AFebrOuMyTi9a08m'}     Pharmacopoeia — View  of  Analytical  Worker.  79 
It  is  often  a  matter  of  judgment  in  deciding  whether  a  certain 
sample  is  U.S.P.  quality,  because  in  limit  tests  depending  on  shades 
of  color  or  degree  of  turbidity  the  requirements  are  quite  flexible. 
The  various  shades  of  color  could  easily  be  compared  with  a 
standard  chart  such  as  accompanies  certain  text  books  on  organic 
chemistry  and  a  definite  limit  given. 
Similarily  the  degree  of  turbidity  could  be  indicated  by  some 
such  scheme  as  Dr,  McFarland's  Nephelometer  {J.  A.  M.  A., 
October  5,  1907). 
The  subject  of  detecting  inferior  and  adulterated  volatile  oils  is  a 
problem  difficult  of  solution,  but  the  detection  might  be  aided  by 
the  introduction  of  an  odor  limit  test.  By  this  I  mean  a  certain  oil 
should  still  have  a  characteristic  odor,  unaltered  when  diluted  to  a 
certain  volume. 
The  dilution  could  easily  be  accomplished  by  adding  1  c.c.  of 
the  oil  to  99  c.c.  of  alcohol,  then  1  c.c.  of  this  to  99  c.c.  of  dilute 
alcohol,  then  1  c.c.  of  this  to  99  c.c.  ofs water. 
These  dilutions  to  be  varied  to  suit  the  oil. 
The  odor  of  the  best  grade  of  some  oils  is  extremely  tenacious, 
while  that  of  their  substitutes  and  those  of  inferior  quality  is  much 
less  persistent. 
The  introduction  of  official  methods  for  obtaining  boiling,  con- 
gealing, and  melting  points,  and  the  determination  of  alcoholic 
strengths,  would  give  much  more  uniformity  to  these  determinations. 
Another  step  toward  uniformity  would  be  made  if  the  alcoholic 
strength  of  tinctures  and  fluidextracts  of  the  same  drugs  would  be 
made  the  same,  unless  there  are  good  reasons  for  variation. 
More  liquid  should  be  recommended  in  several  alkaloidai  assays 
for  extraction  and  washing  purposes. 
I  consider  that  the  Pharmacopoeia  should  be  the  guide  to  all 
important  materials  used  in  the  treatment  of  disease.  If  we  con- 
sider the  Pharmacopoeia  from  a  scientific  view  point,  we  must  look 
forward  and  anticipate  what  the  therapeutics  of  the  future  will  be. 
Unquestionably  therapeutics  of  to-day  is  far  from  uniform,  and 
different  schools  have  sprung  up  like  mushrooms  and  claimed  merit 
for  their  particular  methods.  That  each  class  has  many  able  fol- 
lowers cannot  be  denied.  Certain  it  is  that  medicine  and  pharmacy 
are  breaking  all  bands  of  mythology,  and  that  the  ultimate  thera- 
peutics will  be  rational  therapeutics  gleaned  from  what  is  best  from 
each  system. 
