6 io  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  f ^embef.iS0 
of  the  French  preparation.  That  it  has  been  recognized  that  the 
strength  of  the  U.S. P.  tincture  is  excessive,  is  shown  by  the  repeated 
reduction  of  the  percentage.  The  tincture  originally  represented 
65  per  cent,  of  the  crude  drug,  and  was  reduced  in  1850  to  50  per 
cent,  and  in  i860  to  40  per  cent.,  where  it  remained  until  1890  when 
it  was  reduced  to  35  per  cent.  We  understand  that  there  is  now  a 
movement  to  return  to  40  per  cent.,  for  no  reason  other  than  that 
40  per  cent,  is  the  official  strength  of  the  tincture  of  veratrum  viride. 
The  tinctures  of  many  other  potent  drugs  are  from  50  per  cent,  to 
100  per  cent,  stronger  than  the  proposed  international  standard. 
These  variations  in  strength  become  of  very  serious  moment  when 
we  consider  the  potency  of  the  preparations,  their  widespread  use, 
and  the  fact  that  foreign  medical  literature  is  freely  abstracted  and 
liberally  commented  upon  in  medical  journals.  Comparatively  few 
physicians  are  in  a  position  to  familiarize  themselves  with  the  differ- 
ences in  the  strength  of  galenic  preparations  in  different  countries — 
hence,  the  possibility  of  serious  consequences  from  the  use  of  potent 
remedies  in  dosage  advocated  in  foreign  publications.  A  uniform 
standard  should  be  adopted,  and  this  standard  should  be  inter- 
national as  well  as  national.  For  instance,  were  tincture  of  aconite 
reduced  to  the  same  strength  as  tincture  of  belladonna,  it  could  be 
administered  in  the  same  dose,  and — a  matter  of  some  importance — 
the  difference  between  the  average  medicinal  dose  and  the  lethal 
dose  would  be  greater.  The  facts  cited  should  enlist  the  attention 
of  the  Committee  on  the  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  with  a  view 
to  the  adoption  of  the  strength-percentage  recognized  by  the  Brussels 
convention. — Editorial  in  Amer.  Med.y  1 902,  p.  721. 
PHARMACEUTICAL  MEETING. 
The  regular  monthly  pharmaceutical  meeting  of  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy  was  held  on  Tuesday,  November  1 8th,  Mr. 
Warren  H.  Poley,  President  of  the  Philadelphia  Association  of  Retail 
Druggists,  acting  as  chairman. 
Mr.  M.  I.  Wilbert  was  the  first  speaker  and  read  a  paper  on 
"  Some  New  Soap  Preparations,"  samples  of  which  he  exhibited. 
(See  page  587.) 
