5  54  Recognition  of  Synthetic  Chemicals.  {A^^S%f/ 
Thirdly,  by  rule  or  order,  all  persons  persistently  trading  in  nar- 
cotics to  be  used  by  drug  habitues  should  be  excluded  from  phar- 
maceutical brotherhood,  especially  from  this  Association's  mem- 
bership, and  should  be  ostracized  by  our  profession  as  Law  excludes 
the  defaulter  and  Medicine  disowns  the  abortionist. 
ON  THE  RECOGNITION  OF  SYNTHETIC  CHEMICALS  IN 
THE  COMING  EDITION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
PHARMACOPCEIA.1 
By  M.  I.  Whbert, 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
The  present  Pharmacopoeia  Revision  Committee  has  several  prob- 
lems before  it  that  will  require  a  considerable  amount  of  thought, 
ingenuity  and  far-sightedness  to  solve.  Not  the  least  among  these 
problems  is  the  question  of  how  much  and  how  to  recognize  the 
host  of  the  so-called  newer  remedies.  This  is  especially  true  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  many  of  these  new  remedies  conform  with  one  sec- 
tion of  the  committee's  instructions,  as  given  by  the  national  con- 
vention, while  they  are  diametrically  opposed  to  the  clause  relating 
to  proprietary  rights. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  national  convention  of  1900,  for 
revising  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  according  to  the  general 
principles  that  were  adopted  for  guiding  the  revision  committee, 
allows  the  admission  of  "  any  synthetized  product  of  definite  com- 
position which  is  in  common  use  by  the  medical  profession,  the 
identity,  purity,  or  strength  of  which  can  be  determined."  These 
instructions,  however,  also  say  that  "  No  compound  or  mixture  shall 
be  introduced  if  the  composition  or  mode  of  manufacture  thereof  be 
kept  secret,  or  if  it  be  controlled  by  unlimited  proprietary  or  patent 
rights." 
These  two  sentences,  while  carefully  worded,  nevertheless  admit 
of  a  very  wide  difference  of  opinion  in  their  interpretation. 
In  view  of  the  pressure  that  will  probably  be  brought  to  bear  on 
the  revision  committee  for  recognition  from  various  sources,  it  will 
be  quite  proper  to  inquire  into  the  present  status  of  this  class  of 
1  Read  at  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Asssociation,  June,  1902. 
