May 3, 1873.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
861 
THE PHARMACY OF THE UNITED STATES’ 
PHARMACOPEIA, 
BY WILLIAM MARTINDALE, F.C.S., 
Dispenser, and Teacher of Pharmacy to the University 
College Hospital. 
Tlie fifth decennial revision of the ‘ Pharmacopoeia 
of the United States of America’ is the work of a 
committee appointed by a Convention held for that 
purpose at Washington in May, 1870. As it has 
attracted some attention from pharmacists on this 
side of the Atlantic,—especially tlie Galenical, or more 
correctly the pharmaceutical, as distinct from the 
chemical portion of it,—a survey of this part of the 
work from our point of view may be of interest to 
British pharmacists generally. 
As compared with the previous edition, the “ scope 
of the work has been extended rather than abridged,” 
without, as is stated, at the same time “ losing sight 
of the conservative character necessarily pertaining 
to a National Pharmacopoeia. Such a work must 
necessarily follow in the wake of advancing know¬ 
ledge ; it is no part of its mission to lead in the paths 
of discovery. It should gather up and hoard for use 
what has been determined to be positive improve¬ 
ment, without pandering to fashion or to doubtful 
novelties in pharmaceutical science.” How far the 
committee has been guided by such an apprehension 
of its duties will remain to be seen ; that it has 
been so guided is evident, for, although in the United 
States the different syrups of the phosphates are in 
such large demand, there is not an official process 
given for making one of them. 
In this edition of the work 82 new preparations 
have been added, and 7 contained in former editions 
have been omitted from it. Four entirely new classes 
of preparations have been introduced into it. These 
are respectively— chartce 2, glycerita 5, suppositoria 
9, sued 2. In addition to these Galenical prepara¬ 
tions, 22 fluid extracts, 5 solutions, 2 tinctures, 4 
troches, and 6 ointments have been added to the pre¬ 
viously existing classes. Towards the end of the pre¬ 
face there is a little self-laudation about the anxious 
thought and research the committee has given to the 
revision, and complaint is made, no doubt justly, 
about the meagreness of the details which charac¬ 
terized the majority of the reports submitted to it, 
as generally presenting criticism rather than amend¬ 
ment in the old processes, and in the cases of new 
medicines indicating but little their mode of prepa¬ 
ration. Then follows this significant finale :—“ The 
committee would recommend, in view of subsequent 
revision, that the reports of medical and pharma¬ 
ceutical bodies which are interested in the perfection 
of our national standard, should be made full and 
explicit in details, and leave to the committee the 
task of verification and testing rather than that of 
original investigation.” This ought to be a timely 
hint to those interested who are keeping in view the 
next complete revision of our 1 British Pharmacopoeia.’ 
Therapeutics are apparently more closely studied 
in America than with us ; and, although the practice 
of medicine may be yet quite empirical, still, if truth 
be arrived at by such means, it is a great boon to 
suffering humanity. With regard to the pharmacy in 
the present work, this must speak for itself as much 
as possible in what I have to state. 
The troy ounce—printed as one word, troyounce— 
and its submultiple, the grain, are the only weights 
Third Series, No. 149. 
used ; the terms pound , drachm, and scruple are not 
used in the formula), these weights being replaced by 
their equivalents in troyounces or grains. The mea¬ 
sures are the old wine pint (of sixteen fluidounces), 
and its submultiples the fluidounce, fluidrachm, and 
minim. The term gallon is not used in the formulae. 
Their fluidounce is about one-twentietli greater in 
capacity than ours; it weighs, of distilled water at 
60° F., 455*7 grains. The Fahrenheit thermometer 
is employed, and a gentle heat is defined at any tem¬ 
perature between 90° and 100°. We have the some¬ 
what equivocal expression “ a moderately warm 
place” employed, in which to macerate the fluid 
extracts ; the temperature of this is not mentioned. 
The following instructions are given for conduct¬ 
ing percolation or the process of displacement ,—they 
are nearly the same as those given in the previous 
edition. The process is defined as :— 
“ The kind of filtration . . . .” which “consists in sub¬ 
jecting a substance or substances, in powder,* contained in 
a vessel called a percolator', to the solvent action of succes¬ 
sive portions of a menstruum, in such a manner that the 
liquid, as it traverses the powder in its descent to the 
recipient, shall become charged with the soluble portion of 
it, and pass from the percolator free from insoluble matter. 
When the process is successfully conducted, the first por¬ 
tion of the filtered liquid, or percolate , will be nearly satu¬ 
rated with the soluble constituents of the substance treated; 
and, if the quantity of menstruum be sufficient for its 
exhaustion, the last portion will be nearly destitute of 
colour, odour, and taste. 
“ The percolator should be either conical, or nearly cylin¬ 
drical with a conical termination at the smaller end, and 
provided internally with a porous or colander-like par¬ 
tition or diaphragm, resting transversely immediately 
above its neck, for the support of the powder. Ordinary 
glass funnels, varying in capacity from one to eight pints, 
are to be preferred for most of the operations requiring 
percolation in this Pharmacopoeia; but percolators may 
also be made of earthenware or tinned iron, especially of 
the latter material when required of large size. Tinned 
iron, however, should not be used when the liquid acts 
chemically on the material. In the several formulas in 
which percolators are used, their form and material will 
always be designated when there is a preference in these 
respects. In cases in which these variations of the instru¬ 
ment are indifferent, the term percolator simply will be 
employed. When a funnel is used, a circular piece of 
muslin or of lint, pressed into the neck by means of a 
cork with notched sides, forms a good diaphragm; but in 
all cases a similar piece of muslin, moistened slightly with 
the menstruum, should be interposed between the dia¬ 
phragm and the powder, to prevent the passage of the fine 
particles of the latter. The substance to be subjected to 
percolation, after having been reduced by sifting to a 
uniform powder of the fineness indicated in the formula, 
is to be put into a basin with the specified quantity of the 
menstruum, and the two rubbed together until the powder 
is uniformly moistened. A portion of the powder is now 
to be carefully placed upon the diaphragm, prepared as 
above directed, and pressed gently until the muslin, rest¬ 
ing against the sides of the percolator just above the neck, 
is covered with a uniform layer. The remainder of the 
powder is then to be transferred to the percolator, and 
compressed evenly and firmly, and the levelled surface 
covered with a circular piece of moistened muslin or 
paper, so that the liquid poured upon it may penetrate 
equally, and not disarrange the powder. The percolator 
being now properly supported, with its neck in a bottle 
previously marked for the quantity or quantities of liquid 
to be percolated, the menstruum is to be poured on 
the muslin until the space above is nearly filled; and 
* These italics are mine. 
