632 



PHARMACY. 



perience in compounding drugs in a drug store 

 or pharmacy where the prescriptions of medi- 

 cal practitioners are compounded." The Board 

 of Pharmacy has the right to refuse registration 

 to applicants under this provision whose "cre- 

 dentials are not satisfactory evidence of their 

 competency." Any person who has served three 

 years under a registered pharmacist and who is 

 eighteen years of age is entitled to registration 

 as an assistant pharmacist. The pharmacy law 

 of New Hampshire was amended in 1889 so 

 that the commissioners must examine applicants 

 over sixteen years of age who have served two 

 years under a registered pharmacist, and if 

 found competent, grant a certificate as assistant. 

 It is also made their duty to bring complaints 

 before the authorities against all persons violat- 

 ing the act. The payment of the commission- 

 ers is likewise specified in the new law. During 

 1890 a full pharmacy law was passed by the 

 Legislature of Washington, and during 1891 

 bills were passed regulating the practice of 

 pharmacy in the States of Arkansas and Oregon. 

 Also a bill was passed in California during 1891, 

 announced to go into effect on Jan. 1, 1892. 

 During 1891 a pharmacy law was passed by 

 Oklahoma Territory. There is still lacking 

 proper legislation on this subject in Alaska, 

 Arizona, Indiana. Indian Territory, Maryland 

 (except Baltimore), Mississippi, Montana, Ne- 

 vada, Tennessee, Utah, and Vermont. 



Pharmacopoeial Revision. The United 

 States Pharmacopoeia, which is the accepted 

 authority for the compounding of all articles 

 prepared by druggists, and known as official, is 

 issued once in ten years by a committee, chosen 

 at a convention, where delegates from all incor- 

 porated medical or pharmaceutical colleges, as- 

 sociations, or societies may be represented. A 

 call was issued by the president, Dr. Robert 

 Amory, of the revision of 1880, " for a general 

 convention to assemble in Washington, D. C., 

 at noon of May 7, 1890, for the purpose of pro- 

 viding for a revision and publication of the 

 Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America." 

 The committee on revision of the last Pharma- 

 copoeia very wisely gathered the criticisms that 

 appeared on their work and published a digest 

 of them for the use of their successors. This 

 book was edited by the chairman of the commit- 

 tee, Dr. Charles Rice, of New York city. The 

 journals, both medical and pharmaceutical, de- 

 voted much space toward the consideration of 

 possible changes in the work. The issuing of 

 the book at a lower price ($4.00) than the last 

 has been called for ; also a more complete and 

 comprehensive description of the drugs and their 

 constituents is urged, although such information 

 finds its proper place in the different commen- 

 taries of the Pharmacopoeia, such as the Dispensa- 

 tories ; and more exact information on the thera- 

 peutic value of drugs has been suggested. Infor- 

 mation generally is sought for, although the dis- 

 cussion is chiefly confined to the following items : 



(1) Articles now official that seem unnecessary ; 



(2) Articles desirable to be made official ; (3) De- 

 fective formula in the present volume ; (4) Im- 

 proved formula for any* present preparation ; 

 (5) Formulas for desirable preparations not now 

 official ; (6) Working formulas of chemical and 

 pharmaceutical preparations ; (7) Shall doses of 



official articles be appended? The convention 

 met as called for, and the following officers were 

 elected : President, Horatio C. Wood, of Phila- 

 delphia, Pa. ; Vice-Presidents, William S. Thomp- 

 son, Washington, D. C., D. W. Prentiss, Wash- 

 ington, D. C., J. M. Flint, U. S. N., A. E. 

 Ebert, Chicago, 111., and William M. Searly, San 

 Francisco. Cal. ; Secretary, Hobart A. Hare; 

 Assistant Secretary, G. H. C. Klie, St. Louis, Mo. 

 Subsequently the following committee of re- 

 vision was chosen : Charles Rice, Chairman ; 

 Joseph P. Remington, Frederick B. Power, 

 Peter W. Bedford, Dr. W. M. Mew, Dr. John 

 Godfrey, Dr. J. M. Flint, John M. Maisch. Dr. 

 Roberts Bartholow, Dr. Charles 0. Curtman, 

 Dr. Frederick A. Castle, Dr. N. S. Davis, Jr., C. 

 Lewis Diehl, Dr. Robert G. Eccles, Dr. Willis G. 

 Gregory. Charles Mohr, George F. H. Markoe, 

 Oscar Oldberg, Lucius G. Sayre, Otto A. Wall, 

 Dr. Thomas F. Wood, Dr. H. H. Rusby, Alfred 

 B. Taylor. Dr. R. 'T. Edes, and C. S. N. Hall- 

 berg. The following topics were discussed at 

 the convention, and the committee instructed in 

 accordance with the wishes of the majority : 

 1. General directions; 2. Assay processes for 

 drugs ; 3. Assay processes for galenical prepa- 

 rations ; 4. Assay processes for opium and cin- 

 chona; 5. Descriptions of chemicals and tests; 

 6. Chemical formulas; 7. Proprietary or pat- 

 ented articles ; 8. Nomenclature ; 9. Specific 

 gravity ; 10. Weights and measures : 11. Gen- 

 eral formulae ; 12. Lists of reagents, tables, etc. ; 

 13. Publication of the Pharmacopoeia; 14. Date 

 for the Pharmacopoeia to go into effect ; and 15. 

 Compensation of experts. 



New pharmacopoeias for Austria and Germany 

 were announced to appear in 1890. That for 

 Austria was issued in 1890 and that for Rus- 

 sia in 1891, while the Military Pharmacopoeia of 

 Austria will be issued in 1892. 



Associations. The thirty-seventh annual 

 meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Asso- 

 ciation was held in San Francisco, Cal., during 

 June 24-28, under the presidency of Maurice W. 

 Alexander. The opening session was devoted to 

 the reports of officers and committees. A report 

 from the treasurer showed his receipts during 

 1889 to have been $12,067.37: disbursements, 

 $9,120.92; balance, $2,946.45, being a gain of 

 $1,700 over the balance of 1888. Since the last 

 meeting 106 applications for membership had 

 been accepted, and with the 49 chosen at the 

 present meeting, the total membership was 

 brought up to 1.264. Numerous papers were 

 read and discussed at the scientific session, 

 which was presided over by Emlen Painter. The 

 section on pharmaceutical education was pre- 

 sided over by Peter W. Bedford, and, besides the 

 papers read at its sessions, an important report 

 of the Committee on Preliminary Examinations 

 was considered. Its conclusions were: 



1. That this association recommend its members 

 and all others in the retail drug business to refuse to 

 take into their employ as apprentices any boys or 

 young men who have not graduated from a grammar 

 school, or who have not received an education equal 

 to that required for such graduation. 



2. That colleges of pharmacy demand as a condition 

 to entrance a certificate of graduation from a State 

 grammar school, or from an institution whose course 

 of instruction is equal to that of the State grammar 

 schools. 



