266  United  States  Pharmacopoeia.  {AmjunUer'i902arm' 
those  already  instructed  in  medicine  and  pharmacy."  Among  other 
innovations  in  this  second  volume  we  find  iodine  in  the  primary 
list,  and  a  formula  for  making  iodide  of  potassium  given  in  the  list 
of  preparations.  In  this  same  book  we  also  find  formulas  for  mak- 
ing morphine  and  quinine  and  several  of  the  salts  of  these  alkaloids. 
Among  the  other  interesting  additions  was  the  introduction  of  a 
colored  compound  spirit  of  lavender,  and  this  in  turn  was  used  in  the 
composition  of  the  solution  of  potassium  arsenite,  thus  instituting  a 
practice  that  has  been  retained  through  all  the  various  revisions  to 
the  present  time. 
With  the  1840  edition  we  find  a  considerable  change  in  the  gen- 
eral appearance  and  also  in  the  contents  of  the  book.  The  most 
evident  changes  are,  of  course,  the  omission  of  the  Latin  portion  of 
the  work,  the  introduction  of  optional  processes  for  using  displace- 
ment filtration,  or  percolation,  in  the  making  of  tinctures  or  other 
liquid  preparations  of  vegetable  drugs,  and  the  introduction  of 
better  and  fuller  directions  for  making  the  various  kinds  of  prepara- 
tions. The  improvement  in  this  section  of  the  book  was,  of  course, 
directly  due  to  the  fact  that  the  "  National  Medical  Convention  " 
had  recognized  the  shortcomings  of  the  previous  editions,  and  had 
authorized  the  committee,  to  whom  the  revision  of  the  Pharmaco- 
poeia had  been  delegated,  to  request  the  co-operation  of  the  Colleges 
of  Pharmacy  in  the  United  States.  By  virtue  of  this  authority,  the 
chairman  of  the  committee  had  addressed  letters  to  the  presidents 
of  the  Colleges  of  Pharmacy  of  Boston,  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
requesting  their  co-operation  in  the  revision  of  the  work.  In  answer 
to  these  letters  the  Colleges  of  Pharmacy  of  Boston  and  New  York 
sent  communications,  proposing  important  changes.  These  changes 
were  evidently  acted  upon,  and  the  draft  of  the  proposed  new 
Pharmacopoeia  was  then  turned  over  to  a  committee  that  had  been 
appointed  by  the  "  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  "  to  review  it 
before  it  was  turned  over  to  the  printer.  The  review  of  this  P.C.P. 
Committee  was  evidently  so  thorough  and  exhaustive  that  it  neces- 
sitated a  complete  re-writing  of  the  whole  book  at  the  hands  of  the 
Revision  Committee.  For,  as  explained  by  this  committee  in  apol- 
ogizing for  the  unavoidable  delay  in  publishing  the  new  book,  "The 
proposed  alterations  were  too  numerous  to  admit  of  being  incorpo- 
rated with  the  existing  Pharmacopoeia." 
To  mention  a  few  of  the  new  features  of  this  edition  we  might 
