THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 153 



UNITED STATES PHARMACOPCEIA. 



During- the year that has passed since its last report your 

 committee has received very few complaints in regard to pharma- 

 copoeial requirements ; this, however, does not by any means denote 

 that the present standards and tests need no revision, as a diligent 

 inquiry reveals the fact that so very many adjustments, especially 

 of tests, appear to be necessary that the trade has during the past 

 year resolved to get along as best it could until the approaching 

 decennial convention, when it is hoped that a thorough revision of 

 the whole work will be made and all desired relief obtained. 



The -convention for the ninth revision of the Pharmacopoeia to be 

 held in Washington the loth day of May next will be the most 

 notable gathering ever held for the same purpose, and as the results 

 of its labor will establish the legal standards for all drugs and medi- 

 cines named in the book it issues when sold in the United States 

 and dependencies for the ensuing ten years a larger responsibility 

 will rest upon the delegates and the committee chosen by them to 

 complete the work than ever before. 



In the first report of your committee presented to the thirty-third 

 annual meeting of this association in Denver a short history of 

 the United States Pharmacopoeia, with its manner of compilation 

 from the issue of the first edition in 1820 until the publication of 

 the eighth revision in 1905, was given and the conclusion was 

 reached that it would not be wise to make any radical change in 

 the method prescribed for future revision, but that the Committee 

 on Revision would be strengthened by the presence on it of one 

 or more chemists experienced in the manufacture of medicinal 

 chemicals and one or more druggists with expert knowledge of the 

 world's drug markets. Bearing in mind the great responsibility 

 that wmII rest on members of the Pharmacopoeial Convention of 

 1910 and the unfortunate fact that our association as an unincor- 

 porated body is not entitled to representation therein, our committee 

 in June last issued the following circular letter to all our mem- 

 bers : 

 To the Members of the N. W. D. A. : 



At the meetings of the Incorporated State Medical Societies and 

 Incorporated State Pharmaceutical Societies to be held this year, 

 delegates will be elected to attend the convention in May, 1910, for 

 the purpose of revising the United States Pharmacopoeia. 



