LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Class 
 




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 or THE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
Benjamin $re0cott 
 
 SDeccmfier 12, is 32 
 jpe&marp 25, 1005 
 
 VNIVR8<TY 
 
 Of 
 
 PRIVATELY PRINTED 
 
 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN 
 FEBRUARY, 1906 
 
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[prefatory fiote 
 
 The number of tributes, both public and private, paid to 
 the memory of Dr. Prescott is so great as to make it seem 
 advisable to refer by title only to the Memorials and Resolu- 
 tions presented by the following : 
 
 The Faculty of the College of Dental Surgery of the Uni- 
 versity of Michigan. 
 
 The Instructors of the Chemical Laboratory. 
 
 The Alumni of the School of Pharmacy who are now con- 
 nected with Northwestern University. 
 
 The Alumni who are now connected with the University of 
 Maine. 
 
 The Faculty of the School of Pharmacy of the University 
 of Kansas. 
 
 The Senior, Junior, and Sophomore classes in the Depart- 
 ment of Medicine and Surgery. 
 
 The Senior and Junior classes in the School of Pharmacy. 
 
 The Phi Chi Fraternity. 
 
 The Nu Sigma Nu Medical Fraternity. 
 
 From the Senate Memorial are omitted such portions as are 
 fully covered by what is contained in the addresses given at 
 the Memorial Service, and in the Biographical Sketch. 
 
Contents 
 
 Biographical Shetcb 
 
 By Professor Martin L. D'Ooge 
 
 Memorial Service 
 
 Addresses by 
 
 President James B. Angell 
 Dr. Victor C. Vaughan 
 Professor Martin L. D'Ooge 
 Dr. William J. Herdman 
 
 /memorials and fResolutlons 
 
 Memorial of the Senate of the University of Michigan 
 Memorial of the American Chemical Society 
 Memorial of the Michigan State Medical Society 
 Memorial Session of the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association 
 Resolutions of the Faculty of the Department of Medicine and Surgery 
 Resolutions of the American Pharmaceutical Association 
 Resolutions of the Faculty of the School of Pharmacy 
 Resolutions of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy 
 
 personal tributes 
 
 By Professor F. W. Clarke, of Washington, D. C. 
 
 By Professor Oscar Oldberg, of Northwestern University 
 
 By Doctor A. B. Lyons, of Detroit 
 
 By Professor Alfred Senier, of Queen's College, Galway 
 
 By Professor Edward D. Campbell, of the University of Michigan 
 
 By President James B. Angell 
 
 of Writings 
 
 By Doctor Victor C. Vaughan 
 
Albert Benjamin jprescott 
 
 ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT was born 
 in Hastings, Oswego County, New York, December 
 12, 1832. 
 
 His parents were Benjamin Prescott and Experience 
 Huntley Prescott. 
 
 Albert was the ninth generation in lineage from John 
 Prescott of Standish, Lancashire, England, who came to 
 Boston in 1640. Of the same lineage were also William H. 
 Prescott, the distinguished historian, and his grandfather, 
 Colonel William Prescott, the commander in the battle of 
 Bunker Hill. On a farm located near the then flourishing 
 village of Hastings Albert first saw the light, as the youngest 
 of four children. The old home is still in the possession of the 
 family, and the acre of ground given by his father for the site 
 of a schoolhouse continues to be used for the same purpose. 
 
 The father of the household was a man of unusual intelli- 
 gence and refinement, quiet in manner, and a leader in the com- 
 munity and in the Baptist Church. His hospitable home gave 
 welcome to ministers, teachers, and to others who were espec- 
 ially interested in the well-being of the church and state. He 
 was an ardent advocate of the freedom of the slaves and promi- 
 nent in all movements of social reform. 
 
 The mother was a woman of rare dignity of character and 
 repose of manner, endowed with the gifts of beauty of person 
 and a most amiable disposition. 
 
 Blessed with such a parentage and in such a favorable 
 environment, the son, who possessed a keen sense of humor and 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 an active and quick mind, gave early promise of a career of 
 distinguished usefulness and honor. 
 
 But in the ninth year of his age this promise seemed des- 
 tined to disappointment. From a severe fall resulted an injury 
 to the right knee which made the lad a cripple for life. The 
 best medical skill that could be found failed to make a complete 
 cure. But for the wisdom of his mother, who stoutly opposed 
 amputation of the limb, this physical disability would have 
 become still more serious. For about five years the young 
 lad was confined to the house, often to his bed, for months at a 
 time. But these years of suffering and privation were "the 
 seed-time of his future." His sister, who had graduated from 
 an academy in the neighboring town of Mexico and who after- 
 ward became a well-known teacher, gave up her studies in 
 Miss Willard's Academy in order to devote her time to the 
 care and education of her beloved brother. Under her inspiring 
 and gentle guidance his eager mind turned to good reading. 
 The district circulating library, which was kept in the parental 
 home, contained a good collection of choice books. In those 
 years the invalid boy made the acquaintance of many volumes 
 of history and of travel in foreign lands, but the English poets 
 became his especial delight. He early showed marked ability 
 in writing. As he had no companions of his own age to 
 whom he could communicate his thoughts and purposes, he 
 formed the habit of committing these to paper and of writing 
 short reviews of the books that he had read. His fond mother, 
 in later years, never tired of telling about "the stories that 
 Albert used to write when he was a boy." 
 
 With the aid of his sister he gained a fair knowledge of 
 Latin, and from other private teachers he received instruction 
 in French and German and in various branches of science. 
 
 In 1848, when Albert was in his sixteenth year, the father 
 of the family was removed by death. Fortunately, the young 
 man could soon lay aside the crutches that had so many years 
 
 12 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 been required to support him, and could assist the older 
 brother, who had generously abandoned his chosen plans of 
 professional study and had decided to remain on the farm to 
 care for the dependent household. For three years the future 
 teacher and scholar did the lighter work on the farm, con- 
 tinuing meanwhile his studies under private instruction. 
 
 During these formative years his outlook upon life became 
 widened. He joined a debating club and heard some of the 
 leading platform speakers of the day in a course of popular 
 lectures organized in his native town. Meanwhile, he had 
 become a correspondent of The Liberator, the well-known anti- 
 slavery paper published in Boston, and an active worker in 
 this cause. 
 
 In 1853 ne went to New York City to act as correspondent 
 for the New York Tribune, his special work being to gather 
 and edit the news from the suburbs of the city and along the 
 Hudson River as far as Albany. 
 
 But his mind was drifting rapidly to more serious and 
 scientific work, and in the year following he decided to devote 
 himself to the study of medicine. His family tried to dissuade 
 him from the pursuit of a profession that was likely to make 
 such heavy drafts upon his slender stock of physical endur- 
 ance; but his purpose was fixed. To use his own words 
 "It will be at least a chance for more study and give me a 
 broader life." This purpose gave him great joy and seemed 
 to increase his bodily vigor. While preparing himself for 
 admission to a medical school he taught school in the neigh- 
 borhood. Chemistry and zoology became his favorite studies. 
 
 Prior to entering the University of Michigan, Mr. Pres- 
 cott spent three years in the office of Dr. Greenleaf, of Brew- 
 erton, N. Y., a physician of recognized ability who enjoyed a 
 large practice. 
 
 In 1860 he came to Ann Arbor and entered the Depart- 
 ment of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Michigan. 
 
 13 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 After the first course of lectures he was detained for one year 
 by his preceptor, who claimed his student's services as his 
 assistant. In the fall of 1862 he returned to the University 
 and became a student assistant to Professor Douglas, a posi- 
 tion which he filled until his graduation in March, 1864. 
 
 In July, 1864, Dr. Prescott, after passing the regular 
 examination for medical service in the United States Army, 
 received the appointment of Assistant Surgeon in the volun- 
 teer service, and was first assigned to duty in the Totten Hos- 
 pital of Louisville, Kentucky. A little later he became a mem- 
 ber of the Medical Board of Examiners and Chief Surgeon of 
 the Foundry Hospital in the city above named. After a few 
 months of service in this hospital he was appointed to the still 
 more responsible post of Chief Surgeon of the Jeffersonville 
 General Hospital, which was one of the largest hospitals 
 erected in the time of the civil war, and which was subse- 
 quently dismantled under the supervision of Dr. Prescott. 
 
 He was honorably discharged from service in the army 
 August, 1865, with tn e rank of Brevet Captain. 
 
 Immediately upon leaving the army Dr. Prescott entered 
 upon his life work, being appointed Assistant Professor of 
 Chemistry and Lecturer on Organic Chemistry and Metal- 
 lurgy in the University of Michigan. 
 
 When the School of Pharmacy was organized, in 1868, Dr. 
 Prescott was charged with the work of its administration. He 
 enlisted at once in behalf of superior laboratory methods and 
 higher standards of pharmaceutical education. In 1870 he 
 was promoted to the professorship of Organic and Applied 
 Chemistry and Pharmacy. He served as Dean of the School 
 of Pharmacy from 1876 and as Director of the Chemical 
 Laboratory from 1884 until the time of his decease. 
 
 His fruitful work as a teacher and an investigator, and 
 his numerous contributions to his chosen science, are amply 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 set forth in the addresses and memorials that follow and in 
 the bibliography of his writings. 
 
 In 1885 Dr. Prescott was honored by the United States 
 Government with the appointment for the annual assay of the 
 coinage of the mint. 
 
 Dr. Prescott received various well merited academic 
 honors and distinctions. The earliest was his election as 
 Fellow of the Chemical Society of London in 1886. The same 
 year his Alma Mater honored him with the degree of Doctor 
 of Philosophy, and the American Chemical Society by electing 
 him as its President. He was the first presiding officer of the 
 conference of American Pharmaceutical Faculties, and was 
 honored with the Presidency of the State Pharmaceutical 
 Association, and, in 1900, of the national body. 
 
 In 1891 the American Association for the Advancement 
 of Science elected him as its President. His own Alma Mater 
 conferred upon him in 1896 the honorary degree of Doctor of 
 Laws, and a similar distinction was bestowed upon him, in 
 1 93> by Northwestern University. 
 
 He presided at the Congress of Chemists held in connec- 
 tion with the World's Fair at Chicago in 1893, an( ^ over tne 
 chemists who convened at the recent Scientific Congress held 
 in St. Louis. 
 
 In 1898 he was elected to membership in the American 
 Philosophical Society of Philadelphia, and, in 1892, to hon- 
 orary membership in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. 
 
 Incessant and manifold as his labors were in his own pro- 
 fession, Dr. Prescott took an active interest in all intellectual 
 progress, and was ready to give aid and encouragement to 
 many beneficent causes. 
 
 He had a keen appreciation of whatever was beautiful, 
 especially in Nature. He enjoyed a wide outlook on the world. 
 He visited Europe three times, twice for professional study 
 and the last time, in 1901, for a pleasure tour through Eng- 
 land and Wales. 
 
 15 
 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Remarkably methodical in the conduct of his work, he 
 found time for the companionship of his friends and for the 
 discharge of numerous duties as a citizen and as a member of 
 religious and benevolent organizations. Thoroughly devoted 
 to his own science and the work of his own department, he 
 felt that he belonged to the University, and he never asked to 
 be excused from any service for the promotion of its welfare. 
 
 He loved his students and had a sincere interest in all the 
 alumni of the University. The last letter he ever dictated, 
 signed when the hand of death was already upon him, is so 
 full of the spirit of personal affection for his former students 
 that it seems proper to give it here as characterizing this 
 devoted teacher. 
 
 ANN ARBOR, Feb. 21, 1905. 
 MICHIGAN AMJMNI, 
 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 
 Gentlemen: 
 
 I have great pleasure in giving my greetings to all the Univer- 
 sity of Michigan alumni assembled in the annual Milwaukee meet- 
 ing, and very greatly regret that I cannot be with you in person. 
 I desire especially to express my grateful appreciation of your 
 very kind personal invitation for this your meeting in 1905. I 
 recall, with very great pleasure, my personal friendships with the 
 members of all departments of the University of Michigan now 
 resident in Wisconsin. Michigan and Wisconsin are reciprocally 
 bound together by common interests and common standards of 
 university advancement. To each one of you, again, I wish to 
 extend the heartiest of greetings. 
 
 Very sincerely yours, 
 
 ALBERT B. PRESCOTT. 
 
 That he in turn enjoyed the unfeigned respect and admira- 
 tion of his students is abundantly evident from the numerous 
 tributes of affection paid to his memory by them. 
 
 16 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Early in his career the wisdom and greatness of Dr. 
 Prescott' s character came to view. When in 1873, at the first 
 meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association, the dele- 
 gate of the School of Pharmacy of the University of Michigan 
 was rejected on the ground that this school did not require 
 the necessary experience for a diploma, "Professor Prescott," 
 to use the words of an eyewitness, "instead of complaining and 
 leaving the meeting in a huff, joined the organization, and has 
 been with it from that day to this as one of its most active and 
 distinguished members ;" and it is fitting to say of him : 
 
 "That man is great and he alone 
 Who serves a greatness not his own." 
 
