Am.  Jour.  Pharm.1 
December,  1902.  f 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
60 1 
^Scarlet-fever  serum  has,  according  to  Dr.  Moser,  been  used  very 
successfully  in  a  series  of  eighty  cases  in  Vienna. 
The  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Japan. — The  remarkable  progress 
made  in  scientific  training  and  thought  in  the  Far  East  is  well  illus- 
trated in  a  small  pamphlet  giving  an  outline  history  of  the  rise  and 
development  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Japan.  The  Society 
was  founded  in  October,  1878,  as  the  Tokyo  Pharmaceutical  So- 
ciety, with  a  membership  of  49.  In  1892  this  membership  had 
increased  to  482,  and  the  Society,  that  had  developed  from  a  purely , 
local  one  to  one  of  national  scope,  was  renamed  the  Pharmaceutical 
Society  of  Japan.  In  1901  the  Society  had  a  membership  of  2,059. 
The  journal  of  the  Society,  which  originated  in  1 88 1  with  a  total  of 
35  PaSes»  in  1 90 1  comprised  1,392  pages,  including  29  original 
articles  that  occupied  279  pages. 
To  make  these  original  articles  available  for  reference  to  the 
European  and  American  readers  and  students,  a  very  creditable  series 
of  abstracts  in  English  accompanies  each  number  of  the  journal. 
Antidecubin. — A  heavy  sheet  of  felt,  that  is  recommended  to  be 
used  as  a  preventive  of  bedsores,  is  applied  very  much  in  the  same 
way  that  corn  and  bunion  plasters  are — a  suitable  hole  in  the  felt 
relieving  pressure  on  any  portion  of  the  surface  of  the  body,  and  in 
this  way  preventing  laceration  and  subsequent  breaking  down  of 
the  outer  skin 
Antithyreoidin,  or  thyreoid  serum,  has  been  commented  on  favor- 
ably. It  is  said  to  be  the  serum  from  sheep  that,  some  six  or  eight 
weeks  before  being  bled,  have  had  their  thyroid  gland  removed. 
The  serum  is  preserved  by  the  addition  ot  small  quantities  of  car- 
bolic acid.  The  dose  is  from  0-50  gradually  increased  to  as  much 
as  2-00  c.c.  three  times  a  day,  given  in  sherry,  or,  according  to 
Moebius,  preferably  in  elderberry  wine,  for  Graves'  disease,  cretinism 
and  myxcedema.    (Pharm.  Centralhalle ',  1902,  p.  495  ) 
Bay  Rum.  —  The  Deutsche  Apotheker  Zeitung  (1902,  p.  491) 
brings  a  iormula  that,  while  it  does  not  differ  materially  from  that 
given  in  the  U.S.P.,  is  manipulated  differently  and  gives  an  agreeable 
and  clear  product. 
Oil  of  bay   33*  c.c. 
Oil  of  orange   2  5  c.c. 
Oil  of  pimenta   •   t  c.c. 
Alcohol  2,000*  c.c. 
