THE  PHARMACOPCEIA  OF  1870. 
291 
humiliating  it  may  be  to  the  medical  profession,  that  many  of  its 
members  are  *'lead  by  the  nose  "  through  the  agency  of  quick- 
witted advertisers  on  the  covers  of  medical  journals,  and  in  circu- 
lars and  pamphlets.  The  remedy  for  this  evil  is  better  profes- 
sional education — better  acquaintance  with  the  materia  medica — 
better  knowledge  of  the  pieparations  of  the  pharmacopoeia  by 
actual  inspection,  so  as  to  be  able  to  tell,  as  far  as  sensible  prop- 
erties permit,  what  their  patients  are  getting.  We  don't 
believe  the  possession  and  exercise  of  this  knowledge  on  the  part 
of  physicians  will  unfavorably  influence  legitimate  pharmacy, 
but  will  increase  the  demand  for  regular  preparations  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  many  fancy  novelties  now  flooding  the  shops. 
The  third  step,  and  perhaps  that  on  which  most  depends,  must 
be  taken  by  the  pharmaceutists.  Their  organization  is  by  no 
means  so  complete  as  is  that  of  physicians  ;  nevertheless  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  in  co-operation  with  the 
Colleges  of  Pharmacy,  may  do  much  to  uphold  the  pharmacopoeia 
as  the  law  in  making  officinal  preparations  ;  and  it  is  to  these 
institutions  that  the  revisional  Committee  of  the  National  Conven- 
tion should  look  for  the  most  efficient  aid  in  their  work.  It  is 
complained  sometimes  that  the  pharmacopoeia  does  not  embrace 
preparations  suited  to  certain  localities.  If  this  be  true — if  the 
pharmaceutists  of  New  Orleans,  Mobile  and  San  Francisco  find 
that  their  wants  are  not  well  represented  in  that  work^  now  is 
the  time  to  make  suggestions  through  the  journals  or  in  commu- 
nications to  the  Associations  or  directly  to  the  Revisory  Com- 
mittee when  appointed.  On  the  other  hand,  in  our  northern 
cities,  the  German  element  largely  enters  ;  German  pharmacy  is 
much  practised,  and  the  preparations  of  the  Prussian  pharma- 
copoeia are  extensively  prescribed.  These  German  stores  are 
often  kept  by  men  of  intelligence  and  education,  who  keep  the 
preparations  of  both  pharmacopoeias,  but  in  reference  to  extracts, 
syrups,  and  tinctures,  it  is  quite  possible  that  they  are  often 
confounded  in  dispensing  prescriptions,  and  that  some  influence 
exerted  in  that  direction  might  be  useful.  It  is  also  quite  pos- 
sible that  valuable  preparations,  peculiar  to  German  pharmacy, 
might  be  engrafted  upon  ours  in  view  of  the  extensive  demand 
from  German  physicians. 
I 
