266 
EditoinaL 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\      May,  1881. 
Russia,  August,  1874,  the  majority,  if  not  all,  the  delegates  present  were  in 
favor  of  holding  the  next  congress  in  London,  England.  During  the  month 
of  August  the  International  Medical  Congress  will  convene  in  that  city, 
and  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  deemed  this  to  be  a  fit 
opj)ortunity  for  inviting  the  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress  to  hold 
a  meeting  about  the  same  time.  Under  date  of  January  1,  1881,  the  invi- 
tations have  been  sent  out  to  the  various  pharmaceutical  bodies  and  to 
prominent  pharmacists  in  different  countries,  and  no  doubt  can  be  enter- 
tained that  the  meeting  will  be  a  success,  certainly  as  far  as  will  concern 
the  presence  of  representative  j:»harmacists,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  likewise 
in  regard  to  the  number  of  nationalities  represented.  In  1874  only  Russia, 
Austria,  Denmark,  England  and  France  had  sent  delegates;  but  in  the 
present  instance  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  favorable  geographi- 
cal position  of  the  British  metropolis,  its  commercial  importance  and  the 
facilities  for  reaching  it  from  all  sections  of  Europe  will  induce  many  to  go, 
not  to  speak  of  the  numerous  other  attractions  that  will  amjDly  repay  even 
a  prolonged  visit  to  London. 
Whether  the  United  States  will  be  represented  at  the  forthcoming  con- 
gress we  regard  still  as  doubtful,  from  the  information  received,  yet  it  is 
obvious  that  the  pharmacists  of  this  country  must  feel  a  great  interest  in 
the  deliberations  of  this  body,  convening,  as  it  does,  in  a  country  from 
which,  in  a  great  measure,  we  have  derived  the  manner  and  conditions 
under  which  the  practice  of  j^harinacy  is  carried  on.  Aside  from  the  time 
consumed  in  traveling  to  and  attending  such  a  meeting,  many  American 
pharmacists  will  find  in  the  locality  or  section  of  country  where  the 
National  Association  will  meet  this  year  an  inducement  to  forego  the  pleas- 
ure of  making  the  j^ersonal  acquaintance  of  distinguished  eonfrh-es,  the 
more  so  since  the  meeting  in  Kansas  City  will  likewise  convene  in  August. 
The  nature  of  the  questions  to  be  discussed  has  not  yet  been  determined^ 
yet  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  subject  of  an  international  phar- 
macopoeia, which  has  claimed  the  attention  of  three  previous  congresses, 
and  to  accomplish  which  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Paris  has  expended 
much  labor,  will  receive  due  attention.  Several  years  ago  we  stated  our 
opinion  that  the  attempt  should  be  directed  towards  the  uniformity  of  the 
strength  of  the  most  active  and  important  drugs  and  preparations,  and  we 
see  no  reason  for  changing  our  view.  Those  who  have  compared  the 
strength  of  preparations  bearing  the  same  name  in  different  pharmacopoeias 
will  readily  acquiesce  in  the  importance  of  this  subject. 
At  the  present  time  quite  a  number  of  the  different  national  pharma- 
copoeias are  either  undergoing  a  revision  or  the  preliminary  steps  for  such, 
a  revision  have  been  taken.  It  would  seem  natural  that  an  interchange  of 
views  should  be  sought  on  such  a  favorable  occasion,  regarding  the  peri- 
odicy  of  pharmacopoeial  revision,  the  part  to  be  taken  therein  by  the  indi- 
vidual pharmacists  and  the  pharmaceutical  societies,  and  numerous  other 
points. 
Pharmaceutical  education,  in  all  its  bearings,  is  likewise  a  theme  which^ 
as  on  former  occasions,  may  in  some  forpi  or  other  come  up  for  discussion ; 
in  fact  the  field  is  a  very  extensive  one,  and  it  will  be  by  no  means  an  easy 
task  to  select  that  which  to  all  would  seem  to  be  of  primary  importance. 
