AmMa?y"i904arm'}     The  Pharmacist  and  the  Pharmacopoeia.  211 
the  publication  of  the  1890  Pharmacopoeia  many  States  have 
enacted  pure  food  and  pure  drug  laws,  and  in  almost  all  of  these  the 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia  is  quoted  as  the  standard  for  the 
purity  and  strength  of  the  drugs  and  preparations  enumerated  by  it. 
Being,  therefore,  practically  embodied  in  the  statutes  of  these 
several  States,  it  would  appear  imperative  that  the  Pharmacopoeia 
be  continued  as  simple  and  direct  as  is  compatible  with  an  exhaust- 
ive treatise. 
If  any  one  will  copy  from  one  of  the  Dispensatories  or  other 
books,  the  Pharmacopceial  formulas  for,  let  us  say,  Fowler's  solution, 
compound  licorice  powder  and  the  compound  tincture  of  benzoin, 
with  the  alternative  formulas,  as  given  in  extenso,  he  will  readily  ap- 
preciate how  easy  it  would  be  for  a  lawyer  of  but  average  ability  to 
make  such  formulas  appear  ridiculous. 
How  different,  and  even  misleading,  these  formulas  appear  when 
an  attempt  is  made  to  make  the  alternative  formulas  fit  in  with  con- 
venient quantities  is  evident  from  even  a  most  casual  inspection  of 
the  latest  edition  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia. 
The  only  remaining  alternative,  the  exclusive  use  of  troy  or 
avoirdupois  weights  and  liquid  measures,  would  be  a  serious  retro- 
gressive move,  would  prove  a  hardship  on  all  that  have  accustomed 
themselves  to  think  of  galenical  preparations  as  having  a  certain  per 
cent,  strength,  and  would  also  detract  no  little  from  any  claims  that 
the  pharmacist  might  make  to  being  classed  as  a  professional  man. 
In  summing  up  the  present  situation  it  might  be  said  that, 
if  we  as  pharmacists  wish  to  be  benefited  by  the  giant  strides 
that  science  is  taking  along  all  lines  of  thought  and  investigations 
entirely  regardless  of  us  as  individuals,  we  must  begin  to  realize  that 
we  must  ourselves  come  in  closer  contact  with  the  requirements  of 
the  times  or  fall  by  the  wayside.  We  must  appreciate  that  we  can- 
not take  part  in  twentieth  century  progress  hampered  as  we  are 
with  eighteenth  century  ideas  and  methods. 
To  appreciate  the  work  that  is  being  done  for  us  by  others,  we 
must  thoroughly  understand  their  object  and  their  methods,  and  we 
must  also  realize  that  if  we  wish  to  continue  as  beneficiaries  of  any 
particular  line  of  work  we  ourselves  must  be  willing  and  able  to  take 
an  active  part  in  the  development  and  advance  of  that  particular 
line. 