 In the more intimate and sacred relations of life Dr. Pres- 
 cott exemplified the graces and virtues of a beautiful and lofty 
 character. He was the Christian gentleman always and 
 everywhere. 
 
 Firm and unyielding in his devotion to principle and duty, 
 yet charitable and kind in his judgment of others, he held "the 
 faith in the bond of peace and in righteousness of life." 
 
 Reverent and loyal to the past, he was openminded towards 
 the present and eager to welcome new truth in religion as in 
 science. In one of his journals his attitude towards religious 
 truth is indicated in these words : "None of us by searching 
 can find God out, but if we listen we can each of us hear His 
 voice in our hearts bidding us to worship Him. The soul 
 must trust to its instincts in matters of spiritual life; even as 
 the lower animals live by instinct in this our life of reason; 
 aye, even as we ourselves breathe the air by which our bodies 
 live." Dr. Prescott united with the Presbyterian Church of 
 Ann Arbor in 1874, and was for many years, until the time of 
 his death, one of its official board. His wise counsel and his 
 beautiful life are a precious inheritance to this communion. 
 
 17 
 
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 '' ">.*;**' 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 He was married in 1866 to Miss Abigail Freeburn, of Ann 
 Arbor. Never was there a more perfect union of accordant 
 minds. The quiet joys and deep satisfactions of that peaceful 
 home no words can fittingly describe. An adopted son held in 
 Dr. Prescott's heart the place of an own child, who in turn 
 loved him as his own father. 
 
 After an illness of several weeks in which hours of pain 
 and suffering were endured without a murmur or complaint, 
 comforted by an unfaltering trust in Christ as his Saviour, 
 Dr. Fresco tt entered into his rest on February 25, 1905. On 
 the 28th day of February the funeral service, conducted by his 
 pastor, the Rev. J. Mills Gelston, D. D., was held at the home 
 which for so many years had been blessed by his presence. 
 
 As he was tenderly borne to the house appointed for all 
 the living, one feeling overmastered us all : 
 
 "I wondered what it was that died? 
 
 The man himself is here, 
 His modesty, his scholar's pride, 
 
 His soul serene and clear. 
 
 These neither Death nor Time shall dim ; 
 
 Still this sad thing must be 
 Henceforth I may not speak to him, 
 
 Though he can speak to me." 
 
 18 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 ./memorial Service 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Memorial Service 
 
 In honor of Professor Albert Benjamin Fresco tt, M. D., 
 Ph. D., LL. D., a memorial service was held under the auspices 
 of the faculties and students of the Departments of Medicine 
 and Surgery and of Pharmacy, in Sarah Caswell Angell Hall, 
 February 28, 1905, at 10 o'clock. Following a prayer by 
 the Rev. Dr. Gelston, President Angell, Dr. Vaughan, Pro- 
 fessor D'Ooge, and Dr. Herdman spoke in appreciation of the 
 life and work of their colleague. Following is the text of the 
 addresses. 
 
 President James B. Angell 
 
 The University has met with an irreparable loss. Every 
 one of us has met with a great personal loss. We gather here 
 for a little in order that we may speak a few words, however 
 inadequate, of our friend who has gone before. 
 
 Dr. Prescott was a man of singular modesty. Perhaps that 
 would strike one who knew him well as his most character- 
 istic trait. With all his attainments he was a man who was 
 never assuming. He was modest almost to a fault. He 
 effaced himself in the presence of others, before whom he 
 might well have asserted himself. 
 
 He was also a man of most winsome amiability. Though 
 reserved in temperament and not moving rapidly to make 
 friendships, I think that no man was more loved by those who 
 knew him. His heart ran out with good wishes for all, and 
 wherever it was in his power to render service to any man he 
 was more than swift to render it. 
 
 Yet it would be a great mistake to suppose, because of 
 these qualities, that he was a man without positive traits. He 
 
 21 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 had well established convictions and to these he adhered with 
 great firmness. He had great persistence in his work. What- 
 ever plans he had formed he pushed to the very end. There lies 
 in my drawer now a paper, one of the last he wrote, in which he 
 sketched an elaborate plan for the construction of a new chem- 
 ical laboratory, and I have no doubt that when it is built, it 
 will follow the lines which he has laid out, and I trust, as do 
 you all, that it will bear his name. 
 
 He was a man of the highest ethical and religious tempera- 
 ment, of the simplest character, and the purest motives. Ever 
 courteous to others and catholic toward all, yet he was firm 
 in his own deep-seated principles of right and truth. His life 
 was so impressive in its moral influence that every one held 
 him in highest esteem. In the religious organizations of the 
 University and the people of his church he ever felt a deep 
 interest; and I have no doubt that he ever looked with the 
 most earnest desire for the realization by them of those lofty 
 moral and religious ideals which were to him the dearest 
 things in life. 
 
 His devotion to the University was absolute. The longest 
 of any of us in its service, he was unsurpassed by any in 
 fidelity. I think his colleagues will agree with me, that no 
 man carried greater weight with us by his opinions and coun- 
 sels. He had an eminently judicial mind. He looked on 
 problems from all sides with large views of what a University 
 should be, and with high ideals and the loftiest scholarship he 
 helped us shape our plans. 
 
 He was tender in his affections toward the graduates who 
 had gone out into life. On Wednesday last when I was with 
 him and was leaving to go to the Alumni meeting in Milwau- 
 kee, to which he had also been invited, I said to him : "If you 
 can dictate a few lines to your Milwaukee friends I am sure 
 they will be delighted." In an hour or two there came to my 
 house a note dictated by him and signed with his own hand. 
 
 22 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 I took the note with me and it was read on Friday night to the 
 great gratification of his former students. I suppose this was 
 the last signature that he made; and it was characteristic that it 
 should be a communication to his old students whom he loved. 
 Such a character as this is a treasure to us which we cannot 
 too highly prize. I hope it will ever be an inspiration to us all 
 in the years in which we remain. 
 
 Dr. Victor C. Vaughan 
 
 Mr. President, Colleagues, and Students: 
 
 It has fallen to my lot to present to you a brief statement 
 of the scientific work of Professor Prescott. This is not an 
 easy task and it will necessarily be done in an imperfect and 
 incomplete manner. His research covers a wide range in 
 analytical, pharmaceutical, and organic chemistry. His contri- 
 butions have appeared originally for the most part in Amer- 
 ican and English journals and many of them have been trans- 
 lated and have appeared either in full or in abstract in German 
 and French publications. His first paper, so far as the writer 
 knows, appeared in the Engineering and Mining Journal for 
 December, 1869. It dealt with the subject of blow pipe analy- 
 sis and covered the methods for the dry assay of gold, silver, 
 lead, and copper. In this, his first paper, Dr. Prescott has 
 written tersely and clearly. His directions are sufficiently 
 minute for the intelligent student to follow and yet wholly 
 free from unnecessary duplication of words. His style is 
 clear without prolixity and terse without obscurity. 
 
 In the following year (1870) he contributed to the Chem- 
 ical News of London a description of an apparatus devised by 
 himself for rapid vaporization with limited heat. This article 
 was widely abstracted by chemical journals in other languages, 
 and was the first step in the development of his international 
 reputation as a research student. Subsequent contributions 
 
 23 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 of value followed along like lines and met with the same 
 extended notice. 
 
 The first edition of Douglas and Prescott's Qualitative 
 Analysis, which, in successive editions and with various 
 changes in both title and content, has been the guide of hun- 
 dreds of beginners in chemistry, appeared in 1874, an d was 
 immediately recognized as a most satisfactory laboratory 
 manual. This book continues to be widely used in laboratories 
 and is probably today the best known book on the subject in 
 this country. Professor Prescott's inclination towards 
 organic chemistry began to crystalize in the early seventies as 
 was shown by the appearance of his "Outlines of Proximate 
 Organic Analysis" in 1875. This, the first text on this sub- 
 ject in the English language, was immediately recognized both 
 in this country and England as the standard. Of it the 
 Chemical News of London said: "Organic analysis may be 
 described as a comparatively untrodden field. We trust that 
 the author will find opportunity to continue the important 
 undertaking on which he has entered." The Mining Journal, 
 also of London, added : "An outline which, if not perfect, will 
 assuredly form the basis upon which the future of organic 
 analysis will be built. A work which is well worthy of recog- 
 nition as a text-book both in England and America and upon 
 the utility of which the author may well be congratulated." 
 Later, Dr. Prescott produced his larger work on proximate 
 organic analysis, the most complete text upon this subject in 
 the English language. 
 
 The publication in the same year (1875) of his Mono- 
 graph on "The Chemical Examination of Alcoholic Liquors" 
 extended the author's reputation as a writer of successful text- 
 books, and this reputation, so largely due to the thoroughness 
 of his knowledge and the clearness of his statement, has not 
 only continued, but has grown into full fruition during the 
 thirty years that have elapsed since his first texts were written. 
 
 24 
 

 ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 For many years Professor Prescott has published under 
 the head of "Contributions from the Chemical Laboratory of 
 the University of Michigan" the research work done by 
 students under his direction. Like other great teachers of 
 science he has been most liberal in the help rendered to his 
 students. He always took great pleasure in inciting his 
 students to undertake research. In his quiet way, which his 
 old students know so well and love so dearly, he has supplied 
 them with ideas, directed them in the prosecution of the work, 
 and then published the results under the student's name. The 
 worth of such a clear headed, big hearted instructor to the 
 students who are fortunate enough to come under his influence 
 is greater than gold, and it is no wonder that the chemical 
 laboratory of this University became the birthplace of such 
 chemists as Wrampelmeier of London, Young of Northwest- 
 ern, Dennis of Cornell, Ewell and Crampton of the Agricul- 
 tural Department, Hesse of Germany, the late Henry Parsons 
 of New York, and our own Gomberg, whose epoch making 
 researches on the valence of carbon has brought to the Uni- 
 versity great honor from the leading chemists of the world. 
 
 Dr. Prescott's papers reporting research in analytical, 
 pharmaceutical, and organic chemistry, with those credited to 
 his students and done under his supervision, number probably 
 about two hundred, and among these are many of great value, 
 while all are real contributions to science. As a toxicologist 
 Dr. Prescott has won a high place, especially for the precision 
 of his investigations. No one, certainly since the time of 
 Wormley, has given more attention to the delicacy and limita- 
 tions of tests for alkaloidal and other organic poisons, and his 
 contributions along these lines are to be found not only in 
 journals but also in the more recent encyclopaedic works on 
 medical jurisprudence, such as the system of Hamilton and 
 the treatise of Haines and Peterson. It has been my fortune 
 to serve as expert with him in many cases, sometimes as 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 colleague and occasionally as opponent. His testimony was 
 always clear, scientific, and free from partisan bias. The 
 science of toxicology has been greatly enriched by his 
 researches. In sanitary chemistry Dr. Prescott has done much 
 valuable work. The chemical examination of drinking water 
 and the efficiency of filtration have been matters of investiga- 
 tion along these lines. The detection of foreign fats in butter 
 and of coloring matter in butter substitutes he has made the 
 subjects of special investigations, and among his students, 
 Geissler, Cochrane, Ewell, Cramp ton, Doolittle, VanSlyke, and 
 others have become leaders in their studies of foods and food 
 adulterations. He has rendered the State of Michigan signal 
 service in the aid he has given different food commissioners in 
 enforcing the pure food laws. He participated most heartily 
 and effectively in the detection of harmful preservatives in 
 foods. 
 
 As Dean of the School of Pharmacy since its establishment 
 in 1876, he has always worked for high ideals in the profession, 
 and his students have taken advanced positions in many states. 
 His influence for good has been largely felt in both the state 
 and the national pharmaceutical associations. For many 
 years he has served either as an active or advisory member of 
 the Committee on the Revision of the National Pharmacopoeia, 
 and many of the methods found in this official publication owe 
 their excellence to his investigations in his laboratory. 
 
 As a member of the Medical Faculty for the past forty 
 years and as the senior member since the death of Dr. Ford 
 in 1894, his colleagues have looked to him for wise counsel and 
 unprejudiced advice, and it is needless to say that they have 
 never been disappointed. Although not in active practice 
 since he resigned from the medical service of the army in 1865, 
 he has always been keenly alive to the best interests of the 
 profession and has made valuable contributions to the local, 
 state, and national societies. He was one of the organizers of 
 
 26 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 the American Chemical Society and one of the chief contribu- 
 tors to its official publication. He served as President of this 
 society in 1892, and as senior member of the Michigan branch 
 he has done much to keep the local organization in working 
 harmony with the national body. He served as chairman of 
 the chemical section of the American Association for the 
 Advancement of Science in 1887, when his address on "The 
 Chemistry of Nitrogen as Disclosed in the Constitution of 
 the Alkaloids" was given. He presided at the World's Con- 
 gress of Phemists in Chicago in 1893, and was President of 
 the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 
 1891. 
 
