THE PROPOSED MEDICAL BILL AFFECTING PHARMACY. 
339 
Arrangement of the Matter. —Although the plan adopted in the arrangement 
of the matter is ostensibly similar to that of the previous Pharmacopoeias, yet it 
differs to some extent, and the difference, we think, does not tend to the advan¬ 
tage of the new work. The preface states that “ it was resolved that the ‘ British 
Pharmacopoeia ’ should consist of two parts and an appendix; the first part to 
consist of the Materia Medica, the second of the preparations and compounds, 
and the appendix of articles which are employed for the chemical processes in the 
second part, but are not themselves used in medical practice, and of preparations 
solely intended for the chemical examination of the articles contained in the first 
and second parts.” 
The previous Pharmacopoeias of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin were arranged 
on a similar plan to this, as far as relates to the first and second parts, but there 
is a great difference between those works and the present in the mode of carrying 
out the plan. In the London Pharmacopoeia of 1851, for instance, the two parts 
contain different articles, and the same article is in no instance described in both 
parts. The first part contains all the articles for the preparation of which no 
processes are given, and the second part gives processes for the preparation of 
the articles not described in the first part. The two parts are thus perfectly 
distinct, and relate to different substances. If an article is described in the 
Materia Medica part, all that is said about it will be found there; and so also 
with reference to any article among the preparations, having found the place in 
which it is described, all that it was thought necessary to say about it will be 
found there. 
In the 4 British Pharmacopoeia,’ however, it is quite otherwise. Some articles 
are described exclusively in the first part and some exclusively in the second 
part, but many are described in both, so that there is a process given in one 
part of the book for the production of an article, while the description of the 
product is contained in another part. This is calculated to cause confusion, and 
by separating the description of a product from the description of the process 
for producing it, the operator is less likely to attend to the former than he 
would be if both were placed together. The plan adopted causes an unneces¬ 
sary augmentation in the size of the book, and much unnecessary trouble in 
turning from one part to another to find the information required; moreover, 
from the peculiar method adopted in carrying the plan into effect, the difficulty 
of finding what is wanted is greatly increased, as the same substance is described 
in one part under a different name from that under which it is given in the 
other part. Thus, for instance, if the operator is making Spiritus yEtheris Ni- 
trosi, he finds the process under that title in the alphabetical arrangement of 
the part of the book relating to “Preparations and Compounds,” and when 
he has got his product and wants to know whether it agrees with the description 
and answers to the tests, he has to turn to the Materia Medica part of the 
book, which is also arranged alphabetically; but he will not find it there under the 
same name, although he may at last discover it under the name of yEtheris Ni- 
trosi Spiritus. Discrepancies of this description occur in other similar cases, and 
cannot fail to cause much confusion ; in fact, whatever may be the merits of the 
work, we cannot include that of its being easy of reference. 
Having thus sketched the general characters of the work, we must defer the 
more particular examination of the matter until a future occasion. 
THE PROPOSED MEDICAL BILL AFFECTING PHARMACY. 
As the Session of Parliament approaches, the excitement amongst chemists 
and druggists with reference to the proposed Medical Bill increases on every 
