^™oct"^i88i^'^'"'}    International  Pharmaceutical  Congress.  619 
a  grand  thing  to  look  forward  to,  but  it  was  quite  imjjossible,  at  any  rate 
at  present.  He  felt  sure  that  any  steps  to  be  taken,  if  to  be  useful,  must 
be  from  the  simple  to  the  difficult  and  they  must  be  content  with  small 
things  to  begin  with.  He  explained  that  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Great  Britain,  although  it  had  been  in  existence  for  something  like  fifty 
years,  had  as  yet  no  voice  in  the  making  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  Able 
English  iDliarmacists  had  been  emj^loyed  to  assist,  but  not  as  re^Dresenting 
that  Society.    He  supported  the  proposal  of  Mr.  Gille. 
Mr.  Gille  exi^lained  that  the  Pharmacopoeia  should  be  made  out  in  two 
distinct  parts,  that  the  first  should  contain  the  results  already  arrived  at 
and  should  be  printed  and  despatched,  first  of  all  to  Russia,  and  that  the 
various  questions  relating  to  the  second  part  should  be  postponed  for  fur- 
ther discussion  and  arrangement  until  a  more  deliberate  opinion  liad  been 
formed  upon  it. 
Mr.  Mehu,  Paris,  said  there  was  but  one  MS.  and  that  it  was  not  divided 
into  two  portions.  To  some  parts  of  it  notes  had  been  appended,  but  it 
still  remained  one.  The  pharmacopoeia  so  arranged  Avas  of  an  original 
character  ;  all  party  spirit  had  been  rigorously  excluded  from  it.  It  was 
now  ready  to  be  printed,  and  when  printed  it  could  be  judged  of  by  all. 
He  suggested  that  as  soon  as  it  was  in  a  proper  shape  to  be  printed,  a  com- 
mission should  be  appointed  to  consider  it,  and  in  three  months  it  might 
be  ready. 
Mr.  Martindale,  London,  supported  the  motion.  He  said  there  were 
really  two  subjects  before  the  Congress,  one  of  equalization  of  the  strength 
of  officinal  preparations  and  another  the  formation  of  a  Universal  Phar- 
macopoeia. With  regard  to  the  production  of  such  a  work  he  thought  it 
should  be  left  to  private  enterprise,  much  in  the  same  way  as  Mr.  Jourdan 
had  prepared  his.  The  International  Pharmacopoeia  would  be  distinct 
altogether  from  a  Universal  Pharmacopoeia.  A  commencement  should  be 
made  by  forming  a  commission  to  equalize  the  strength  of  preparations 
containing  potent  drugs;  and,  preceding  this,  to  make  uniform  the 
strength  of  acids  and  of  spirit  used  in  the  difterent  countries. 
Mr.  Carteighe,  London,  would  not  destroy  the  peculiarities  of  pharmacy 
in  any  country ;  but  it  was  necessary  for  the  public  health  and  public 
safety  that  there  should  be  uniform  strength  in  potent  medicines.  There- 
fore he  agreed  with  all  the  speakers — and  he  believed  English  pharmacists 
were  unanimously  agreed — that  the  very  large  ideas  of  their  Paris  friends 
were  such  as  could  not  be  recommended,  and  even  if  they  could  recom- 
mend them  as  pharmacists,  they  were  certain  that  the  medical  profession 
could  not  be  persuaded  to  follow  them. 
Mr.  Petit,  Paris,  said  the  discussion  rather  differed  from  conclusions 
arrived  at  by  previous  Congresses,  which  favored  tlie  formation  of  a  Uni- 
versal Pharmacopoeia.  It  was  never  meant,  however,  to  abolish  national 
pharmacopoeias.  The  Pharmacopoeia  which  had  been  drawn  up  by  the 
French  Society  had  already  been  adopted  in  some  places,  as  for  instance 
in  the  Argentine  Republic.  It  seemed  as  if  pharmacists  would  be  rather 
behind  the  spirit  of  the  age  if  they  did  not  attempt  to  frame  a  Universal 
Pharmacopoeia. 
