492 
THE NEW EDITION OE THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA. 
he has enjoyed all that wealth * and honourable character could bestow. 
Secondly, there is the not doubtful chance of recovery, while there is no 
reason whatever but that with prudence and determination, his bark once more 
may crest the waves. 
There is a still drearier picture presented by the dull monotony of narrow 
means. We have often trembled while observing the slender thread on which 
the commercial life of average pharmacy depends. Speaking within bounds, 
we may safely say, that in too many instances the occupation of the work¬ 
ing chemist is not so much the development of trade, as the struggle against 
actual want. Nothing is more wearying or more sickening than this misery 
guttatim. 
The Executive Committee of the Benevolent Fund has lately strained every 
eifort to grapple with the urgent necessity of the case; and their exertions have 
been crowned with merited success. The cry for help was responded to by all 
parties; not to our surprise, for we were as certain that such a cause would be 
represented by every shade of thought, and feeling, and sectional society divi¬ 
sion ; as we are, that if common sense be allowed to steer the vessel whose sails 
benevolence has so nobly filled, we may all row together before the advent of 
another year. 
Meanwhile let us unite to the best of our ability in endeavouring to restore 
hope to many a desponding heart, and joy to many a desolate home. 
THE NEW EDITION OF THE BEITISH PHABMACOPCEIA. 
Our readers will be glad to learn that a proof copy of the new British 
Pharmacopoeia was sent to each member of the General Medical Council in 
the early part of February, and that the publication of the work will probably 
take place in about two or three weeks from the present time. The book 
remains with the members of the Council for one month, that they may have 
the opportunity of suggesting any alterations they may think desirable; but 
it is not likely that any extensive modifications involving delay will be de¬ 
manded. This preliminary issue really takes place for the purpose of eliciting 
criticism on the work while there is yet time to correct any obvious error 
that may be pointed out. The members of the Council have not, therefore, 
kept the book secret, and already our weekly contemporaries have published 
detailed notices of its contents. The ‘ British Medical Journal’ was early in 
the field with an account of all the additions and alterations which are in¬ 
volved, and the ‘ Lancet ’ has already given two articles explanatory of the 
changes effected. Under these circumstances, we are at liberty to make our 
readers fully acquainted with the distinguishing features of the new Pharma¬ 
copoeia, although the work is not yet avowedly before the public. 
The size of the book is intermediate between that of the large and the 
small copies of the previous edition. It forms a post-octavo volume of 394 
pages, exclusive of the preface and index. In point of bulk, therefore, it is by 
no means so pretentious as the new French Codex, which is a royal octavo, and 
includes 711 pages. The feature most noticeable upon first inspection of the new 
work, is the manner in which the matter has been arranged. Hitherto every 
pharmacopoeia published in Great Britain has been divided into two parts ; one 
including the “ Materia Medica,” and the other the “ Preparations and Com¬ 
pounds.” This classification is now abolished, and, in its place, we have 
simply one category of substances arranged in the alphabetical order of their 
Latin names. Although this plan is new to this country, it has been adopted 
in several of the foreign Pharmacopoeias, and notably in those of Prussia and 
