240  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.     { AmMlyr,'i908arnj' 
Dr.  Kebler  called  attention  to  some  of  the  varied  activities  of  the 
drug  laboratory,  and  the  attempts  that  are  now  being  made  to 
compel  a  reasonably  strict  adherence  to  the  provisions  of  the  food 
and  drugs  act.  In  connection  with  the  work  that  is  being  done 
under  the  food  and  drugs  act,  the  most  evident  need  is  the  devising 
of  improved  methods  for  detecting  the  composition  of  the  several 
compounds  that  are  being  marketed. 
Another  practical  difficulty  that  has  been  encountered  is  the 
difficulty  of  procuring  many  of  the  necessary  chemicals  of  the 
required  standard  for  purity.  To  insure  reasonably  pure  chemicals 
it  has  been  found  necessary  to  revert  to  the  standards  of  the  U.S.P.  for 
1890,  as  these  are  invariably  higher  than  the  standards  of  the  U.S.P. 
8th  Decennial  Revision. 
One  of  the  many  practical  problems  that  the  men  in  charge  of 
the  laboratory  are  now  endeavoring  to  solve  is  the  question  of  de- 
terioration of  drugs  and  chemicals.  For  this  purpose  a  number  of 
drugs  that  are  usually  thought  to  be  readily  decomposed  have  been 
studied  systematically  to  determine,  if  possible,  the  rate  of  deterio- 
ration under  varying  conditions. 
In  connection  with  the  study  of  vegetable  drugs  a  rather  interest- 
ing complication  has  been  developed  by  the  discovery  that  the 
greater  number  ot  reference  herbariums  are  far  from  being  uniformly 
reliable. 
This  fact  will  require  a  careful  review  of  herbariums  used  for 
comparison,  and  this  is  now  being  done  by  the  officials  in  charge  of 
the  herbarium  in  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 
In  conclusion  Dr.  Kebler  exhibited  a  number  of  samples  of  adult- 
erated and  sophisticated  drugs  that  had  come  to  his  attention  and 
also  showed  a  number  of  preparations  that  were  being  marketed 
contrary  to  the  requirements  of  the  food  and  drugs  act. 
The  several  communications  were  discussed  by  Prof.  Joseph  P. 
Remington,  Professor  Stanislaus,  Mr.  Hunsberger,  Professor  Kraemer, 
Mr.  Hilts  and  a  number  of  others.  A  vote  ot  thanks  was  tendered 
to  Dr.  Kebler  and  the  other  contributors  for  the  presentation^ 
interesting  and  valuable  information. 
A  preamble  and  resolution  endorsing  UH.  R.  16,091"  was  unani- 
mously adopted. 
M.  I.  WlLBERT, 
Secretary. 
