THE NEW EDITION OF THE BKITISH PHAKMACOrffilA. 
493 
Austria. The principal advantage resulting from its adoption is the facility 
for reference which it affords. The book becomes a dictionaiy, and all the 
information regarding any article is found in one place and under one head¬ 
ing. A great inconvenience, which was observable in the previous edition of 
the British Pharmacopoeia, is thus obviated, namely, the necessity of looking 
in one place for the process, and in another, and perhaps under a different 
heading, for the definition, characters, and tests. In the case of Liquor 
Ammoniee Acetatis, for instance, whereas in the edition of 1864 the description 
of the substance was contained in the Materia Medica, under the heading 
Ammonise Acetatis Liquor, and the process for its production was given 
among the Liquors in the second part of the work ; in the new edition the 
characters and method of preparation are put together under one name and 
in one place. All that is necessary, therefore, in order to find the entire in¬ 
formation given regarding any article, is to look for the Pharmacopoeial Latin 
name of the body in its proper alphabetical position; but as this name may 
occasionally slip the memory, the book is provided with a copious index, in 
which are given both the synonyms and the English names. Of course it 
must be understood that the chemical tests and volumetric solutions are not 
included in this general arrangement; these are classed separately in an ap¬ 
pendix as before. 
Appended to each substance in the Pharmacopoeia, and following its de¬ 
scription, is a list of all the preparations in which it is used. This is also a 
feature of some novelty, and will probably be of considerable use, more 
especially to the prescriber. Not only does the list give the preparations in 
which the substance is contained, but, in the majority of cases, it also indi¬ 
cates the proportion of the substance present in each. Thus, under Can- 
THAKis, we find the following list of Preparations :— 
Charta Epispastica. 
Emplastrum Calefaciens 
,, Cantharidis 
Liquor Cantharidis . . 
Tinctura Cantharidis 
Unguentum Cantharidis 
1 oz. to 1^ lb. nearly. 
1 part in 3. 
8 oz. to 20 fluid ounces. 
oz. to 1 pint. 
1 in 8 nearly. 
In the case of the Acids the names are given of those preparations con¬ 
taining the acids in the free state, and also lists of the officinal salts of each 
acid. Thus, under Citric Acid, there are Preparations containing free Citric 
Acid, two in number, and Officinal Citrates, of which seven are named. 
Again, in the case of such an important substance as Opium, all the prepara¬ 
tions obtained from it are enumerated, including those in which its deriva¬ 
tives are present. Following Hydkaegyeum are the names of all the “ Pre¬ 
parations containing Mercury, chiefly uncombined,” and of the “ Prepara¬ 
tions containing combined Mercury.” Whenever it is possible, the proportions 
are indicated in which the substance is used in the preparation, excepting 
in those cases where it enters into chemical union. 
A third feature of the book, which may be thought of minor importance, 
but which will probably prove convenient to the pharmaceutist, is the em¬ 
ployment of figures rather than words to express quantities. This substitu¬ 
tion renders it far easier to take in at one glance the proportions of the ingre¬ 
dients to be used in any particular preparation. 
In the preface to the new Pharmacopoeia there is a list showing that the 
names of ninety-one substances have undergone alteration. Our readers, 
however, will be glad to learn that most of these changes relate to the names 
of drugs. In the case of those substances which are really parts of plants, 
the names have been so altered as to express more correctly the real nature 
