488  America n  Pharmaceutical  Association.     { timber 
explanation  of  this,  Prof.  Lloyd  said  that  what  Mr.  Alpers  had  received  when 
he  ordered  Aralia  nudicaulis  was  probably  Aralia  hispida  ;  and  he  also  said  that 
the  Eclectics  have  carefully  distinguished  between  the  two,  and  that  they 
refuse  to  accept  spikenard  for  the  plant  under  consideration. 
By  a  special  action  the  report  of  the  Committee  on  Revision  of  the  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia  was  presented  at  this  stage  by  Chairman  Eliel,  who  said 
in  effect  : 
Podophyllum. — As  podophyllin  is  the  active  principle,  a  podophyllin  require- 
ment should  be  established.  As  the  process  of  assaying  the  drug  and  obtain- 
ing the  purified  Podophyllin,  U.S  P.,  is  a  simple  one,  it  should  be  adopted  as 
such,  or  in  a  modified  form.  Four  per  cent,  of  purified  U.S. P.  podophyllin 
appears  to  be  an  average  good  yield  from  resinous  prime  root. 
Prutius  Virginiana. — It  has  been  established  that  wild  cherry  bark  can 
readily  be  assayed  and  its  value  be  determined  A  process  of  assay  should 
therefore  be  adopted  and  a  standard  hydrocyanic  acid  requirement  be 
established. 
Sanguinaria. — Blood  root  has  an  active  principle,  sanguinarine,  and  as  this 
can  readily  be  determined,  a  process  of  assay  should  be  adopted,  and  a  sangui- 
narine requirement  established. 
Sarsaparilla,  Ouillaja  and  Senega  have  similar  properties,  and  their  active 
principles  are  similar  and  allied.  These  principles  should  be  investigated  and 
closely  compared.  Methods  of  assay  and  standard  requirements  should  be 
established  so  as  to  give  pharmacists  a  means  of  determining  their  merits  and 
value  independently  of  the  crude  microscopical  methods  now  necessarily  and 
only  employed,  and  which  can  have  no  real  value.  If,  as  has  been  maintained, 
soap  bark  and  senega  root  have  the  same  therapeutic  value,  and  can  be  inter- 
changed, the  more  valuable  one  should  be  determined  and  adopted,  and  the 
less  valuable  one  droppe  d 
Strophanthus. — The  most  valuable  variety  of  this  drug  should  be  adopted  and 
the  less  valuable  varieties  excluded  by  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  a  method  of 
assay  for  determining  the  strophanthin  adopted,  as  well  as  a  minimum  content 
of  the  same. 
Syrupus  Acidi  Hydriodici  is  not  a  stable  preparation,  and  it  is  doubtful  if  it 
can  be  made  such.  A  concentrated  solution  of  hydriodic  acid  can  be  made 
that  is  stable,  and  from  which  the  syrup  can  be  made  as  wanted  for  dispensing. 
Such  a  solution  should  be  substituted  for  the  syrup.  Prof.  Ryan  suggested,  if 
the  syrup  be  continued,  that  its  strength  be  increased. 
Syrup  of  Garlic. — This  syrup  is  practically  obsolete,  as  far  as  usefulness  is 
concerned,  and  should  be  dropped;  but  if  retained  in  the  Pharmacopoeia,  the 
quantity  of  dilute  acetic  acid  should  be  reduced,  for  if  made  with  a  good  quality 
of  garlic,  the  finished  product,  according  to  quantities  now  directed  to  be  used, 
will  yield  about  100  c.c.  more  than  the  iooo  c.c.  that  the  Pharmacopoeia  directs. 
Vanillin  has  been  recognized  as  the  odoriferous  and  valuable  principle  of 
vanilla  beans,  and  is  a  definite  chemical  compound  whose  purity  can  readily  be 
determined.  It  should  be  made  official,  especially  as  its  use  is  becoming  gen- 
eral among  pharmacists. 
Mucilago  Acacics  may  be  kept  for  an  indefinite  time  if  25  per  cent,  of  the 
water  directed  to  be  used  is  replaced  with  liquor  calcis,  and  we  recommend  its 
adoption  in  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
