Si6 
N.  W.  D.  A.  Convention. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1  November,  1908. 
that  the  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service  is  about  to 
establish  a  laboratory  having  as  a  part  of  its  work  the  compilation 
and  publication  of  a  series  of  bulletins  or  digests  of  comments  on  the 
U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia.  The  department  is  under  the  charge  of  Dr. 
Reid  Hunt  as  Pharmacologist,  and  has  as  other  members,  Mr.  M.  I. 
Wilbert  and  Dr.  Murray  Gait  Motter.  The  N.  W.  D.  A.  Committee 
expressed  the  opinion  that  this  department  will  not  be  of  the  same 
value  as  the  one  suggested,  but,  undoubtedly,  will  be  of  great  help 
to  the  Revision  Committee. 
In  this  connection  it  will  interest  you  to  know  that  Prof.  Joseph  P. 
Remington,  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Revision  of  the 
U.  S.  P.,  in  an  address  which  he  delivered  at  one  of  the  meetings, 
recommended  to  the  N.  W.  D.  A.  that  the  latter  establish  a  depart- 
ment which  should  have  for  its  purpose  the  performing  of  experi- 
ments, in  order  to  suggest  new  tests  for  the  Pharmacopoeia,  also 
tests  and  standards  to  be  established  for  new  drugs  and  chemicals, 
which  should  be  admitted  to  the  Pharmacopoeia  in  future  editions. 
Prof.  Remington  asked  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  inves- 
tigate the  feasibility  of  his  suggestion  ;  he  also  said  that  the  American 
Therapeutic  Society  had  decided  to  establish  a  laboratory  to  test 
the  therapeutic  activity  of  official  drugs. 
Professor  Remington's  recommendation  was  carefully  considered, 
and  a  committee  appointed  to  investigate  the  feasibility  of  establish- 
ing such  a  laboratory.  Professor  Remington  stated,  also,  that,  in 
his  opinion,  a  five-year  revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  instead  of  a 
ten-year  revision,  would  seem  to  be  reasonable  and  proper.  This 
suggestion  evoked  considerable  discussion,  but  when  offered  as  a 
recommendation  by  the  Board  of  Control,  received  the  indorsement 
of  the  Association.  This  is  a  very  important  change,  and  it  is  of 
interest  to  know  that  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  Germany  and  Japan, 
according  to  the  statement  of  Mr.  Albert  Plant,  are  revised  every 
five  years,  and  that  the  English  Pharmacopoeia  has  an  annual 
supplement. 
One  of  the  points  mentioned  by  this  committee,  and  which  has 
been  much  discussed  by  importers  of  drugs  and  chemicals  during 
the  past  year,  is  the  present  stringent  law  governing  importations. 
Undoubtedly,  it  was  the  intention  of  the  legislators  in  framing 
the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  of  1906.  to  have  the  provisions  of  that  Act 
applv  to  importations,  as  well  as  interstate  commerce.  Nevertheless, 
after  the  law  was  passed,  it  was  found  that  the  old  law  of  1848  had 
