Alllju^;\9p0^ara)-}       United  States  Pharmacopoeia.  267 
say  that  articles  of  a  chemical  nature  had  appended  to  them 
descriptions  of  their  physical  and  chemical  properties,  with  a  view 
of  facilitating  their  recognition,  or  the  recognition  of  probable  con- 
taminations. The  subject  of  displacement  was,  as  noted  before, 
introduced,  and  many  of  the  formulas  have  two  distinct  processes, 
giving  the  apothecary  the  choice  of  using  either  the  new  or  the 
old  and  more  familiar  process  of  maceration  and  subsequent  filtra- 
tion. This  double  or  alternative  process  was  probably  necessary, 
on  account  of  the  opposition  that  had  been  encountered  to  the 
introduction  of  this  innovation.  In  the  call  for  delegates  to  the 
convention  for  1850,  the  Colleges  of  Pharmacy  were  requested  to 
send  delegates  on  equal  terms  with  Colleges  of  Medicine.  As  a 
result  of  this  innovation  we  find  that  pharmacists  were  well  repre- 
sented on  the  revision  committee  that  was  appointed  in  that  year. 
The  book  itself  followed  rather  closely  along  the  lines  that  had 
been  adopted  by  the  committee  of  the  preceding  edition.  There 
was,  however,  a  marked  increase  in  the  number  of  preparations, 
and  quite  an  improvement  in  some  of  the  formulas.  The  subject 
of  «'  displacement  filtration "  or  percolation  had  evidently  been 
carefully  studied  and  elaborated.  In  this  edition  we  also  find,  for 
the  first  time,  quite  a  representation  of  what  is  now  a  most  familiar 
class  of  galenical  preparations,  the  fluid  extracts. 
In  i860  another  innovation  was  introduced.  The  Pharmaco- 
pceial  Revision  Committee,  appointed  by  the  "  National  Convention 
for  revising  the  Pharmacopoeia,"  recognizing  that  former  editions 
had  not  met  with  the  sale  and  use  that  a  work  of  this  kind  should 
have,  determined  to  make  an  effort  to  introduce  the  Pharmacopoeia 
to  a  wider  range  of  usefulness.  With  this  object  in  view,  and 
despite  the  fact  that  progress  in  medicine  and  pharmacy  had  neces- 
sitated the  introduction  of  a  large  number  of  new  drugs  and  prep- 
arations, the  size  of  the  book  was  materially  reduced.  This  was 
accomplished  by  the  use  of  smaller  type  and  a  more  accurate  and 
scientific  classification  of  the  preparations.  For  instance,  the  class 
of  solutions  was,  for  the  first  time,  gathered  together  under  one 
heading.  The  same  may  be  said  of  several  other  preparations  that 
in  previous  editions  had  been  placed  under  several  headings;  in  this 
edition  they  were  all  gathered  together  under  their  proper  classifi- 
cation. 
Mr.  William  Procter,  Jr.,  it  appears,  was  the  guiding  genius  in 