 The work done by Murrill under Dr. Prescott's directions 
 for the Committee on the Revision of the Pharmacopoeia in 
 1898 involved laborious research in the literature of the sub- 
 ject and much patient work in the laboratory. This paper was 
 published by the Committee on Revision in a pamphlet of 
 fifty-eight pages. The chemical bibliography of morphine pre- 
 pared by Brown under Dr. Prescott's supervision embraces 
 two hundred and sixty-three titles with a condensed abstract 
 of each, collected from English, French, German, Italian, and 
 Russian literature, and for the time covered 1875 to 1896 
 is the most complete found in any language. The research on 
 "The Caffein Compound in Kola" carried out with Knox 
 under the Stearns Fellowship adds much to our knowledge of 
 plant chemistry in general and of the caffein compounds in 
 particular. 
 
 Probably the Opus Magnum of Dr. Prescott in his 
 research investigations is his work on the Alkaloidal Iodides. 
 This research extended through several years and in it Dr. 
 Prescott had the assistance of several students, notably of 
 Gordin. As early as 1839 Bouchardat proposed that a solu- 
 tion of iodine in potassium iodide be used as an alkaloidal 
 precipitant This proved to be an exceedingly delicate test 
 
 27 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 giving visible precipitates with some of the more important 
 medicinal alkaloids in dilutions of one part to 50,000 to 
 100,000 parts of water. In 1861 Wagner recommended a 
 deci-normal solution of iodine in potassium iodide for the 
 volumetric determination of the alkaloids. The great Danish 
 chemist, Jorgensen, later in the sixties used the alkaloidal per- 
 iodides in the study of structure, but it remained for Fresco tt 
 and his students to study the formulae of many of the per- 
 iodides and to make the volumetric examination of the alka- 
 loids with this reagent a practical success. In selecting the 
 research on the alkaloidal iodides as the greatest work done 
 by Dr. Prescott, it is possible that I am in error and that the 
 palm should be given to his method for the assay of opium 
 adopted in the Pharmacopoeia in 1880 and again in a modified 
 form in 1890. 
 
 I am aware of the fact that my presentation of the scientific 
 work of our late teacher and colleague is unsatisfactory, 
 probably more so to me than to any one else. To have given 
 the bare titles of his papers would have taken more time than 
 I have had at my disposal, but I have endeavored to give you 
 some general idea of the valuable work he has done. In pre- 
 senting this summary I have knowingly exaggerated nothing, 
 because he would not have wished it so. Twenty years ago 
 Dr. Prescott read a tribute to one of his best beloved students, 
 Henry B. Parsons, and in this tribute may be found the follow- 
 ing : "Our words, poor at best, must not be unmeasured terms 
 of amplified encomium, for such would ill suit the true scien- 
 tific spirit of our departed friend. For him no tribute of speech 
 can be more proper than a simple and just recital of the serv- 
 ices he has rendered during the period granted him for the 
 labors of life." These, his own words, fitly describe him whose 
 death we today mourn. He needs no eulogy. The forty years 
 spent as a teacher and investigator in this University have been 
 for him full of labor and love for his labor. Probably we have 
 
 28 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 never until today realized how much he has accomplished. He 
 is dead, but his labor has not been lost. In writing of a 
 departed colleague some years ago, Dr. Prescott said: "A 
 work that is wrought out in the endeavors of science acquires 
 a certain momentum. When the worker is taken away from 
 his place among men the work does not pause, being car- 
 ried on by the power of previous impulse. In any realm of 
 thought the force imparted by an earnest man is often seen 
 more plainly and estimated more fairly after death has taken 
 him away. So separate and secluded are the channels of men's 
 labor, under the prevailing tendency to division of effort, that 
 people do not become aware of the toil of their contemporaries 
 until some occasion calls for the writing of a record." Again, 
 how aptly his words apply to himself. We have never appre- 
 ciated him so highly as we do today. In our daily companion- 
 ship with him we were always aware of his goodness and quite 
 forgot his greatness, but both his goodness and his greatness 
 are immortal and will prove helpful to the race in its struggle 
 up that rugged mountain of effort beyond which lies the prom- 
 ised land of human perfection. 
 
 Professor Martin L. D'Ooge 
 
 My acquaintance with Dr. Prescott began in 1867, when I 
 returned to the University and became a member of the Fac- 
 ulty of the Department of Literature, Science, and the Arts. 
 
 I recall, however, seeing him in the days when we were 
 both students, for it happened that we lived for a time in the 
 same part of the town and that we sometimes passed each 
 other on the street. And I well remember how much I was 
 then impressed with the apparent eagerness and vigor with 
 which this somewhat frail young man, in spite of his physical 
 disability, went daily to the pursuit of his task. 
 
 As my acquaintance with him gradually became more inti- 
 
 29 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 mate and ripened into friendship, I learned more and more to 
 esteem and to admire the qualities of his beautiful character. 
 
 Dr. Prescott was one of the most modest of men, and I 
 would not speak a word that would seem to him to be one of 
 fulsome praise; but I believe I have full warrant for saying 
 that his life and character approached the ideal of human 
 perfection so nearly as to be conspicuous and rare. 
 
 If I were to select a single trait of this rare character that 
 always impressed itself upon my mind as most marked, it 
 would be the remarkable combination of gentleness and 
 strength, in which gentleness held the balance of power. 
 
 Not a harsh word, nor an unkind judgment was ever heard 
 to fall from his lips, and yet there was strength of will, firm- 
 ness of purpose, that could be as unyielding as adamant. 
 
 It was in my long time intercourse with Dr. Prescott as 
 fellow-member of the Board of Trustees of the Students' 
 Christian Association that I learned to know him best, and to 
 value the qualities of his well-balanced character. That 
 judicious temper that characterized all his words and deeds 
 was frequently displayed in his deliberations with this body. 
 How well-considered were his counsels, how unerring and 
 true was his judgment, slowly matured but firmly held and 
 clearly stated. It was in this relation also that I had fre- 
 quent opportunity to observe that unaffected and simple 
 religious faith and that sweetness of spirit that made his life a 
 benediction wherever he was known, and a potent force in 
 building up all that is highest and best in this community. 
 
 There are many lessons to be drawn from the life of this 
 good man whose departure from us we mourn today. But 
 there are two that strike me as particularly noteworthy. 
 
 First, that a disability that seems to be a hindrance to one's 
 success in life may be overcome and be made in some other 
 way the means of advantage and good. 
 
 30 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Dr. Prescott became disabled by a fall when he was a boy 
 nine years of age. From that time until he was eighteen the 
 period when boys are growing strong and enjoying the sports 
 of youth he was a cripple obliged to walk on crutches. This 
 sad accident which resulted in permanent deprivation never 
 made him morose and discontented, but spurred him on to seek 
 his recreation in other ways and intensified his natural fond- 
 ness for reading good books. In those years of his greatest 
 disability he stored his mind with useful knowledge, learned by 
 heart favorite passages from sacred scriptures and from the 
 poets, and acquired a love of good letters which cheered and 
 comforted him all his days. Never can I forget how touch- 
 ingly beautiful it was to hear him recite from memory a little 
 verse from Tennyson a fortnight ago, as, sitting propped up 
 by his pillows, he referred to his fondness for the great poet 
 laureate. And I have often wondered at the brightness and 
 cheeriness of this dear friend when I reflected upon the 
 limitations that had handicapped him through all the course 
 of his life. 
 
 The second lesson his life teaches us is implied in its all- 
 roundedness and remarkable balance. It was a many-sided 
 life in perfect accord and harmony. Dr. Prescott was, as we 
 have heard, eminent as a chemist. He cherished high ambi- 
 tions in his science, ambitions that were gratified and honored 
 by his compeers. He was thoroughly devoted to the interests 
 of his own chosen department, but he was deeply interested 
 also in all the activities of the University; and no plan for 
 promoting its growth and increasing its usefulness and raising 
 its standard of efficiency, failed to find in him a warm advo- 
 cate and staunch friend. 
 
 But he did not stop here; he was not content with being 
 simply a chemist, and a University professor; he was also a 
 man and a man of wide sympathies and far-reaching interests. 
 "Nil humani a me alienum puto" could be said by him with 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 perfect truth. He filled his place as a citizen of the commu- 
 nity; he allowed himself time to enjoy his home and the com- 
 panionship of friends; ambitious student and teacher that 
 he was, he yet knew how to give of his time and strength to 
 the church with which he was connected, and to any cause 
 which he believed was likely to benefit the community and the 
 world in which he lived. 
 
 And so it was a life of many satisfactions and pre-emi- 
 nently useful in manifold ways. What a fruitful source of 
 good this life has been to this University and to those who 
 have felt its impress, no one can justly estimate. The memory 
 of this singularly beautiful life and gracious character will not 
 fade away from our recollection. 
 
 As we take leave of this beloved friend and colleague, and 
 reflect once more upon his life and character, we recall the 
 words of the old Greek philosopher in which he describes the 
 just and good man and writes them as his epitaph : 
 
 "A man who as completely as possible was squared and 
 made consistent with virtue, in word and in deed." 
 
 Dr William J. Herdman 
 
 It is a solemn responsibility he assumes who undertakes to 
 place an estimate upon a human character or to portray the 
 features of a life that is spent, even though he confine his 
 attempt to certain phases only of that life. Truth, a just 
 balance, a righteous judgment, will alone stand the test of time, 
 and this should be the aim if we wish what we may say to 
 endure, and gain from the analysis the lessons which that life 
 teaches. 
 
 Close association is not always the best atmosphere in 
 which to get clear vision of another's merits or demerits, for 
 our perspective is too liable to distortion and the rays of light 
 to be chromatic. And yet long years of fellowship and daily 
 association afford the opportunity for lives to touch at 
 
 3* 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 many points of contact and furnish the material for a true 
 estimate of the entire round of faculties possesed by such 
 associates. 
 
 If time proves that estimate to be untrue, feeling and 
 prejudice have entered to disturb the balance, or certain essen- 
 tial factors were overlooked. 
 
 It is not expected of me nor am I prepared to attempt a 
 complete analysis of the character of this our associate, our 
 teacher, our friend, but we who have known him can all with 
 confidence affirm that nothing would be more foreign to his 
 desire than that the writer of his biography should indulge in 
 fulsome praise or over-state, in the minutest degree, the value 
 of his life-work. 
 
 My first acquaintance with Dr. Prescott began thirty-five 
 years ago when, an undergraduate in the literary department, I 
 was engaged in some self-imposed chemical analysis that 
 required the use of the spectroscope, an instrument which up 
 to that time I had not seen and did not know how to handle. 
 I learned that he had been doing some work with this instru- 
 ment and therefore sought his aid. The kindly reception 
 which he gave me and the evident sincerity of his assurance 
 that the demand I had made upon his time, which was not 
 inconsiderable, was by no means a trouble but rather a source 
 of pleasure to him, made such an impression upon my mind of 
 his innate kindness and gentility that it would never have been 
 effaced, even if innumerable instances of it had not come to my 
 notice in subsequent years. Many a man with the enthusiasm 
 of the scientist and the teacher might respond to an appeal to 
 his superior knowledge for assistance even when compliance 
 subjected him to temporary inconvenience, but it requires the 
 inborn courtesy and the spirit of brotherly kindness to be ever 
 and at all times ready and willing as he was to respond to such 
 demands, and to uniformly impress the worthy applicant that 
 such appeals were never irksome. And to this as a funda- 
 
 33 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 mental characteristic of his nature all bear testimony who have 
 known him. 
 
 Kindness, gentleness, and self-sacrifice combined with large 
 and exact knowledge and with a disposition and a capacity for 
 imparting it, was the estimate of this man which I gathered 
 from that first interview, and the long stretch of intervening 
 years, with their rich store of observation of and more inti- 
 mate association with him, have served but to confirm the im- 
 pression then made. 
 
 There are those present who are better informed than I am 
 as to his professional attainments, the value of his contribu- 
 tions to science, his administrative capacity, and his personal 
 relations with his students. Under each of these headings 
 there is much to be said by way of commendation before the 
 story of his life-work is complete. But as to his conscientious- 
 ness in the fulfillment of a trust or in undertaking a task 
 assigned him, and of his thorough and methodical plan of dis- 
 charging all obligations which he assumed, I can speak from 
 abundant experience with him in many fields of labor. He 
 was the ideal candidate for places of trust. His scientific 
 training had developed in him an accuracy of observation, a 
 patience in gathering evidence, a deliberateness in drawing 
 conclusions, that made him a valuable member of a governing 
 board or trustee of property needing wise and original man- 
 agement. He seldom ventured an opinion that was to serve 
 as an incentive for action that was not the result of mature 
 and well-balanced consideration. An opinion so reached was 
 not to be easily shaken and the tenacity of purpose which he 
 often exhibited in maintaining his ground was but the neces- 
 sary result of a conviction that he had carefully weighed the 
 evidence and it would justly bear no other interpretation. 
 And yet while very positive, as he usually was, in the opinion 
 he expressed, it was always advanced with such a modesty and 
 deference to the opinion of others born of his innate courtesy, 
 
 34 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 that it won its way as much by the manner in which it was pre- 
 sented as by the force of the reasoning on which it was based. 
 
