AO  Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy.        {A  January Pi9oIm" 
The  feature  of  the  evening  was  the  review  of  current  pharma- 
ceutical literature  by  members  of  the  club.  Mr.  G.  A.  Brenke  re- 
viewed the  American  Druggist  for  October  28th.  A  discussion  on 
the  preservation  of  Syrup  o\  Hydriodic  Acid  was  followed  by  a  prop, 
osition  to  increase  the  strength  of  this  official  syrup  to  5  per  cent. 
Professor  Hallberg  thought  such  an  increase  desirable,  in  that  it 
would  provide  a  suitable  substitute  for  the  alkaline  iodides.  Mr. 
Thorburn  doubted  the  desirability  of  such  a  substitution  from  a 
therapeutic  standpoint,  and  suggested  that  iodides  of  an  organic 
base  would  be  preferable.  A  lively  discussion  followed  the  presen- 
tation of  the  salient  features  of  the  Patent  Commissioners'  report 
on  the  petition  of  the  committee  chosen  by  the  N.A.R.D.  to  confer 
with  the  President.  Professor  Hallberg  was  appointed  a  committee 
of  one  to  draft  resolutions  expressing  the  sentiment  of  the  club  on 
this  question  for  presentation  at  the  next  meeting. 
Professor  Day  reviewed  the  leading  articles  in  the  American 
Journal  of  Pharmacy  for  October,  especially  Professor  Schlotter- 
beck's  paper  on  "  The  Mydriatic  Alkaloids." 
Mr.  Thorburn  reviewed  the  October  number  of  the  Druggists 
Circular.  The  greatest  interest  was  manifested  in  the  editorial  en- 
titled "  A  Menace  to  the  Pharmacopoeia."  Professor  Hallberg  spoke 
of  the  proposition  to  make  a  general  statement  in  the  Pharmacopoeia 
to  the  effect  that  the  official  requirements  applied  to  the  articles  in 
the  U.S. P.  only  when  used  for  medicinal  purposes;  and  also  of  the 
elimination  of  the  common  names,  such  as  "  Sweet  Spirit  of  Nitre," 
etc.  Mr.  Hereth,  Mr.  Schreiner  and  others  took  part  in  the  dis- 
cussion. 
The  correctness  of  the  statement  of  Dr.  Wiley,  in  his  address 
before  the  N.A.R.D.,  in  Washington,  D.C.,  recently,  as  reported  in 
the  journals,  that  the  Federal  Government  does  not  concern  itself 
as  to  the  quality  of  drugs  imported,  only  as  to  the  duty  to  be  col- 
lected, was  challenged  by  Professor  Hallberg,  who  said  that  instead 
of  its  being  a  matter  of  indifference  whether  opium,  for  example, 
contains  5,  10  or  20  per  cent,  morphine,  the  customs  law  levies  a 
duty  of  $6.00  a  pound  on  opium  containing  less  than  9  per  cent, 
of  morphine  and  opium  prepared  for  smoking,  while  opium  contain- 
ing not  less  than  9  per  cent,  morphine  is  subject  to  a  duty  of  $1.00 
per  pound  ;  thus  opium  which  falls  below  the  U.S. P.  standard  is 
excluded  from  the  drug  market  in  the  United  States. 
