GENERAL PAPERS 
77 
later by the law-making authority as a legal standard for the 
strength and quality of drugs and medicinal preparations. The 
United States Pharmacopoeia belongs to the latter class, being 
revised and issued under the authority of the United States 
Pharmacopoeial Convention, and later adopted as a legal stan- 
dard for drugs and medicines by the federal and state legis- 
lative bodies. 
The first United States Pharmacopoeia was prepared and is- 
sued under the authority of a convention of American physi- 
cians held in 1820. 
The early editions were comparatively simple books and 
were usually ready for distribution within a year or so after 
the meeting of the convention. With the increasing size and 
elaboration of the volume the length of time necessary for re- 
vision has constantly increased, and the present, or ninth revi- 
sion, now in press, has been in process of preparation since 
1910. 
The United States Pharmacopoeial Convention is incorpo- 
rated under the laws of the District of Columbia. It assem- 
bles at Washington, D. C, every ten years, in the year of the 
decennium ending in zero, and is made up of delegates repre- 
senting national and state medical societies, national and state 
pharmaceutical societies, recognized colleges of pharmaCy and 
medicine, the medical departments of the U. S. Army and 
Navy, the U. S. Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Public Health 
Service, American Chemical Society and various other scientific 
and professional organizations of a similar nature. 
An inspection of the makeup of the convention will show 
that it provides for the representation of a wider range of 
medical, pharmaceutical and general scientific interests than 
could possibly be the case if the work were to be revised and 
issued under the auspices of any governmental department or 
bureau. 
In the case of most foreign pharmacopoeias, the pharmaco- 
poeia becomes part of the law of the land by virtue of its having 
been prepared and promulgated by some governmental agency. 
The United States Pharmacopoeia becomes part of the law of 
the land only by virtue of its adoption as such by the bodies 
constitutionally entrusted with the duty of law-making. 
