\™PtemberPi9io!'}    Manufacture  of  Medicinal  Plasters.  427 
Canadian  pitch  and  yellow  wax;  cantharidal  pitch  plaster,  which 
is  essentially  the  warming  plaster  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  of 
1890  and  is  made  up  of  cantharidal  cerate  combined  with  burgundy 
pitch;  resin  plaster,  which  is  essentially  the  adhesive  plaster  of  the 
U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  of  1890,  being  a  combination  of  lead  plaster, 
resin,  and  yellow  wax. 
It  should  be  noted  that  in  the  National  Formulary  there  is  no 
attempt  to  introduce  India  rubber  into  the  compound,  and  that 
the  formulas  given  in  this  work  are  those  which  have  come  down 
through  the  ages  of  pharmacy.  It  should  also  be  noted  that  we 
have  an  adhesive  plaster  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  and  an  adhesive 
plaster  in  the  National  Formulary  which  are  entirely  different  in 
their  constituents,  as  well  as  in  the  resulting  product. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  the  National  Pure  Food  and  Drugs 
Law  and  the  enactments  of  the  various  states  have  named  the 
U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  and  the  National  Formulary  as  the  standard 
for  medicinal  preparations,  it  seems  imperative  that  the  Pharma- 
copoeia should  name  the  standard  for  plasters  in  common  use.  Such 
being  the  case,  and  in  consideration  of  the  fact  that  plasters  made 
with  the  official  bases  have  but  little  or  no  sale,  in  my  judgment, 
this  course  could  be  pursued  with  prescribing  what  the  mass  of 
the  base  or  vehicle  should  be.  In  other  words,  latitude  might  be 
allowed  in  the  selection  of  the  ingredients  of  the  plaster  other  than 
the  medicament.  This  course  would  allow  the  plaster  maker  or  the 
dispenser  to  supply  plasters  to  suit  the  demand :  it  would  enable 
the  physician  to  know  the  exact  amount  of  medication  present 
in  a  given  plaster  mass,  whatever  might  be  the  vehicle  employed. 
In  my  judgment  the  Pharmacopoeia  should  also  prescribe  proc- 
esses by  which  plasters,  especially  those  containing  alkaloids,  could 
be  assayed.  The  law  and  trade  customs  now  require  that  there 
shall  be  some  authority  to  which  all  things  may  be  referred,  and 
the  Pharmacopoeia  alone  is  such  an  authority,  and  whatever  else 
we  find  in  such  a  work  we  should  find  the  standard  for  medicinal 
preparations  and  the  methods  by  which  a  given  substance  may  be 
compared  with  the  standard. 
Rather  than  to  eliminate  from  the  Pharmacopoeia  a  single  plaster 
or  a  single  preparation  for  which  there  is  a  reasonable  demand,  I 
would  urge  the  addition  of  a  still  greater  number.  I  have  also 
suggested  to  the  revisers  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  that  the  formulas 
for  plasters  should  be  revised :  That  the  mass  or  base  introduced 
