48 Kansas Academy of Science. 



DRUG STANDARDS WITH REFERENCE TO THE PURE 

 FOOD AND DRUG LAW. 



By L. E. Sayke, University of Kansas, Lawrence. 



npHE enactment of the pure food and drug law has brought to 

 -*- the front, as was expected, many important facts regarding 

 the question of standards. In the first place, the United States 

 Pharmacopoeia has become of the greatest importance, inasmuch 

 as the law requires that the standards for drugs and medicines 

 shall be based upon that authority. The United States Pharma- 

 copoeia will have, therefore, far greater authority than heretofore. 

 The National Formulary is also mentioned as a standard; but this 

 standard work, which is far inferior to that of the pharmacopoeia, 

 is of much more recent creation. 



The framers of the law, it would seem, were not familiar with 

 two important facts concerning these two national standards. The 

 law seems to indicate that the pharmacopoeia has a test for all of 

 the remedial agents mentioned; and the law also indicates that 

 the National Formulary has standards for preparations it recog- 

 nizes. Now, the facts are the United States Pharmacopeia does 

 not prescribe tests for over fifty per cent, of the preparations it au- 

 thorizes; and the National Formulary prescribes practically no 

 tests whatever for assaying its preparations; therefore, the question 

 of standards becomes a very important one. 



It is said the pharmacopoeia has been found, since the enactment 

 of the pure food and drug law, to have standards and processes of 

 assaying which in some cases should be amended. The manufac- 

 turers of chemicals and remedial agents have been greatly excited 

 over this question. They have pointed out some errors of a minor 

 character, it is true, some of them being plainly errors of figures, 

 melting- and boiling-points, etc., which should be revised. It is 

 plain that the committee of revision will be obliged to take up the 

 question of correcting any errors and defective tests, and a supple- 

 ment to the pharmacopoeia will have to be issued. The work be- 

 fore the committee of revision will take some time, but it is to be 

 hoped that the standards will be as high as they have thus far 

 been prescribed, while at the same time there will be no injustice 

 to the manufacturing industry nor to the consumer in making the 

 few revisions proposed. It has been stated that there are a few 

 tests in the pharmacopoeia which are needlessly rigid. Undoubt- 



