468 
National  Formulary. 
fAru.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     October,  1908. 
to  state  the  strength  of  a  preparation,  it  be  stated  as  containing  so 
many  grams  of  substance  in  one  hundred  cubic  centimeters,  except 
when  all  the  parts  are  given  by  weight,  when  it  may  be  expressed  by 
per  cent. 
ALCOHOLIC  PERCENTAGES. 
The  requirement  of  the  National  and  State  Pure  Food  and  Drug 
Laws  that  the  percentage  of  alcohol  in  medicinal  preparations  shall 
be  definitely  stated  on  the  label  has  lead  to  the  suggestions  that  the 
National  Formulary  add  a  table  or  other  statement  of  the  alcoholic 
strength  of  all  the  preparations  containing  alcohol. 
This  question  being  beset  by  a  number  of  difficulties,  a  com- 
mittee has  been  appointed  to  determine  by  experiments,  whether 
such  a  statement  in  the  National  Formulary  is  feasible.  If  found 
feasible,  the  Committee  will  propably  recommend  that  a  statement 
of  this  character  be  incorporated,  either  under  the  separate  prepara- 
tions or  in  tables,  as  may  be  advisable.  If  it  is  not  found  feasible 
to  state  exact  percentages,  it  may  be  advisable  to  state  a  theoretical 
strength,  and  to  require  simply  that  the  alcoholic  contents  of  prepara- 
tions containing  alcohol  shall  be  within  ten  per  cent,  of  this  theoreti- 
cal strength,  and  that  slight  differences  in  flavors  and  colors  may  be 
disregarded. 
IDENTITY  STANDARDS. 
The  criticism  being  made  that  the  National  Formulary  contains 
a  number  of  articles  for  which  there  is  no  recognized  standard  in 
the  pharmacopoeia  or  other  authoritative  works,  and  that  in  conse- 
quence, preparations  containing  such  unofficial  articles  may  vary 
considerably,  owing  to  commercial  variations  in  the  articles  sold 
under  the  same  name.  In  order  to  correct  this,  two  methods  have 
been  considered.  One,  to  introduce  into  the  Formulary  such  articles, 
with  tests  of  identity  and  standard  of  strength,  as  is  done  in  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  or  for  the  present,  to  briefly  define  such  articles  in 
footnotes,  and  request  the  Pharmacopceial  Committee  to  introduce 
such  articles  with  tests  of  identity  and  strength  of  purity  in  the 
next  edition  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  It  is  very  probable  that  any 
such  request  would  be  complied  with  by  the  Pharmacopceial  Com- 
mittee. This  Committee  has  deemed  it  wise  to  appoint  a  special 
sub-committee  to  collect  that  data  on  the  number  and  character  of 
such  simples  as  are  not  recognized  by  authoritative 'publications  be- 
fore making  definite  recommendations  on  this  subject. 
