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It is not to such persons that the observations which are contained in this work are addressed, for with them I am most anxious to avoid a contest, in which, as a worthy Fellow of our College expresses it, “Victory itself must be disgraceful.”

When, however, we are assailed upon every occasion by a gentleman whose talents entitle him to respect, and whose public situation commands notice, I apprehend that a humble individual like myself, may, in the conscientious discharge of a public duty, deliver his sentiments from the chair to which he has been called by his professional brethren, without any risk of compromising the dignity of the College, or of drawing upon himself the charge of an unnecessary and injudicious interference.

The attack to which I chiefly allude, is contained in an historical preface by Mr. Professor Brande, to the Supplement of the Fourth and Fifth Editions of the Encyclopædia Britannica; in which, speaking of the writings of Boerhaave, he says, “The observations which he has made upon the usefulness of Chemistry, and of its necessity to the medical practitioner, may be well enforced at the present day; for, except in the schools of London and Edinburgh, Chemistry, as a branch of education, is either entirely neglected, or, what is perhaps worse, superficially and imperfectly taught; this is especially the case in the English Universities, and the London Pharmacopœia is a record of the want of chemical knowledge, where it is most imperiously required.”