Am.  Jour.Pharm.  I 
Feb.,  1882.  J 
Editorial. 
93 
lislied  in  our  last  number,  pages  18  to  23.  Mr.  Martindale's  incompatible 
mixture  (see  page  18)  and  the  manner  in  which  he  overcame  the  difficulty 
and  succeeded  in  dispensing  the  mixture  so  that  it  could  be  given  in  pro- 
perly divided  doses,  occasioned  considerable  discussion  concerning  that 
apparently  inexhaustible  question  whether  and  to  what  extent  the  dispen- 
ser was  justified  in  deviating  from  the  letter  of  the  prescrij^tion.  While 
several  members  expressed  themselves  as  being  averse  to  deviating  in  any 
manner  without  previously  consulting  the  physician,  and  if  that  were 
impossible  to  rather  decline  comj^ounding  the  prescription  or  to  dispense 
it  with  a  "  shake-the-bottle "  label,  others  were  of  the  opinion  that  the 
dispenser  was  bound  to  assume  personal  responsibility  so  that  a  fair  and 
proper  dose  of  the  ingredients  ordered  could  be  given,  and  that  the  pre- 
scriber  should  be  informed  of  the  deviation,  if  possible,  before,  or  if  not 
afterwards. 
In  the  discussion  on  Mr.  Gerrard's  paper  (see  page  20),  it  was  stated  tliat 
while  the  change  in  odor  might  be  explained,  the  cause  of  the  alteration 
in  color  was  as  yet  unknown.  Mr.  Parker's  paper  (page  21)  brought  prom- 
inently forward  some  of  the  difficulties  in  ascertaining  the  solubility  of 
any  material. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Iternational  Pharmacopoeia.— The  commission  inaugurated  at  the 
International  Pharmaceutical  Congress  of  London,  for  the  elaboration  of 
an  international  pharmacopoeia,  has  been  completed  for  tlie  United  States, 
the  Council  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  having  elected 
to  this  position  Charles  Rice,  Ph.D.,  of  New  York,  the  efficient  chairman 
of  the  committee  on  revision  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia. 
Secret  Medicines. — It  will  be  remembered  by  many  readers  of  the 
Journal,  that,  five  or  six  years  ago,  a  Popular  Health  Almanac  was 
issued,  the  object  being  the  imparting  of  useful  information  on  all  subjects 
connected  with  the  health  of  the  individual  and  the  public,  and  more  par- 
ticularly on  the  composition  of  nostrums.  This  enterprise  did  not  meet 
With  the  encouragement  which  it  deserved.  We  were  reminded  of  this  on 
reading  in  the  "  Pharmaceutische  Zeitung"  for  Sept.  21st,  of  a  plan  put  inta 
execution  by  a  German  pharmacist,  L.  Hausmann,  who  has  procured  a 
number  of  copies  of  an  official  report  on  secret  medicines,  published  by  C. 
Schnetzler  and  Dr.  F.  Neumann,  for  the  purpose  of  lending  them  gratui- 
tously to  such  of  his  customers  who  feel  an  interest  in  this  subject.  The 
German  literature  contains  several  works,  giving  the  composition  of  pop- 
ular nostrums  as  ascertained  by  chemical  analysis.  Whether  the  publica- 
tion of  these  works  has  exerted  any  marked  influence  on  the  popular  use 
of  the  compounds  we  are  not  prepared  to  say  ;  but,  doubtless,  a  knowledge 
of  the  composition  of  the  latter  would  be  of  more  practical  use  to  the  public 
than  their  indiscriminate  employment  upon  the  strength  of  the  manufac- 
turers' recommendations;  and  if  the  public  will  not  purchase  the  books,  it 