 Many of our charitable and religious organizations in 
 this city, state, and nation, have benefitted by his guidance and 
 his counsel, and he never wearied or shrank from responding 
 to their calls. Deeply interested as he always was in the highest 
 welfare of his fellows, he discharged his duties of citizenship 
 with the same conscientiousness that characterized his conduct 
 in other spheres of action. Student and investigator, pre-emi- 
 nently, he yet found time and inclination to cultivate the 
 acquaintance of the humble citizens, with many of whom he 
 was on the most cordial relations; neither was he a stranger 
 to the poor and the distressed, who found in him at all times 
 a sympathetic friend. Wherever within the circle of his 
 acquaintance the shadow of sorrow or affliction hovered, there 
 his heart and thought found expression in some fitting word 
 of comfort or some kindly deed. 
 
 Thus briefly have I passed in review certain of the more 
 salient qualities of mind and heart which characterized our 
 associate, our teacher, and our friend, and endeared him in 
 life to us, and which henceforth will ever be inseparable from 
 him in blessed memories. 
 
 But I should fall far short of my duty and fail in doing 
 full justice to his memory did I not for a moment direct your 
 attention to that deep religious conviction and abiding faith 
 in a Divine Creator and Ruler of the Universe which was his 
 inspiration and his source of strength. 
 
 His nature was essentially religious ; his life a daily expo- 
 sition of one in harmony with the beneficent Ruler; and he 
 delighted in the thought that he was a humble revealer of 
 certain of His gifts to mankind stored up in the treasure vaults 
 of chemistry. Witness what he says in an address delivered 
 before a learned society of which he was the presiding officer : 
 
 "The pride of pure science is justified in this, that its 
 
 35 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 truth is for the nurture of man; and the ambition of indus- 
 trial art is honored in this, that its skill gives strength to man. 
 It is the obligation of science to bring the resources of the 
 earth, its vegetation and its animal life, into the full service 
 of man, making the knowledge of creation a rich portion of 
 his inheritance, in mind and estate, in reason and in conduct, 
 for life present and life to come. To know creation is to be 
 taught of God." 
 
 Again, I quote from an address entitled "Religious Teach- 
 ings of Chemical Science," delivered by him some few years 
 past before the students of this University: 
 
 "The greatest chemical skill cannot alter an atomic mass 
 by any fraction of its weight, nor can it effect so much as the 
 slightest variation in any chemical constant. To be a learner 
 is the utmost of human knowledge. To liberate the creative 
 forces and make way for them is the utmost of human skill. 
 In synthesis or analysis the highest purpose of the student is 
 the same, to find out the value of creation, in the 'things that 
 are made.' " 
 And again : 
 
 "The task of the chemist is rich with many meanings at 
 every step of the way. It is most rich when the hand of 
 God is recognized in all the fashionings of nature, and His 
 truth is seen to be the strength of the sands under our feet." 
 
 In these utterances we seem to behold the spirit of the man 
 standing in nature's storehouse and awaiting in reverence and 
 yet with confidence for the gifts which a loving Father had, 
 'from the beginning/ prepared for his children, and which but 
 awaited such messengers as he to bear them to their 
 destination. 
 
 This is the attitude of mind and heart by which this teacher 
 approached his daily task. He sought for no other end than 
 the right interpretation of the truth which the Creator has 
 stored up in the secret vaults of matter. He looked for no 
 
 36 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 higher reward than to hear from Him, whose faithful follower 
 he ever strove to be, now that his course is run, his sheaves 
 gathered, the comforting words of commendation "Well 
 done." Who can rightly measure the potentiality of such a 
 life as this? 
 
 It is an enviable, a glorious opportunity which is granted 
 the teacher, and fortunate indeed is he who grasps it rightly 
 from the beginning and fully comprehends the significance of 
 his responsibilities. We are prone to forget that the instruc- 
 tion we impart drawn from books, from meditation and 
 research, is but a small share of the lessons we impart 
 to those who wait upon our teaching. The living man is ever 
 an object lesson before them. His character, his personality, 
 the manner in which he has himself responded and reacted to 
 the experiences of life ; the effect upon him of the material, the 
 mental, moral, and spiritual forces about him, is the experi- 
 ment which silently impresses its lessons on every pupil. 
 
 Am I wrong in the belief that in this great teacher it is the 
 life, the character which he daily exhibited before his pupils 
 throughout his long period of service in this University, that 
 will bear the richest fruitage by its transforming influence on 
 the lives of others, and that many who have felt the inspiration 
 of that life will rise up at the final accounting and call him 
 blessed? 
 
 37 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 .Memorials and fflesolutions 
 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 .Memorials and Resolutions 
 
 SENATE MEMORIAL. 
 
 A TRIBUTE TO ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT, M. D v F. C. S., 
 PH.D., LL.D., LATE PROFESSOR OF ORGANIC AND APPLIED 
 CHEMISTRY, DEAN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACY, 
 AND DIRECTOR OF THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY IN THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, BY HIS COLLEAGUES OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY SENATE. 
 
 ****** 
 
 As an author, Dr. Prescott has become widely and most 
 favorably known. The first edition of "Douglas and Prescott's 
 Qualitative Analysis" appeared in 1874, and was at once 
 recognized as standard. This book has passed through many 
 editions, and now, under the authorship of Prescott and John- 
 son, is annually used by hundreds of beginners in Analytical 
 Chemistry. His "Outlines of Proximate Organic Analysis" 
 was the first text on this subject in the English language, and 
 its successor is now the most complete treatise on the subject. 
 His monograph on "The Chemical Examination of Alcoholic 
 Liquors" was first issued in 1875, and remains a standard 
 authority. His success as an author of text-books is due to 
 his thoroughness of knowledge and clearness of statement. 
 
 As a toxicologist, Dr. Prescott has won a high place, espe- 
 cially for the precision of his investigations. No one, certainly 
 since the time of Wormley, has given more attention to the 
 delicacy and limitations of tests for alkaloidal and other organic 
 poisons, and his contributions along these lines are to be found 
 
 41 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 not only in journals, but also in the more recent encyclopaedic 
 works on medical jurisprudence, as that of Haines and Peter- 
 son. As an expert witness, his testimony was always clear, 
 scientific, and free from partisan bias. 
 
 In sanitary chemistry, Dr. Prescott has done much valuable 
 work. The chemical examination of drinking water and the 
 efficiency of filtration have been matters of investigation along 
 these lines. The detection of foreign fats in butter and of 
 coloring matters in butter substitutes have received his atten- 
 tion, and among his students, Geissler, Cochrane, Ewell, 
 Crampton, Doolittle, Van Slyke, and others have become 
 leaders in their studies of foods and food adulterations. He 
 has rendered the State of Michigan signal service in the aid 
 he has given food commissioners in the detection of harmful 
 adulterations and preservatives, and in the enforcement of the 
 pure food laws. 
 
 As Dean of the School of Pharmacy since its establishment 
 in 1 876, he has always worked for high ideals in the profession, 
 and his students have taken advanced positions in many states. 
 His influence for good has been largely felt in both the state 
 and the national pharmaceutical associations. For many years 
 he has served either as an active or advisory member of the 
 Committee on the Revision of the National Pharmacopoeia, 
 and many of the methods found in this official publication owe 
 their excellence to his investigations in the laboratory. 
 
 As a member of the Medical Faculty for the past forty 
 years and as the senior member since the death of Dr. Ford in 
 1894, his colleagues have looked to him for wise counsel and 
 unprejudiced advice, and it is needless to say that they have 
 never been disappointed. Although not in active practice since 
 he resigned from the medical service of the army in 1865, ne 
 has always been keenly alive to the best interests of the pro- 
 fession and has made valuable contributions to the local, state, 
 and national societies. 
 
 42 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 For many years Professor Prescott has published under 
 the head of "Contributions from the Chemical Laboratory of 
 the University of Michigan" the research work done by stu- 
 dents under his direction. Like other great teachers of science, 
 he has been most liberal in the help rendered to his students. 
 He always took great pleasure in inciting his students to under- 
 take research. In his quiet way, which his old students know 
 so well and love so dearly, he has supplied them with ideas, 
 directed them in the prosecution of the work and then pub- 
 lished the results under the student's name. The worth of 
 such a clear-headed, big-hearted instructor to the students who 
 are fortunate enough to come under his influence is greater 
 than gold, and it is no wonder that the Chemical Laboratory of 
 this University became the birthplace of such chemists as 
 Wrampelmeier of London, Young of Northwestern, Dennis 
 of Cornell, Senier of Ireland, Hesse of Germany, the late 
 Henry Parsons of New York, and our own Gomberg, whose 
 epoch-making researches on the valence of carbon have brought 
 to the University great honor from the leading chemists of 
 the world. 
 
 Dr. Prescott' s papers reporting research in analytical, phar- 
 maceutical, and organic chemistry, with those credited to his 
 students and done under his supervision, number probably 
 about two hundred, and among these are many of great value, 
 while all are real contributions to science. 
 
 His contributions have appeared originally, for the most 
 part, in American and English journals, and many of them 
 have been translated and have appeared either in full or in 
 abstract in German and French publications. His first paper 
 appeared in the Engineering and Mining Journal for Decem- 
 ber, 1869. It dealt with the subject of "Blow-Pipe Analysis," 
 and covered the methods for the dry assay of gold, silver, 
 lead, and copper. In this, his first paper, Dr. Prescott has 
 written tersely and clearly. His directions are sufficiently 
 
 43 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 minute for the intelligent student to follow, and yet wholly 
 free from unnecessary duplication of words. His style is clear 
 without prolixity and terse without obscurity. 
 
 In the following year (1870) he contributed to the 
 Chemical News of London a description of an apparatus 
 devised by him for rapid vaporization with limited heat. This 
 article was widely abstracted by chemical journals in other 
 languages and was the first step in the development of his 
 international reputation as a research student. Subsequent 
 contributions of value followed along like lines, and met with 
 the same extended notice. 
 
 The work done by Murrill under Dr. Prescott' s directions 
 for the Committee on the Revision of the Pharmacopoeia in 
 1898 involved laborious research in the literature of the subject 
 and much patient work in the laboratory. This paper was 
 published by the Committee on Revision in a pamphlet pf fifty- 
 eight pages. The chemical bibliography of morphine prepared 
 by Brown under Dr. Prescott's supervision embraces two hun- 
 dred and sixty-three titles, with a condensed abstract of each, 
 collected from English, French, German, Italian, and Russian 
 literature, and for the time covered 1875 to 1896 is the 
 most complete bibliography on this subject to be found in any 
 language. The research on "The Caffein Compound in Kola" 
 carried out with Knox under the Stearns Fellowship, adds 
 much to our knowledge of plant chemistry in general and of 
 the caffein compounds in particular. 
 
 Probably the Opus Magnum of Dr. Prescott in his research 
 investigations is his work on the Alkaloidal Iodides. This 
 research extended through many years, and in it Dr. Prescott 
 had the assistance of several students, notably of Gordin. As 
 early as 1839 Bouchardat proposed that a solution of iodine in 
 potassium iodide be used as an alkaloidal precipitant. This 
 proved to be an exceedingly delicate test, giving visible precipi- 
 tates with some of the more important medicinal alkaloids in 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 dilutions of i part to 50,000 to 100,000 parts of water. 
 In 1 86 1 Wagner recommended a deci-normal solution of iodine 
 in potassium iodide for volumetric determination of the alka- 
 loids. The great Danish chemist, Jorgensen, later in the 
 sixties used the alkaloidal periodides in the study of structure, 
 but it remained for Prescott and his students to study the 
 formulae of many of the periodides and to make the volumetric 
 examination of the alkaloids with this reagent a practical 
 success. 
 
 Dr. Prescott was most methodical in all his work, and this 
 enabled him to accomplish much in a quiet way. He held 
 responsible positions in many public, charitable, and religious 
 organizations, and in all he was prompt and efficient. 
 
 He was a deeply religious man, and all that he did was for 
 the good of his fellows and to the glory of his Creator. He 
 believed in the religion of science and he regarded a chemical 
 discovery as a revelation of the wondrous works of God. 
 
 This man of science approached the solution of his chemical 
 problems with reverence and saw in the structure of a molecule 
 a manifestation of the wonderful wisdom of the Creator. In 
 studying the mechanism of matter he never forgot the Master 
 Mechanic, and in admiring the picture he never forgot the skill 
 of the painter. 
 
 The University has lost one of its most eminent men and 
 one of its best teachers, and we, the members of this Senate, 
 have lost an honored and beloved companion. We extend to 
 his sorrowing family our deepest sympathy, and spread on our 
 records this tribute to the memory of our beloved colleague, 
 whose charm of manner and unfailing courtesy have so greatly 
 endeared him to us all. 
 
