192 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



SHALL DOSES AND SOME OF THE NEW 



SYNTHETIC REHEDIES BE INTRO= 



DUCED INTO THE NEXT U. S. 



PHARMACOPOEIA ? > 



By CHARLES RICE, Ph. D. 



It may be regarded as quite certain 

 that at the next Pharmacopoeial Convent- 

 ion, to be held at Washington in May, 

 I goo, two subjects will particularly en- 

 gage the attention of the delegates then 

 present, namely, the question of the in- 

 troduction of doses and that of the ad- 

 mission of some of the new synthetic 

 remedies. It is not too soon to discuss 

 these topics now. Indeed, it is necessary 

 to begin their discussion at once, so that 

 during the next few years, the delegates 

 to each annual meeting of this Section of 

 the Association may report back the dis- 

 cussion to their constituents, in order 

 that the latter may present counter argu- 

 ments at the next meeting, if they so de- 

 sire, or signify their approval of the 

 propositions. 



Before turning to the topic proper, a 

 few words on the subject of certain criti- 

 cisms made regarding the last United 

 States Pharmacopceia may not be out of 

 place here. After the work had appeared 

 (in August, 1893), it was subjected to 

 review and criticism both in this country 

 and in Europe, and, while competent 

 critics were able to point out certain 

 minor errors and defects, yet, on the 

 whole, the general verdict was one of 

 commendation and approval. Among 

 the medical critics in this countrj^ there 

 were a few who found fault with the work 

 because it contained, according to their 

 views, too many drugs and preparations, 

 or because it contained "a confusing 

 multiplicity" of preparations of one and 

 the same drug. Regarding the first 

 mentioned criticism, it should be remem- 



* Read before the Section on Materia Medica and 

 Pharmacy of the American Medical Association, at the 

 Atlanta meeting. 



bered that the Pharmacopoeia is designed 

 to meet the requirements of the whole 

 country, and not merely those of some 

 special section. From the standpoint of 

 a single individual, whose experience is 

 confined to his own neighborhood, the 

 criticism may seem justified. But when 

 the diversity of climate, race and nation- 

 ality, habits, temparament, soil and nat- 

 ural resources in the difierent sections of 

 this country are taken into consideration 

 it should not be surprising that the cus- 

 toms and preferences of prescribers differ. 

 Since the Pharmacopoeia is to serve as a 

 guide to the pharmacist to enable him to 

 supply remedies of a standard and uni- 

 form character, it follows that the work 

 should contain everything for which 

 there is a legitimate demand in any sect- 

 ion of the country; and above all, every 

 remedial agent frequently prescribed by 

 the majority of physicians. No doubt, 

 the Pharmacopceia, in its present shape, 

 contains many preparations which are 

 comparatively, or altogether, unused by 

 the profession in some sections of this 

 country, while, on the other hand, they 

 may be largely used in other sections. It 

 is one of the duties of the committee of 

 revision to ascertain, in the best way it 

 can, what drugs and preparations are suf- 

 ficiently in use throughout the country 

 to justify their introduction into the 

 United States Pharmacopoeia. The last 

 committee of revision considered this 

 matter quite carefully, and decided ac- 

 cording to its best judgment, following 

 the principle that it is better to retain 

 any drug or preparation already official, 

 rather than to dismiss it upon trivial evi- 

 dence. At the next revision in 1900, it 

 will, no doubt, be possible to make a 

 more thorough weeding-out, because 

 more reliable statistics as to the frequen- 

 cy of use of the various articles now con- 

 tained in the Pharmacopoeia will then be 

 available. 



