442 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1937 



At the preliminary meetings in Boston and in Philadelphia very com- 

 plete drafts for a proposed pharmacopoeia were prepared, the con- 

 tents being largely based upon the then current pharmacopoeias of 

 London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. 



MEETING OF 1820 



Following out the plan, representatives of these sectional conven- 

 tions met in Washington, D. C, in the spring of 1820 and, after giving 

 consideration to the various proposals, appointed a committee to 

 write and edit the new Pharmacopoeia. Dr. Spalding assumed the 

 responsibility of chairmanship and editor, several meetings were held, 

 and the new pharmacopoeia was issued the following December. 

 This new book of standards received the general approval of the medical 

 profession, and while there were some criticisms, the start had been 

 made for national agreements upon the titles and quality of American 

 medicines. Over 100 of the titles in the primary list of medicinal 

 substances in this first pharmacopoeia have been carried forward into 

 succeeding revisions, sho\ving the careful character of the selections 

 and the rather remarkable knowledge of medical substances at the 

 beginning of the nineteenth century. 



One important feature of this book was the number of formulas 

 for chemical substances by which the apothecary could prepare or 

 purify them for medicinal use. The hst of vegetable drugs consisted 

 mainly of titles and definitions with little efi"ort further to standardize 

 the substances. There were, of course, formulas for making the 

 popular preparations of the day. In accordance with the traditions 

 of the profession as exemplified by the pharmacopoeias of that day, 

 the text was printed on the left-hand pnge in Latin, with the transla- 

 tion in English on the right-hand page. 



A feature of Dr. Spalding's original plan was the rcassembUng of 

 the convention in each succeeding decennial year for the considera- 

 tion of further revision of pharmacopoeial standards. This program 

 was carried through successfully from decade to decade, with a widen- 

 ing interest, and with the addition of pharmacists to the delegates 

 at the 1850 convention. From 1820 to 1870 the general style of the 

 Pharmacopoeia remained the same except for the omission of Latin, 

 beginning in 1840, and the addition of new medicines as these were 

 developed. 



During this time the retail pharmacists made most of their prepara- 

 tions from selected raw material, often collecting their own vegetable 

 drugs, and there was no need for tests to prove that the official products 

 conformed to the standard. However, when the time came for the 

 preparation of the Pharmacopoeia of 1880, a new condition was rapidly 

 developing. There had now grown up in the United States a number 

 of chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers who were selling ready- 



