Professor Greenish's original paper and his carefully executed figures of the cystolithes, which he thought to have detected in Phlox ovata, I extended my investigation to some members of this family, including this particular species. However, I failed to observe any crystals or cystolithes, and inasmuch as Professor Greenish was not so absolutely certain that the roots and rhizomes, which he had before him, really belonged to some Phlox, I commenced to doubt the correctness of the statement that the roots of Phlox ovata contain cystolithes. It 1 Systematische Anatomie der Dicotyledonen. Stuttgart, 1899, p. 622. 2 The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions. London, 1891, p. 839. . Jour. Pharm December would, indeed, be very strange if a single species of a family that contains about 150 species, should possess such marked characteristics unknown from any of the others.1 Fig. 1. Ruellia ciliosa, Pursh. The rhizome of an old specimen showing the basal portions of the aerial shoots still attached (St.). This rhizome shows several stretched internodes and some very short ones at the base, both forms often occurring at the same time in this species; natural size. Fig. 2. Longitudinal section of the same root, showing a stone-cell. X 480. From this point of view the writer wishes to present a few data about the root-structure of Phlox ovata, and to demonstrate that 1 After this paper had been written I happened to see an article about the same subject by Mr. W. W. Stockberger in Proc. Am. Pharm. Assoc., 1905, p. 324, who has reached the same conclusion. |