 45 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 MEMORIAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 [From the Journal of the Society, September, 1905.] 
 
 In 1861 Dr. Prescott entered the University of Michigan 
 to study medicine and chemistry, and was graduated in 1864 
 with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. It was often said of 
 the medical department at Ann Arbor in those days that it con- 
 sisted of a chemical laboratory with a medical school attached ; 
 at all events, chemistry formed a very important part of the 
 work and Prescott' s interest soon centered in that direction. 
 After graduation he received an appointment as an army sur- 
 geon and performed creditable service at several posts until the 
 armies in the field were disbanded. Then he returned to Michi- 
 gan and began, in the fall of 1865, that honorable and useful 
 career which extended through a period of forty years. He 
 became at once assistant professor of chemistry and lecturer on 
 organic chemistry and soon developed a leaning toward ana- 
 lytical and technical lines. 
 
 In 1870 he was made professor of organic and applied 
 chemistry and pharmacy; in 1876 he was made dean of the 
 school of pharmacy, just organized as a separate department; 
 in 1884 he was appointed director of the chemical laboratories 
 of the university, which position he retained until his death. 
 He encouraged the scientific work of a score or more of young 
 men who have since achieved distinguished success in the his- 
 tory of American chemistry. 
 
 Outside the University Prescott held many official positions 
 of honor. He gave a large amount of time to various matters 
 of importance to the State of Michigan, especially in the for- 
 mulation of laws concerning the sale of foods and drugs. In 
 1876 he became a member of the Chemical Society of London, 
 and in 1880 a member of the Revision Committee of the phar- 
 macopoeia of the United States, where his work was of the 
 greatest value. In 1886 he was president of the American 
 
 46 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Chemical Society and in the same year vice-president of the 
 American Association for the Advancement of Science; in 
 1891 he was president of the latter body. In 1893 ne was 
 chairman of the section on analytical chemistry at the Con- 
 gress of Chemists in Chicago, and in 1904 he was chairman of 
 the section on organic chemistry at the St. Louis Congress. 
 As a presiding officer the genial manners of our friend won 
 the admiration of all with whom he came in contact.. 
 
 The published papers of Prescott amount to 125 or more, 
 and, counting the work done under his direction and published 
 by students, to about 200. Many of this long series dealt with 
 problems in sanitary and pharmaceutical chemistry. In 
 the latter field Prescott became years ago an acknowledged 
 authority, and his work for the various revision committees 
 of the pharmacopoeia is of lasting importance. Much of this 
 work had to do with methods of analysis for alkaloids, and 
 two series of investigations must be referred to as of unusual 
 merit; the first of these was on methods of assaying opium, 
 and the processes worked out by Prescott became official by the 
 publication of the pharmacopoeias of 1880 and 1890. A good 
 many years ago he turned his attention to the old problem of 
 the nature of the precipitate formed by adding a solution of 
 iodine of potassium iodide to various solutions of alkaloids, 
 and in the course of his studies he worked out accurately the 
 formulas of a number of these periodides, and with some of 
 his students, especially with Gordin, he showed how exact 
 volumetric methods may be based on these reactions. Much 
 of this had been attempted before, but without practical suc- 
 cess. The important literature on this point may be found 
 in this journal 17, 775 and 20, 706. 
 
 No text-books in analytical chemistry are better known to 
 American students than are those of Prescott. In 1874 (with 
 S. H. Douglas) he published the first edition of the "Qualita- 
 tive Chemical Analysis," which was followed by a second 
 
 47 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 edition in 1876, a third in 1880, and a fourth in 1888, each 
 new edition being considerably enlarged and improved. In its 
 present form it constitutes an excellent text-book of general 
 inorganic chemistry. In 1875 two other well-known books 
 were issued, the "Outlines of Proximate Organic Analysis" 
 and the "Chemical Examination of Alcoholic Liquors." 
 Through many years these were our standard authorities in 
 this country, and they enjoyed great popularity. In 1879 a 
 smaller work on analysis with the title "First Book in Quali- 
 tative Analysis," was published, and this went through a num- 
 ber of editions. In 1887 Prescott published his larger work 
 on "Organic Analysis," which has been a guide in the labors 
 of many American chemists. Of equal importance in many 
 respects is the chapter on "The Alkaloids in Toxicology," 
 which he contributed to the American Text-Book of Toxi- 
 cology. 
 
 This short resume of his literary work is, however, far 
 from being all that may be said of Dr. Prescott ; as a man he 
 was more than respected, he was loved by his fellows. 
 Through a long series of years he was a regular attendant at 
 the meetings of the American Chemical Society and the Amer- 
 ican Association for the Advancement of Science, and on the 
 opening days no face was more eagerly sought for than that of 
 Prescott. In his after-dinner talks he was always sensible and 
 kindly with something to say that was worth hearing. At the 
 dinner at the last Cleveland meeting of this Society (1903), 
 especially, he spoke, in a way which must have been touching 
 to all who heard him, of his growing age and of the younger 
 generations of chemists with whom, year by year, he came in 
 contact. He had seen much of the real development of our 
 science in this country and his comments on the work of others 
 were always appreciative. The slightest taint of jealousy or 
 coldness toward the achievements of other chemists never 
 appeared in the judgments of Prescott, and in his whole bear- 
 
 48 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 ing among men he offered an example of straightforward hon- 
 esty and simplicity which is rare enough to be noticeable. It 
 may be truly said that the record of American men of science 
 is enriched by the noble life of Albert Benjamin Prescott. 
 
 MEMORIAL OF THE MICHIGAN STATE MEDICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 The Michigan State Medical Society wishes to put on 
 record recognition of its loss in the death of Dr. Albert B. Pres- 
 cott, LL.D., Professor of Organic Chemistry, etc., and Dean of 
 the Department of Pharmacy of the University of Michigan. 
 He became a member of this Society in 1883, and his name 
 was placed on the honorary list in 1904. Dr. Prescott was so 
 well known to members of the Society that nothing we may 
 say can add or detract from his deserved fame as a scientific 
 scholar, an authority in the departments of medical and phar- 
 maceutical science, and a contributor to the work in which his 
 professional life was so successfully spent. 
 
 The profession of medicine, not only of Michigan, but of 
 the whole country, owes a great debt of appreciation and grati- 
 tude to Dr. Prescott for his authoritative contributions to med- 
 ical science and for the high plane of scientific, professional, 
 and moral standards of his life. 
 
 In particular the profession owes much to Dr. Prescott for 
 his labors in exposing the worthlessness of many patent and 
 proprietary medicines by chemical and pharmaceutical analysis. 
 This work was undertaken years ago at the request of the 
 Washtenaw County Medical Society. 
 
 His kindly, genial face, his sympathetic nature, his happy 
 combination of scholar and gentleman; learned, without 
 pedantry, amiable, without ostentation ; his interest in the good 
 of medical study and practice, endeared him alike to students 
 and practitioners of medicine, and will serve to keep his mem- 
 ory green as his fame is lasting. 
 
 49 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 This Society honors itself in recognizing and recording its 
 appreciation of the worth and character of Dr. Prescott. 
 
 MEMORIAL SESSION 
 
 OF THE MICHIGAN STATE PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION, 
 KALAMAZOO, AUGUST 8, 1905. 
 
 President W. A. Hall, of Detroit, introduced the subject 
 of the session in a few feeling words. He said in part : 
 
 "Gathered in our annual assemblage, we miss from our 
 number one who was wont to be with us the Nestor of phar- 
 maceutical advancement in our state. He never allowed a 
 meeting to be held without coming to it if it were possible for 
 him to attend. As an Association we miss him, but there is 
 more to it than that. I miss him personally. You miss him 
 personally. All of us who have come more or less in con- 
 tact with him, miss him for his counsel, for his pertinent way 
 of saying things, for his homely common sense, for his kindly 
 spirit. To each of us comes the sense of individual loss, for 
 we each recall instances of his individual kindly consideration ; 
 we each recognize the help that he has always been to us." 
 
 Professor J. O. Schlotterbeck, who succeeds Dr. Prescott 
 as Dean of the School of Pharmacy, spoke as follows : 
 
 "During my first year in the school Dr. Prescott gave the 
 instruction in theoretical pharmacy, and so vividly did he 
 elucidate the different operations, either by experiment, verbal 
 explanation, or blackboard demonstration, that they are still 
 fresh in my mind, and I can see the good Doctor now, as 
 plainly as if it were yesterday, lecturing behind the platform of 
 the old room B in the Chemical Building. His unaffected 
 simplicity, unassuming manner, sweetness of character, and in- 
 terest in his students won for him the respect and admiration 
 of all who received instruction from him. 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Of his many remarkable characteristics, his wonderful 
 choice of words impressed me very much. He always enunci- 
 ated very distinctly, and with such deliberation that it seemed 
 as if every word were as carefully weighed before being spoken 
 as the chemicals or drugs which he balanced up for an impor- 
 tant assay or chemical determination. He never used a word 
 too many. 
 
 Dr. Prescott was one of the charter members, I think, of 
 the Michigan State Pharmaceutical Association. At all events 
 he was from the first enthusiastically interested in its welfare 
 and success. He took an active part in all its discussions, 
 whether pertaining to educational matters, pharmaceutical 
 jurisprudence, practical pharmacy, or trade interests. He was 
 one of the framers of the first pharmacy bill, and only last 
 year assisted in drafting that measure which, with some modi- 
 fication, has become our present law. I dare say that no one 
 will deny that the clause in the new act, requiring of all candi- 
 dates for examination a general education equivalent to two 
 years in a high school, stands as a monument to his persistent 
 efforts for more than forty years in behalf of a higher standard 
 of culture among pharmacists. 
 
 He has left us; we shall never look into his kindly face 
 again, nor shall we ever have the privilege of grasping his 
 friendly hand, but he has left us a rich treasure, an everlasting 
 heritage, that will grow stronger as time passes, and he has left 
 us an inspiring example." 
 
 Professor L. E. Sayre of the University of Kansas was 
 present and spoke feelingly of his departed friend : 
 
 "Although a man of ripe years, he seemed to me as one 
 cut off in the midst of his youth. As a teacher in the Uni- 
 versity, the young made up his environment, and in that envi- 
 ronment he was at home, and happy. I think of him as youth 
 in age youth with all its aspirations, its hopes, its plans. 
 Inopportunely, it seems to us, spectators of this life drama, 
 
 51 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 the curtain has fallen, the footlights have been extinguished. 
 Is there to be no fruition of the aspirations, the hopes, the 
 plans left thus unfulfilled ? Surely there will be, since his spirit 
 lives still in the youths who have companioned with him. The 
 personality of Dr. Prescott has profoundly influenced those 
 who have known him. I cannot describe the influence upon 
 myself, its nature is too intimate, too sacred; but intellectu- 
 ally, morally, and spiritually, it has made me permanently his 
 debtor." 
 
 Mr. J. W. T. Knox of Detroit recalled an incident that 
 showed the universally high esteem in which Dr. Prescott was 
 held throughout the United States. "At the jubilee celebration 
 of the American Pharmaceutical Association in Philadelphia, 
 there were present twenty-one ex-presidents of the Association. 
 Each one, as he marched up and took his seat on the platform, 
 was received with hearty applause, but to no other was there 
 accorded such an ovation as that which greeted our beloved 
 Dr. Prescott. On other occasions, too, there have been similar 
 spontaneous demonstrations in his honor. We are too close 
 to Dr. Prescott to realize what he did or even what he tried 
 to do; just as when standing at the foot of the Washing- 
 ton monument we cannot begin to realize its immensity. Its 
 majesty and beauty impress us only when we see it in due 
 perspective." 
 
 Mr. A. S. Parker of Detroit spoke of Dr. Prescott as a man 
 in whose life the ideal was exemplified ; kind and helpful to all ; 
 possessed of extreme modesty, notwithstanding his greatness ; 
 dignified, courteous, yet firm, always a prompt defender of 
 what he considered the right, and yet in the support of his 
 beliefs so gentle and considerate of others that no offense was 
 ever given. In his work as a teacher, in his beautiful home 
 life, in the unconscious influence he exerted over his students 
 and associates, he equally stands in memory as an ideal man. 
 
 Other speakers followed, relating incidents from their 
 
 52 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 personal experience illustrating what had been said of Dr. 
 Prescott's kindness and helpfulness to his students. 
 
 At a subsequent session of the Association, Mr. J. W. T. 
 Knox introduced a resolution that a scholarship in the Uni- 
 versity of Michigan be endowed by the Association as a memo- 
 rial to Dr. Prescott. The resolution was favorably received, 
 and a committee was appointed to carry it into effect. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE FACULTY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
 MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 
 
 WHEREAS, After a lapse of many years, the hand of Death 
 has once again been laid upon the Department of Medicine and 
 Surgery, and a beloved friend and colleague, Albert Benjamin 
 Prescott, has been taken from us, happily for him, while 
 still in the possession of his powers and at the post of duty; 
 therefore 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Dr. Prescott this depart- 
 ment has suffered an irreparable loss. A man conspicuous 
 for wide and accurate knowledge, of rarest judgment, of 
 unswerving fidelity to his work and to his faith, and unselfishly 
 devoted to the advancement and welfare of this department, 
 he had the admiration and esteem of his colleagues, students, 
 and fellowmen. 
 
