A January fi908.m'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  43 
PHILADELPHIA  BRANCH   OF  THE  AMERICAN  PHAR- 
MACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION. 
NOVEMBER  MEETING. 
The  November  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  Ameri- 
can Pharmaceutical  Association  was  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  "  The 
Official  Standards  and  Tests." 
The  first  paper  to  be  presented  on  the  subject  was  one  entitled  : 
"  Comments  on  Some  Official  Standards  and  Tests,"  by  Mr.  L.  Henry 
Bernegau,  who  discussed  a  number  of  observations  that  he  had  made 
relating  to  the  purity  rubric  of  the  U.S.P. 
He  had  encountered  considerable  difficulty  in  connection  with 
the  determinations  of  optical  rotation  of  the  essential  oils.  The 
specimens  that  he  had  seen  differed  widely  from  the  official  require- 
ments in  not  a  few  instances. 
Mr.  Bernegau  also  discussed  a  ready  method  for  the  assay  of 
solutions  of  nitro-glycerin  and  asserted  that  the  loss  of  nitro-glycerin, 
in  the  making  of  tablets,  was  no  doubt  due  to  the  evaporation  in 
the  process  of  granulation. 
Mr.  William  M.  Cliffe  presented  a  communication  on  "  Official 
Standards  and  Tests  from  the  Standpoint  of  the  Retail  Druggist." 
He  said  :  From  the  point  of  view  that  I  have  been  requested  to 
take  in  the  discussion  of  the  topic  of  the  evening,  the  question  of 
the  standards  and  tests  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  is  one  that  is  very 
important. 
Through  the  position  held  by  the  retail  pharmacist,  as  the  dis- 
tributor of  pharmacopceial  drugs  and  their  preparations  to  the 
public,  he  is  the  one  to  whom  the  public  will  look  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  standards  that  may  be  properly  expected  and  exacted 
under  existing  laws. 
It  therefore  follows  as  an  absolute  necessity  that  a  retail  pharma- 
cist should  be  able  and  willing  to  accept  the  responsibilities  of  his 
position,  logically  occurring  as  a  result  of  his  relation  to  his 
customers. 
While,  owing  to  economic  conditions,  it  is  probable  that  alkaloidal 
assays  will  not  be  extensively  performed  in  retail  establishments,  it 
still  remains  a  fact  that  the  retailer  should  possess  the  qualification 
necessary  for  this  important  branch  of  his  work,  if  for  nothing  else 
than  his  own  protection  in  cases  where  there  is  suspicion  of  deviation 
from  required  standards. 
