Am \pi°nr'i9ioarm" }     Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  201 
examples  of  official  preparations  requiring  an  improvement  in  the 
formulae  and  directions,  compound  tincture  of  gentian  and  fluid- 
extract  of  squill  were  mentioned.  Continuing,  Mr.  Beringer  said 
that  Dr.  Rusby's  paper  on  "  Crude  and  Powdered  Drugs  at  the 
Port  of  New  York  during  the  Year  1907-08  "  (Am.  Jour.  Ph., 
81,  p.  231  ;  Proceedings  A.  Ph.  A.,  1908,  p.  783)  shows  the  extent 
to  which  certain  foreign  drugs  are  being  imported  and  used  in  this 
country,  and  of  these  he  mentioned  mylabris  (Chinese  beetle), 
stating  that  according  to  his  experiments  this  drug  is  not  adapted 
for  the  liquid  preparations  owing  to  the  excessive  amount  of  fat 
present,  but  that  it  is  suitable  for  the  plaster,  and  that  if  admitted 
to  the  Pharmacopoeia  retail  druggists  should  have  the  say  as  to 
which  preparations  it  should  enter.  Saw  palmetto  was  mentioned 
as  an  example  of  an  official  drug  for  which  no  formula  was  given, 
and  the  claim  made  that  pharmacists  should  work  out  formulae  for 
preparations  of  it. 
Professor  Remington  said  with  reference  to  Mr.  Beringer's 
remarks  that  the  physician  could  not  be  blamed  for  looking  at  these 
questions  from  his  point  of  view,  nor  druggists  from  theirs,  nor  even 
chemists  from  theirs,  one  of  them,  B.  L.  Murray,  having  recently 
proposed  the  omission  of  iron  and  mercury  from  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
With  regard  to  mylabris  and  many  other  imported  drugs,  he  stated 
that  the  desire  to  make  them  official  was  based  on  the  need  of 
standards  for  them. 
John  K.  Thum,  Ph.G.,  presented  some  notes  on  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, and  offered  the  following  practical  suggestions  based  in 
part  on  his  own  experience :  ( 1 )  That  benzoinated  lard  be  pre- 
pared by  dissolving  1  per  cent,  of  benzoic  acid  in  lard  melted  at  a 
low  heat;  (2)  that  in  view  of  the  statements  that  the  stronger  the 
alcoholic  menstruum  the  more  stable  the  preparations  of  digitalis 
coupled  with  the  opinion  that  deterioration  of  these  preparations  is 
due  to  a  ferment,  experiments  should  be  carried  out  along  the  line 
of  extraction  with  a  stronger  menstruum  and  in  the  making  of 
quantities,  as  of  the  tincture,  which  would  be  used  in  a  short  time; 
(3)  that  antiseptic  solution  should  not  be  retained  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia and  that  the  addition  of  glycerin  would  make  it  more 
palatable,  while  maceration  with  0.40  Gm.  of  finely  ground  golden 
seal  for  24  hours  followed  by  filtration  without  the  use  of  talcum 
would  improve  its  appearance ;  ( 4 )  that  the  addition  of  10  per  cent, 
of  glycerin  to  the  formula  for  compound  syrup  of  hypophosphites 
enhances  both  the  appearance  and  keeping  quality,  and  that  an 