 Through his great benevolence, his gentleness and unfail- 
 ing courtesy, he endeared himself to all who knew him, and 
 upon the developing characters of the young men and women 
 with whom he came in contact he exerted a far-reaching and 
 beneficent influence. 
 
 As the founder of laboratory research in this University 
 he occupied a unique position, and through the inspiration of 
 his work and counsel he stimulated the energies and ambitions 
 of many of his students to successful careers of scientific 
 investigation which in turn have added to the renown of the 
 University. 
 
 53 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 While mourning the loss of one of those whose place can 
 never be filled, we take consolation in the thought that his 
 influence remains as a precious heritage to this Department 
 and to the University. 
 
 Resolved, further, That a copy of these resolutions be 
 transmitted to the family of Dr. Fresco tt and that they be 
 spread upon the minutes of the Faculty and that a copy be fur- 
 nished the University publications and the public press. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 
 WHEREAS, the American Pharmaceutical Association has 
 suffered a severe loss by the death, on February 25, 1905, of 
 its former President, Albert Benjamin Prescott, and 
 
 WHEREAS, the American Pharmaceutical Association 
 wishes to express its sorrow in the loss of our esteemed and 
 beloved member who has efficiently and wisely served as its 
 President, Chairman of the Council, and on various commit- 
 tees, be it therefore 
 
 Resolved, That in the death of Dr. Prescott, Pharmacy at 
 large has lost a true and devoted servant, who, by introducing 
 laboratory methods of instruction and by demanding higher 
 entrance and curriculum standards in pharmaceutical educa- 
 tion, has exerted an influence for the elevation of our calling 
 that can scarcely be overestimated; be it further 
 
 Resolved, That by his singular modesty, gentleness of char- 
 acter, purity of motive, and catholicity of spirit he has 
 endeared himself to all with whom he came in contact, and 
 that his example will ever be an inspiration for good. 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be transmitted to 
 the bereaved family, together with an expression of our pro- 
 foundest sympathy. 
 
 54 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE FACULTY OF THE SCHOOL OF PHAR- 
 MACY. 
 
 WHEREAS, The Faculty of the School of Pharmacy of the 
 University of Michigan has sustained an irreparable loss in the 
 death of its Dean, Albert Benjamin Prescott; and, 
 
 WHEREAS, The Faculty of the School of Pharmacy wishes 
 to record its deep sense of sorrow, caused by the removal from 
 its midst of a wise leader and a beloved colleague, who for 
 more than a quarter of a century has labored earnestly and 
 unceasingly for the advancement of pharmaceutical education 
 and for the welfare of the School of Pharmacy, be it therefore 
 
 Resolved, That by the death of Albert Benjamin Prescott, 
 to whose efforts and labors the School of Pharmacy owes its 
 high standing in the educational world, it has lost a most valu- 
 able executive, one whose sterling and unselfish qualities have 
 gained the lasting respect, admiration, and love of every one 
 with whom he came in contact ; and 
 
 Resolved, That his colleagues and students will ever carry 
 the recollection of that kindly face, that cordial and consider- 
 ate manner, that forgetfulness of self in thoughtfulness for 
 others, as a cherished and tender memory and inspiration to 
 better work and a better life; and be it further 
 
 Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be spread upon 
 the minutes of the Faculty, and also that a copy, with the 
 assurance of our profound sympathy, be conveyed to the 
 bereaved family. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF 
 PHARMACY. 
 
 At the Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia College of 
 Pharmacy, held March 27, 1905, the following resolutions 
 were unanimously adopted: 
 
 WHEREAS, Albert B. Prescott, Ph. D., the distinguished 
 chemist, and teacher of Ann Arbor, Michigan, has, after long 
 
 55 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 and arduous services, ceased from his labors, and, through the 
 inscrutable wisdom of our Heavenly Father, passed from 
 works to reward, be it therefore 
 
 Resolved, That the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy 
 places upon record its testimony to the great ability of our 
 deceased friend, the value of whose labors in chemical and 
 pharmaceutical science are gratefully acknowledged by this 
 College. 
 
 Resolved, That his character as a man, his charity for all, 
 and loving forbearance have endeared his memory to Ameri- 
 can Pharmacists. 
 
 Resolved, That the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy 
 tenders to his widow its heartfelt sympathy in the loss which 
 she has sustained. 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 personal (Tributes 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 personal (tributes 
 
 By Professor F. W. Clarke, in " Science ": 
 
 As a teacher Dr. Prescott was singularly successful, both in 
 his personal relations with his students and as an organizer of 
 reforms. He began his work at a time when lectures and 
 recitations were commonly thought to be adequate instruments 
 for scientific teaching; and when laboratory practice for stu- 
 dents was a questionable novelty which only a few American 
 schools had dared to try. From the beginning he took his stand 
 on the side of modern methods, and organized his work along 
 practical lines. The teaching of chemistry in schools of phar- 
 macy and medicine was notably advanced through his efforts, 
 and given a significance which, in this country at least, it had 
 not had before. In this respect Prescott was one of several 
 leaders; less conspicuous, perhaps, than some others, because 
 of his modesty and quiet ways, but none the less potent and 
 influential. He labored unpretentiously, but the results which 
 he sought to accomplish were attained. The admirable organ- 
 ization of chemical work in the University of Michigan is the 
 outcome of Prescott' s broad and liberal views. 
 
 Dr. Prescott early recognized the value of research as a 
 means of education, and so his students often shared in his 
 investigations. A perfect list of his contributions to chemistry 
 has not, I think, been prepared ; but it would be by no means a 
 short one. No brilliant or startling discovery fell to his lot, 
 but then few chemists are so favored. A large volume of good 
 work, well done, is all that most men can aspire to, and in that 
 respect Dr. Prescott's reputation is secure. Those who knew 
 
 59 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 him will think most of the man himself, rather than of his 
 achievements. He was kindly, modest, sincere, and lovable; 
 and what better can be said of any one? 
 
 By Professor Oscar Oldberg, in "American Journal of Phar- 
 macy ": 
 
 Dr. Prescott rendered services of inestimable value to the 
 progress of pharmacy and the elevation of pharmaceutical 
 education in America, by his earnest and consistent adherence 
 to high standards. The School of Pharmacy of the University 
 of Michigan was the first university school of its kind in the 
 United States. It offered a course occupying two full academic 
 years devoted wholly to study and laboratory practice. Such 
 a course had never before been attempted for the education of 
 pharmacists in this country. The task of introducing it was a 
 most difficult one in view of the absence of any definite educa- 
 tional requirements prescribed for pharmacists by law, so that 
 very few students prepared to successfully undertake the pro- 
 gram of work laid out in a full two years' course could be 
 found in the drug stores at that time. American pharma- 
 ceutical college education thirty years ago was almost wholly 
 dependent upon concurrent drug store training, and the 
 requirements for graduation in pharmacy, therefore, included 
 it. But the School of Pharmacy of the University of Michigan 
 opened its doors to students who were not employed in drug 
 stores, but who were prepared and ambitious to devote their 
 whole time for two years to study. Pharmaceutical education, 
 including substantial laboratory courses, has at length become 
 firmly established in the United States largely through the per- 
 severance, tact, and patience of Dean Prescott and those who 
 followed in his footsteps. 
 
 Dr. Albert B. Prescott was a singularly unselfish, modest, 
 helpful, generous, and lovable man. 
 
 60 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 By Doctor A. B. Lyons: 
 
 No one who ever came into intimate personal contact with 
 Dr. Fresco tt can speak of him except in eulogy. It was my 
 privilege to form his acquaintance very soon after he became 
 connected with the University of Michigan. I was then only 
 one of over five hundred medical students who listened to his 
 lectures on organic chemistry. Yet for Dr. Prescott every 
 student was an individual and the object of a sincere friendly 
 interest. I can remember that the feeling among the students 
 with regard to organic chemistry was that it belonged to the 
 realm of transcendental science something to be "crammed" 
 for examinations and then forgotten as speedily as possible. 
 Yet, in spite of himself, the student would find himself follow- 
 ing with genuine interest the lectures of Dr. Prescott. It was 
 evident that the subject was intensely interesting to him, and 
 equally plain that he expected his hearers to share his interest. 
 He realized the difficulties experienced by the beginner in 
 mastering the elementary facts and principles of a science 
 as yet in its infancy, and he had set himself the task of making 
 the path as free as possible from needless windings. He must 
 have known that his audience was one not naturally sympa- 
 thetic, yet no expression of his intimated such a knowledge 
 or suspicion. And so his hearers, in spite of themselves, 
 found actual pleasure in listening to the lecturer. Remember- 
 ing the class of students that were at that time in the medical 
 department of the University, I cannot affirm that all who 
 listened carried away as a permanent possession a comprehen- 
 sive knowledge of organic chemistry, but I am sure that for 
 those who were really students, the purpose to forget what had 
 been learned in that lecture course, after it had served its 
 immediate purpose of carrying them through their examina- 
 tions, was frustrated by the vivid interest that had been 
 awakened by the lecturer. 
 
 61 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Dr. Prescott was never a very rapid or fluent speaker. His 
 words were always chosen with evident deliberation as though 
 the value of each was exactly appraised. He knew how to 
 simplify truth without belittling it in an attempt to suit it to 
 the capacity of an immature mind. He always gave his audi- 
 ence credit for ordinary intelligence, avoiding only the need- 
 less use of undefined technical terms. In this he showed the 
 instinct of the born instructor. 
 
 The secret of Dr. Prescott' s success as a teacher after all 
 lay in his individual interest in each student. To each he was 
 a personal friend, sympathetic, and always ready with counsel 
 and helpful suggestion. This was not policy. It was simply 
 the spontaneous expression of a kindly nature, the fruitage of a 
 simple but profound Christian faith. Add to these qualifica- 
 tions a demeanor singularly gracious and modest, yet full of 
 dignity and firmness, and a temper absolutely imperturbable, 
 and you have the realization of the ideal teacher. 
 
 But Dr. Prescott was more than a mere teacher. He had 
 the breadth of comprehension, the depth of devotion to ideals, 
 the strength and steadfastness of purpose that raised him to 
 the rank not only of an educator but of a leader among educa- 
 tors. The University of Michigan is justly proud of its chem- 
 ical and pharmaceutical laboratories, and still more of the 
 record of original research that has been carried on in them. 
 It can never forget that it is to the initiative and to the patient 
 persistence of Dr. Prescott that the honor of all this is very 
 largely due. Yet in so unostentatious a way did he achieve his 
 successes that they seemed to some to have come to him acci- 
 dentally. 
 
 In truth, success was to him only an incident in life. The 
 personality of the man was more than any achievement of his. 
 So we who were his pupils may remember little of the detail 
 of his instruction, but we shall never forget the revelation that 
 came to us through his life of the possibility of having within 
 
 62 
 

 [ tt&jftiw, 
 
 ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 us the kingdom of heaven. The serene air he breathed had in 
 it no taint of selfishness or of jealousy. Life for him meant 
 opportunity for strenuous endeavor its greatest privilege the 
 service of one's fellows. 
 
 An active judicial mind, a large warm heart ever going out 
 in words and deeds of helpfulness, a soul above discontent and 
 knowing no such thing as dishonor these make up the man 
 whose memory will be forever green in the heart of every one 
 who was privileged to know him. 
 
 By Professor Alfred Senier, of Queen's College, Galway: 
 
 As one of the late Professor Prescott's earliest students I 
 am glad to have an opportunity of expressing my many obli- 
 gations to him. 
 
 Looking back over the more than thirty years which have 
 elapsed since I worked under his guidance in Ann Arbor, I see 
 before me a distinct picture of the interior of the larger lab- 
 oratory, the benches where we students were working, and the 
 railed-off bench and desk of our professor in one of the corners. 
 I can recall distinctly how we admired our professor ; how we 
 watched for the announcements of those discoveries of his 
 which were making for him the high position which he attained 
 among the world's organic chemists ; how easy it seemed to us 
 to learn from him ; how he led us through the known and over 
 the boundary into the unknown, and how thus we made our 
 first discoveries. 
 
 Still, if I ask myself what has proved of the greatest value 
 to me of what I learned from my old teacher and friend, I 
 think that, more important than the training he gave me in 
 science, have been the lessons I learned from him in conduct, 
 conduct especially in the relation of professor to student; les- 
 sons which have stood me in good stead on many an occasion 
 since, lessons in patience, sympathy, honesty. 
 
