12 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



The responsibility for everything be- 

 ing traceable to somebody, to whom are 

 we to look for the correction of this very 

 troublesome state of affairs ? Clearly, to 

 those who make use of drug and plant 

 names. There is no system of penalties 

 and fines for mere carelessness in this 

 matter, which belongs to that class of 

 obligations known as "honorable." 

 Every time that the editor, the teacher, 

 the physician or the pharmacist employs 

 an unauthorized name, or employs a 

 name in an unauthorized manner, he 

 strikes a blow at the exactness of his 

 science. 



It is true that we have not, in all cases, 

 a clear definition of what constitutes 

 authority, but even where this is want- 

 ing we have sufficient guidance in good 

 usage and common sense. 



Referring to all articles incorporated 

 into the U. S- P., there should be no de- 

 viation from the rule of using no other 

 names than the official Latin or English 

 title, or a synonym endorsed by that work. 

 The practice of sending out Eadies' 

 Slipper marked "Nervine," or Cimi- 

 ciFUGA marked "Black Root," is to be 

 condemned. If ordered under an ill-ad- 

 vised name, such name might be affixed 

 as synonymous with the auihorized one, 

 which should always be printed or writ- 

 ten as the principal name, thus tending 

 to discourage the use of those which are 

 not authorized. The ground for such 

 action does not rest upon any assumption 

 that the official name is better selected 

 than another would be, though such a 

 presumption properly exists. It is rather 

 because the proper application of that 

 title is rigidly fixed by the Pharmaco- 

 poeial definition and description. In the 

 case of non-official names, a careful in- 

 vestigation will generally discover the 

 name which is endowed with authority. 

 It is a fixed rule of science that a dis- 

 coverer shall have the right to bestow a 



name of his own selection or formation 

 upon the thing discovered. If this name 

 be selected or formed in accordance with 

 the rules of nomenclature, and properly 

 published, none subsequently proposed 

 has the right to supersede it, nor has 

 anyone the right to apply this name to 

 anything else. If, through either ignor- 

 ance or design, this rule be for a time 

 violated, the restoration of the original 

 name, or the original application of the 

 name, so soon as the facts shall have be- 

 come established, is imperative. So sen- 

 sible a rule may well be applied to the 

 titles of drugs 



He who first makes known to medical 

 science the medicinal properties and uses 

 of a drug is entitled to select or form a 

 name for it, the native name, or one of 

 them, if it have any that is admissible, 

 being naturally adopted. If this name 

 be so published as to fix the origin and 

 identity of the drug, the name should be 

 permanent, and should be regarded as 

 authoritative. An exception is very prop- 

 erly made to copyrighted names, because 

 while their formation observes the letter, 

 it violates the principles of the rules of 

 nomenclature. In all of those rules 

 there is nothing arbitrary. All are based 

 on the principle of serving the public 

 welfare and convenience, whereas the 

 object of copyrighting and trade-marking 

 is to violate this principle, in the interest 

 of the owner. Public spirit and policy 

 therefore dictate that a concerted ac- 

 tion should be promptly made by profes- 

 sional people to break down the influence 

 of the proprietorship, by making known 

 some equivalent title, as has been suc- 

 cessfully done in the ca.se of Acetanilide. 



The " proper publication" of a drug 

 name, herein referred to,_ is its careful 

 reference to the species of plant yielding 

 it, with a description sufficient for identi- 

 fying it and determining its good quality. 

 True, the botantical origin cannot in aU 



