'^Febniarv^TtT ;     Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  99 
Prof.  Henry  Kraemer  called  attention  to  some  of  the  features 
of  the  third  and  latest  edition  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  Japan,  stat- 
ing that  inasmuch  as  the  revision  of  our  own  Pharmacopoeia  is  being 
considered  from  so  many  points  of  view,  a  more  intimate  knowledge 
of  the  various  foreign  pharmacopoeias  is  desirable.  He  stated  that 
the  Japanese  Pharmacopoeia  is  issued  by  an  edict  of  the  Govern- 
ment, that  it  is  a  very  practical  and  well-arranged  work,  and  is  essen- 
tially a  pharmacist's  book. 
Among  the  features  to  which  he  particularly  referred  are  the 
following:  The  aromatic  waters  are  mostly  made  directly  from 
the  drug  by  distillation ;  extracts,  tinctures,  and  wines  are  made  by 
maceration ;  sesame  oil  is  directed  in  the  formulae  for  ammonia  lini- 
ment and  lime  liniment ;  formulae  are  given  for  the  preparation  of 
medicated  cottons  and  gauzes  (telaej  ;  in  addition  to  antidiphtberic 
serum,  antitetanic  serum  and  tuberculin  are  official ;  besides  the  fer- 
ments, pepsin  and  pancreatin,  diastase  is  official ;  to  the  assay 
processes  identity  tests  for  the  alkaloids  are  usually  appended;  the 
descriptions  for  vegetable  drugs  are  very  simple  in  some  cases, 
as  that  for  licorice  root,  but  when  the  drug  requires  special  con- 
sideration the  description  is  given  in  more  detail.  Of  the  vegetable 
drugs  the  following  were  mentioned  as  of  special  interest :  scopolia 
preparations  replace  those  of  belladonna,  although  belladonna  leaves 
are  official ;  under  ipecac  directions  are  given  for  removing  the 
wood  before  using  the  drug  in  the  making  of  preparations ;  three 
starches  are  official,  that  derived  from  the  potato  tuber,  one  from 
the  root  of  Erythroniitm  dens  cants  L.  and  one  from  the  root  of 
Pueraria  thunbergiana  Benth.  Other  of  the  official  drugs  were 
also  mentioned,  as  follows:  the  rhizome  (root)  of  Phytolacca  aci- 
nosa  var.  csculenta,  the  whole  plant  of  Taraxacum  officinale  var. 
glaucescens,  the  rhizome  of  Coptis  an  em  once  folia  and  of  other 
species  of  Coptis,  the  rhizome  and  roots  of  Gentiana  scabra  var. 
Buergeri,  the  wood  of  Picrasma  quassioides,  the  seed  of  Prunus 
armeniaca,  and  the  leaves  of  Prunus  macrophylla.  Another  notice- 
able feature  is  the  number  of  American  and  European  drugs  which 
are  recognized,  as  the  tuberous  root  of  Aconitnm  Napellns,  cascara 
sagrada,  and  hydrastis.  Among  the  official  alkaloids,  agaricine  was 
noted. 
The  terms  and  general  directions  used  throughout  the  text  are 
explained  in  the  preface;  the  metric  system  is  used,  and  quantities 
given  in  the  formulae  are  in  parts  by  weight.    In  the  appendices 