 63 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 By Professor Edward D. Campbell: 
 
 Any one who has served for some time under Dr. Prescott 
 could not but be strongly impressed with the fact that he was 
 guided by clearly defined principles in all his actions as Direc- 
 tor. Dr. Prescott was himself an excellent example of the 
 highest type of university man, for in him were combined both 
 the teacher and investigator. He realized that the greatness 
 of the University depends primarily on the reputation of the 
 individuals constituting its teaching force. While he did not 
 underestimate the importance of the University as a means 
 of disseminating knowledge, he realized that the University 
 had perhaps a higher function to perform in becoming an ever 
 increasing source of knowledge. It was this latter idea which 
 served to shape his policy in many matters connected with 
 laboratory management. It was for this reason that many 
 students in the senior year of their undergraduate course did 
 advanced work, really research, equal to that required in many 
 universities for higher degrees. The result of this has been 
 that, while not so many higher degrees have been conferred, 
 the men who have graduated from this laboratory have left 
 with an independence of thought that has enabled them to 
 stand favorably in comparison with the graduates of other 
 laboratories. His strong desire to inspire in students a real 
 love for their work was still further shown by the keen interest 
 he took in the graduate-students and the important place he 
 filled in the chemical colloquium, where the graduate and other 
 advanced students meet for informal discussion of new work 
 with members of the teaching force. 
 
 In his treatment of the men on his teaching staff Dr. Pres- 
 cott was most just. Realizing as strongly as he did that the 
 greatness of the University depended on the greatness of its 
 men, he endeavored to inspire, by example and precept, the 
 men of his staff to make something more than simply teach- 
 
 64 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 ers of themselves. He made one feel that only one-half his 
 duty was accomplished when he had done the teaching assigned 
 to him ; that he owed a higher duty to the University in that he 
 should develop himself in order that his scientific reputation 
 should help to add at least a little to the luster of the Uni- 
 versity. 
 
 In the management of the finances of the laboratory, while 
 he endeavored to keep expenses down as far as was consistent 
 with proper attention to the necessities, he was always ready 
 to assist as far as posssible in securing facilities for research. 
 It was the keen interest he felt in the research work of every- 
 one working under him that drew us so strongly to him, and 
 made us feel that it was an honor to serve our apprenticeship 
 under such a master. 
 
 By President James B. Angell, in his Commencement Ad- 
 dress, June, 1905: 
 
 I cannot part with you without reminding you that in the 
 life and character of one who, to our great sorrow, has been 
 taken from us this year, we had a most beautiful example of 
 the union in one mind of the passion for learning and the 
 passion for research. In him was the most harmonious com- 
 bination of love for the great fundamental beliefs of Chris- 
 tianity with the spirit of welcome for every revelation of new 
 truth, whether by scientific investigation or by sound biblical 
 scholarship. Dr. Prescott, the senior professor in this univer- 
 sity, was an ideal illustration of the Christian scientific scholar. 
 No child was more modest and humble in his own estimate of 
 his worth. No saint was more firm in his loyalty to his Lord 
 and Master. No scientist was more ardent in research after 
 new scientific truth. No disciple was more convinced that his 
 research was sacred work, and that every discovery he made of 
 chemical facts or chemical laws was a revelation of the divine 
 
 65 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 mode of operation. But antecedent to all research no student 
 was more assiduous in learning all that the wisdom of other 
 investigators had to communicate to him as the ground-work 
 for his own quest. Long will his influence abide with us. The 
 memory of his many years of conspicuous service, and still 
 more of his pure and beautiful character, will remain as one 
 of our most precious treasures. May it inspire each one of us 
 to combine in due proportion as he did the old and the new, 
 culture and research, the most genuine scientific spirit with the 
 sincerest piety, devotion to God and love for his fellow man. 
 
 66 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 ftibliograpby of Writings 
 

ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 Bibliography of Mritings and Contributions 
 
 1. THE BLOW-PIPE ASSAY. 
 
 1869 : Engineering and Mining Journal, 8 : 360, 370, 386. 
 
 2. SIMPLE APPARATUS FOR RAPID VAPORIZATION AT LIMITED HEAT, 
 
 UNDER REDUCED PRESSURE, WITHOUT THE USE OF A PUMP. 
 1870 : Chem. News, 20 : 222. 
 
 3. EDITORIALS AND ARTICLES IN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY MEDICAL JOUR- 
 
 NAL. 
 1870-3 : Vols. 1-3. 
 
 4. ON SULPHOPHENIC ACID. 
 
 1871 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 19 : 550. 
 
 5. PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 1871 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 19 : 425. 
 
 6. ON THE CONTAMINATION OF POTABLE WATERS WITH LEAD AND ZINC. 
 
 1871 : Mich. Univ. Med. Jour., 2 : 270. 
 
 7. ANALYSIS OF GLACIAL PHOSPHORIC ACID OF COMMERCE. 
 
 1872 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 20 : 259. 
 
 8. QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS : A GUIDE TO THE PRACTICAL STUDY 
 
 OF CHEMISTRY AND IN THE WORK OF ANALYSIS. 
 Douglas and Prescott. 
 1874: Ann Arbor. 
 
 9. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 1875 : Am. Jour. Phar., 47 : 454, 481. 
 
 10. OUTLINES OF PROXIMATE ORGANIC ANALYSIS. FOR THE IDENTIFICATION, 
 
 SEPARATION, AND QUANTITATIVE DETERMINATION OF THE MORE 
 COMMONLY OCCURRING ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. 
 1875: D. Van Nostrand. 
 
 11. CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS. A MANUAL OF THE 
 
 CONSTITUENTS OF THE DISTILLED SPIRITS AND FOMENTED LIQUORS 
 OF COMMERCE, AND THEIR QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE DE- 
 TERMINATION. 
 1875: D. Van Nostrand. 
 
 12. COMPARATIVE DETERMINATIONS OF THE SOLUBILITIES OF ALKALOIDS IN 
 
 CRYSTALLINE, AMORPHOUS, AND NASCENT CONDITIONS: WATER- 
 WASHED SOLVENTS BEING USED. 
 1875: Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Science, 241 1, 114. 
 
 13. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF MICHIGAN. I. 
 
 Am. Chemist, 6 : 41. 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 14. THE AROMATIC GROUP IN THE CHEMISTRY OF PLANTS. 
 
 1875 : Proc. Ann Arbor Scientific Assoc., i : 49. 
 
 15. QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. A GUIDE IN THE PRACTICAL STUDY 
 
 OF CHEMISTRY AND IN THE WORK OF ANALYSIS. 
 Douglas and Prescott; second edition, revised. 
 1876: D. Van Nostrand. 
 
 16. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF MICHIGAN. II. 
 1876 : Am. Chemist, 7 : 44. 
 
 17. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 MICHIGAN. 
 1876 : Am. Jour. Phar., 48 : 356. 
 
 18. EDITORIALS AND CONTRIBUTIONS CONSTITUTING A DEPARTMENT OF 
 
 CHEMISTRY AND PHARMACY IN THE PENINSULAR MEDICAL 
 JOURNAL. 
 1876: January to December, incl. ; New Series, I. 
 
 19. THE MATERIAL RESOURCES OF LIFE. 
 
 1877 : Popular Science Monthly, n : 339. 
 
 20. LABORATORY NOTES. 
 
 1877: Am. Jour. Phar., 49:481. 
 
 21. THE ACTION OF HYDROCHLORIC ACID UPON METALLIC SULPHATES. With 
 
 Young and Dixon. 
 1877 : Chem. News, 36 : 178. 
 
 22. FORMATION OF CRYSTALS OF CALCIUM OXALATE IN THE URINE AFTER 
 
 DISCHARGE. With Miss Post. 
 1878 : Chem. News, 37 : 76. 
 
 23. TESTS OF THE SERVICE OF A DOMESTIC WATER FILTER. With Reed and 
 
 Hauck. 
 1878 : Chem. News, 37 : 107. 
 
 24. THE CHEMISTRY OF FRUIT RIPENING. 
 
 1877 : Popular Science Monthly, 12 : 460. 
 
 25. A REVIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF PHARMACY. 1875-6. 
 
 1876: Proc. Mich. Phar. Assoc., p. 9. 
 
 26. A REVIEW OF THE PROGRESS OF PHARMACY. 1876-7. 
 
 1877: Proc. Mich. Phar. Assoc., p. 7, 
 
 27. CONTRIBUTIONS TO PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICHIGAN PHARMACEUTICAL 
 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 1876 : Proc. Mich. Phar. Assoc., pp. 15, 16. 
 
 28. CONTRIBUTIONS TO PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICHIGAN PHARMACEUTICAL 
 
 ASSOCIATION. 
 1877: Proc. Mich. Phar. Assoc. 
 
 29. POISONS AND THEIR ANTIDOTES. 
 
 1880: "Wood's Household Practice of Medicine," 1:771. 
 
 30. LABORATORY NOTES. 
 
 1878 : Am. Jour. Phar., 50 : 561. 
 
 70 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 31. SEPARATION OF GLYCERIN PROM MIXTURES CONTAINING GLUCOSE AND 
 
 SUCROSE. With Koehnk. 
 1878 : New Remedies, 7 : 354. 
 
 32. SEPARATION OF STRYCHNINE FROM BRUCINE. With A. D. Smith. 
 
 1878 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 26 : 806. 
 
 33. VALUATION OF TINCTURE OF OPIUM. With Heim. 
 
 1878 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 26 : 823. 
 
 34. MORPHIOMETRIC PROCESSES FOR OPIUM. With Stecher. 
 
 1878: Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 26 1807. 
 
 35. TRIAL OF SCHEMES FOR SEPARATION AND QUANTITATIVE DETERMINA- 
 
 TION OF QUINIA, QUINIDIA, ClNCHONIA, AND ClNCHONIDIA. With 
 
 H. Thum. 
 1878 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 26 : 828. 
 
 36. CHEMICAL AND MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OF THE BARK OF RHAM- 
 
 NUS PURSHIANA. 
 1879 : New Preparations, 3 : 27. 
 
 37. CONCERNING THE DESIRABILITY OF LEGAL MEASURES TO PREVENT ADUL- 
 
 TERATIONS OF FOOD AND MEDICINE. 
 1879 : New Remedies, 8 : 152. 
 
 38. ARTICLES IN "NEW PREPARATIONS." 
 
 1879: Vol. j. 
 
 39. ARTICLES IN "THE PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON." 
 
 1879: i- 2, 203, 515; 2\ 97, 337. 
 
 40. FIRST BOOK IN QUALITATIVE CHEMISTRY. 
 
 1879: D. Van Nostrand. 
 
 41. ARTICLES IN "REPORT UPON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMA- 
 
 COPOEIA/' 
 1880: pp. 26, 31, 59, 116, 117. 
 
 42. MORPHIOMETRIC ASSAY OF OPIUM. With Geisler. 
 
 1880 : New Remedies, 9 : 356. 
 
 43. HOUSE FILTRATION OF POTABLE WATERS. 
 
 1880: Report Mich. State Board of Health, p. 61. 
 
 44. COMPOSITION OF ALKALI SOLUTIONS OF ALUMINIUM, ZINC, AND 
 
 SILVER. Contributions from Chemical Laboratory of University 
 of Michigan. 
 1880 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 2 : 27. 
 
 45. QUALITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. A GUIDE TO THE PRACTICAL STUDY 
 
 OF CHEMISTRY AND IN THE WORK OF ANALYSIS. 
 Douglas and Prescott. Third edition. 
 1880: D. Van Nostrand. 
 
 46. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF MICHIGAN. III. 
 1880 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 2 : 333. 
 
 47. THE COMPOSITION OF ALKALOIDAL PRECIPITATES WITH POTASSIUM 
 
 MERCURIC IODIDE. 
 1880: Am. Chem. Jour., ^1294. 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 48. NOSTRUMS IN THEIR RELATIONS TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH. 
 
 1881 : Report of Mich. State Board of Health, p. 150. 
 
 49. THE CHEMISTRY OF COFFEE AND TEA. 
 
 1882: Popular Science Monthly, ,20:359. 
 
 50. ON THE LIMITED BIOLOGIC IMPORTANCE OF SYNTHETIC ACHIEVEMENTS 
 
 IN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. 
 1881 : Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., p. 68 (abstract). 
 
 51. EXTRACTS OF MALT. 
 
 1881 : "The Physician and Surgeon," 3 : 548. 
 
 52. ADULTERATION OF FOODS. 
 
 1882 : Report Mich. State Board of Health, p. 203. 
 
 53. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF MICHIGAN. With Vaughan. 
 
 1882: Reprinted from the August and September numbers of 
 "The Physician and Surgeon." 
 
 54. REPORT ON THE PUBUC WATER SUPPLY OF DETROIT. With Wrampel- 
 
 meier. 
 1882 : Ann. Report, Board of Health of Detroit, p. 231. 
 
 55. IN THE SIXTH DECENNIAL REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 
 
 1882: As member of the Committee of Revision, assigned on 
 Sept 15, 1880, as chairman of Committee on Descriptive Chemistry, 
 and ,-S Committee on the Alkaloidal assays, the volumetric tests, the 
 reagents, and the atomic weights. 
 
 56. TIN IN CANNED FRUITS. 
 
 1882: The Sanitary Engineer, 6:515. 
 
 57. LIMITS AND TESTS OF OUR MEDICINAL STANDARDS. 
 
 1883: Therapeutic Gazette, 7:49. 
 
 58. EXTRACT OF MALT, ITS PLACE AS A FOOD AND A REMEDY. 
 
 1883 : Pharmacist and Chemist, 16 : 53. 
 
 59. STRENGTH OF OPIUM PREPARATIONS. 
 
 1883 : "The Physician and Surgeon," 5 : 65. 
 
 60. PHARMACOPOEIAL TESTS OF AMERICAN AND FOREIGN IODIDE OF POTAS- 
 
 SIUM. 
 1883 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 31 : 367. 
 
 61. STRENGTH OF OPIUM AND ITS PREPARATIONS IN USE IN THIS COUNTRY 
 
 AS COMPARED WITH THE STANDARDS OF THE U. S. PH. OF 1870 AND 
 1880. 
 1883 : Proc. Mich. State Phar. Asso., i : 48. 
 
 62. CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF MICHIGAN. With Vaughan. 
 1883 : Reprint from "Physician and Surgeon." 
 
 63. PROPRIETARY MEDICINES IN THE FUTURE. 
 
 1884 : Druggists' Circular, 28 : 98. 
 
 64. WHY SHOULD DRUGGISTS USE THE PHARMACOPOEIA? 
 
 1884: Proc. Mich. State Phar. Assoc., 2:99. 
 
 72 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 65. SHOULD PROPRIETARY MEDICINES BE REQUIRED TO BEAR AN ACCOUNT o* 
 
 THEIR CONTENTS? 
 1885 : Proc. Mich. State Med. Assoc., p. 153. 
 
 66. CONTROL ANALYSES AND LIMITS OF RECOVERY IN CHEMICAL SEPARA- 
 
 TIONS. 
 1885 : Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 34: 109. 
 
 67. REPORT AS CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION FOR PROPRIETARY 
 
 MEDICINES, AM. PHAR. Assoc., PITTSBURG MEETING, SEPT. 10, 
 1885. WITH DRAFT OF BILL FOR A LAW. ADOPTED BY THE ASSO- 
 CIATION. 
 1885 : Proc. Am. Phar. Asso., S3 ' 394, 549- 
 
 68. STRENGTH OF TINCTURE OF IODINE AND ITS PHARMACOPOEIAL STAND- 
 
 ARD. 
 1885: Proc. Mich. State Phar. Assoc., 3: 152. 
 
 69. THE LITERATURE OF PHARMACY. 
 
 1886: Western Druggist, 8:?i> 
 
 70. REPORT OF ANALYSIS OF BAY CITY WATERS, OCTOBER TO DECEMBER, 
 
 1885. 
 1886 : Fourteenth Annual Report, Supt. Bay City Water- Works. 
 
 71. A MEMORIAL ADDRESS UPON THE LIFE AND SERVICES OF HENRY BETTS 
 
 PARSONS. 
 
 Delivered before the Alumni Association of the School of Phar- 
 macy of the University of Michigan, June 30, 1886. 
 
 72. OUTLINE OF A PLAN OF STUDY FOR THE ASSISTANT IN PHARMACY. 
 
 1886: Proc. Mich. State Phar. Assoc., 4: 113. 
 
 73. THE ESTIMATION OF NITRATES IN POTABLE WATERS. 
 
 1887: Phar. Era, 1:99. 
 
 74. THE CHEMISTRY OF NITROGEN AS DISCLOSED IN THE CONSTITUTION OF 
 
 ALKALOIDS. 
 
 Address of the Chairman of the Section of Chemistry, Am. Assoc. 
 Adv. Sci., New York meeting, August, 1887. Proc. Am. Assoc. 
 Adv. Sci. 
 
 75. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE UNITS OF VALENCE. 
 
 1887 : Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 36. 
 
 76. ORGANIC ANALYSIS: A MANUAL OF THE DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALY- 
 
 TICAL CHEMISTRY OF CERTAIN CARBON COMPOUNDS IN COMMON 
 USE. FOR THE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF 
 ORGANIC MATERIALS; COMMERCIAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL AS- 
 SAYS ; THE ESTIMATION OF IMPURITIES UNDER AUTHORIZED STAND- 
 ARDS; FORENSIC EXAMINATION FOR POISONS; AND ELEMENTARY 
 ORGANIC ANALYSIS. 
 1887: D. Van Nostrand. 
 
 77. ARTIFICIAL SALICYLIC ACID. With Ewell. 
 
 1888 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 36 : 7& 
 
 73 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 78. COMMITTEE REPORT "ON THE ORGANIZATION OP A NATIONAL CHEMICAL 
 SOCIETY/' TORONTO MEETING, A. A. A. S. 
 Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 38 : 35. 
 
 79. ESTIMATION OP BROMINE IN PRESENCE OP CHLORINE. With Dunn. 
 
 1889 : Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 38 : 173. 
 
 80. REFERENCES POR THE REVISION. 
 
 An Index of Contributions from the Mich. State Pharmaceutical 
 Association, and the School of Pharmacy of the University of 
 Michigan. For Reference in the Revision of Pharmacopoeia. 
 1883, 1890, 12 pp. 
 
 81. REVIEW OP THE CONTRIBUTIONS OP THE SCHOOL OP PHARMACY OP THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OP MICHIGAN POR THE YEAR 1891. 
 Proc. Mich. State Phar. Assoc., 9 : 23. 
 
 82. THE USES OP BOOKS IN EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE. 
 
 1891 : Inlander, 2 : 37. 
 
 83. NOTE ON THE RECOVERY OP ARSENIC. 
 
 1892: Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 14:223. 
 
 84. THE IMMEDIATE WORK IN CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 Address of the retiring President of the A. A. A. S., Aug. 17, 
 1892 : Proc. Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 41. 
 
 85. CAPPEINE AND THE QUESTION OP ITS ISOMERISM. 
 
 1893: Jour. Am. Med. Assoc., .20:90. 
 
 86. THE IODOMERCURATES OP ORGANIC BASES. 
 
 1892 : Am. Chem. Jour., 14 : 606. 
 
 87. ON CERTAIN DISTINCT ADVANCES IN THE ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY OP 
 
 RECENT YEARS. 
 1893 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 15. 
 
 88. RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 1892: Supplement to Bulletin of Students' Christian Association, 
 Univ. Mich. 
 
 89. NOTE ON THE HISTORY OP "MAYER'S SOLUTION." 
 
 1894 : Pharmaceutische Rundschan, 12 : 146. 
 
 90. PHARMACY IN GERMANY. 
 
 1894 : Proc. Mich. State Phar. Assoc., 12 : 90. 
 
 91. THE PROFESSIONAL SITUATION IN PHARMACY. 
 
 1895: Phar. Era, 13: 132. 
 
 92. THE CHEMICAL LABORATORIES OP GERMANY. 
 
 1895: The Phi Chi Communicator. Reprints. 
 
 93. PHARMACEUTICAL DEGREES IN STATE UNIVERSITIES. 
 
 1895: Read before Mich. State Phar. Assoc., and published in 
 Proceedings. 
 
 94. EXAMINATION OP SOME PHILIPPINE ISLAND DRUGS POR ALKALOIDS. 
 
 1895 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 43 : 241. 
 
 74 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 95. INDICATORS IN THE ALKALIMETRY OF ALKALOIDS. 
 
 1895 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 43 : 187. 
 
 96. THE PERIODIDES. 
 
 1895 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 17 : 775. 
 
 97. PERIODIDES OP PYRIDINE. With Trowbridge. 
 
 1895 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 17 : 859. 
 
 98. DIPYRIDINE TRIMETHYLENE BROMIDE. With Flinterman. 
 
 1895 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 18 : 28. 
 
 99. NOTES ON A FEW PYRIDINE ALKYL IODIDES. 
 
 1895: Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 18:91. 
 
 100. PYRIDINE ALKYL HYDROXIDES. With Baer. 
 
 1896 : Jour. Chem. Soc., 18 : 244. 
 
 101. THE FUNCTION OP PHARMACY IN THE SOCIAL BODY. 
 
 1896: Phar. Era, 16 : 7. 
 
 102. THE CAFFEINE COMPOUND IN KOLA. PART I. With Knox. 
 
 1896: Jour. Chem. Soc., 19:63. 
 
 103. REPORT OP THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE OP RESEARCH. 
 
 Am. Phar. Assoc., August, 1896. Proc., 44 : 128. 
 
 104. THE PERIODIDES OP ALKALOIDS AS MOLECULAR FORMS FOR VOLUMETRIC 
 
 OR GRAVIMETRIC ESTIMATION. 
 1896 : Phar. Review, 14 : 123. 
 
 105. PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION. 
 
 1896 : Phar. Era, id : 853. 
 
 106. ALKYL BISMUTH IODIDES AND THE BISMUTH IODIDES OF VEGETABLE 
 
 BASES. 
 1897 : Phar. Review, 15 : 219. 
 
 107. THE CAFFEINE COMPOUND IN KOLA. PART II. KOLA-TANNIN. With 
 
 Knox. 
 1897 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 20 : 34. 
 
 108. SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON RESEARCH. 
 
 Am. Phar. Assoc., August, 1897. 
 
 109. A VOLUMETRIC ASSAY OF OPIUM. With Gordin. 
 
 1898 : Pharm. Archives, 1 : 121. 
 
 no. THE THERAPEUTICAL ECONOMICS OF OPEN COMPOSITION. 
 1898 : Jour. Am. Med. Assoc., 21 : 891. 
 
 in. THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF BUTTER FAT IN DISTINCTION FROM 
 
 FATS OF MEATS AND OF SEEDS. 
 1898 : Michigan Academy of Science. 
 
 112. ATROPINE PERIODIDES AND IODOMERCURATES. With Gordin. 
 
 1898 : Am. Jour. Phar., 70 : 294. 
 
 113. CERTAIN ALKALOIDAL PERIODIDES AND THE VOLUMETRIC ESTIMATION OF 
 
 ALKALOIDS AS HIGHER PERIODIDES. With Gordin. 
 1898: Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 46:355. 
 
 75 
 
ALBERT BENJAMIN PRESCOTT 
 
 114. EINE NEUE METHODE DER MORPHINGEHALT DES OPIUMS zu BESTIM- 
 
 MEN. With Gordin. 
 1899 : Archiv. d. Pharmacie, 237 : 380. 
 
 115. THE RELATIVE MERITS OP GRAHAM AND PATENT FLOURS. 
 
 1899 : Mick State Millers' Convention, pp. 12-15. 
 
 116. COUMARIN AND VANILLIN THEIR SEPARATION, ESTIMATION AND 
 
 IDENTIFICATION IN COMMERCIAL FLAVORING EXTRACTS. With 
 Hess. 
 1899 : Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., 21 : 256. 
 
 117. EMETINE OCTOIODIDE AND THE EXTRACTION AND ESTIMATION of ALKA- 
 
 LOIDS GENERALLY. With Gordin. 
 1899: Am. Jour. Phar., 71: 14. 
 
 118. HYDRASTINE HEXAIODIDE AND THE ASSAY OF HYDRASTIS CANADENSIS, 
 
 BY MEANS OP STANDARD IODINE FOR HYDRASTINE AND POTASSIUM 
 IODIDE POR BERBERINE. With Gordin. 
 1899 : Am. Jour. Phar., 71 : 257. 
 
 119. THE ASSAY OP OPIUM, A SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. With Gordin. 
 
 1899 : Pharm. Review, 17 : No. 6. 
 
 120. FURTHER WORK UPON THE ESTIMATION OP ALKALOIDS AND THE ASSAY 
 
 OP ALKALOIDAL DRUGS. With Gordin. 
 1899: Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 47:261. 
 
 121. DIRECTIONS FOR CERTAIN ALKALOIDAL ASSAYS. With Gordin. 
 
 1899 : Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 47 : 271. 
 
 122. THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS IN THE FORTY-EIGHTH ANNUAL MEETING 
 
 OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION, RICHMOND, 
 VIRGINIA, MAY 7, 1900. 
 Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 48. 
 
 123. EXTRACTION AND ESTIMATION OF COLCHICINE. With Gordin. 
 
 1900: Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 48. 
 
 124. SHORT DIRECTIONS FOR THE ASSAY OF OPIUM. With Gordin. 
 
 1900: Proc. Am. Phar. Assoc., 48. 
 
 125. THE ALKALOIDS IN TOXICOLOGY. 
 
 1904: Legal Medicine (Haines and Peterson). Philadelphia. 
 
 126. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FOR ADMISSION TO SCHOOLS OF PHAR- 
 
 MACY AND FOR THE PRACTICE OF PHARMACY UNDER STATE I<AW. 
 
 1904: Reprint from the Proceedings of the Mich. State Phar. 
 Assoc. 
 
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