Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Dec,  1882.  j 
Editorial. — Reviews,  etc. 
637 
respect  Hall  &  Whiting  were  4,000  copies  ahead  of  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.  It 
<jan  also  not  be  on  account  of  the  largest  sum,  derived  from  the  royalty  of 
the  first  year;  for  against  $4,400  from  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.  this  would  have 
yielded  from  Hall  &  Whiting,  |9,000 ;  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.  (34  per  cent.), 
:$6,800;  H.  C.  Lea's  Son  &  Co.,  $4,880,  which  sums  equal  respectively  22,500, 
17,000,  and  12,400  copies  during  the  first  year  at  the  royalty  of  Wm.  Wood 
<feCo. 
It  is  estimated  that  the  total  sales  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  previous  to  the  next 
revision  will  be  from  15,000  to  20,000  copies.  The  total  difference  in  royalty 
<3an  be  easily  calculated,  when  it  is  remembered  that  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.  pay 
on  each  copy  40  cents,  while  Hall  &  Whiting  offered  60  cents,  P.  Blakiston 
$1.04,  H.C.  Lea's  Son  &  Co.  $1.22,  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co.  $1.36  or  $1.64. 
But  there  is  still  another  aspect  to  this  transaction.  The  price  has  been 
fixed  at  an  unusually  high  figure.  Hall  &  Whiting  therefore  suggested 
in  connection  with  their  bid,  that  the  retail  price  should  be  $3.75,  at  the 
highest.  H.  C.  Lea's  Son  &  Co.  submitted,  in  sealed  envelopes,  two  addi- 
tional bids,  based  upon  a  retail  price  respectively  of  $3.50  and  $3.00,  which 
bids  were  not  considered.  The  unusually  high  price  of  the  book  is  most 
forcibly  illustrated  by  the  following  letter  addressed  to  Dr.  Amory,  the 
chairman  of  the  sub-committee,  in  explanation  or  the  bid  of  Houghton, 
Miffiin  &  Co. :  "If  the  book  had  been  placed  at  $4,  with  the  usual  25  per 
cent,  discount  to  the  trade,  our  bid  would  have  netted  the  Association  {i.  e., 
the  committee)  a  dollar  a  copy  for  each  copy  sold,  and,  as  I  estimated  yester- 
day, if  there  were  ten  thousand  copies  sold,  which  I  thought  a  reasonable 
number,  it  would  have  given  them  $10,000  the  first  year."  In  other  words, 
the  cost  of  getting  up  the  first  10,000  copies  averages  $1  per  copy ;  the  trade 
discount  on  the  retail  price  of  $4  is  $1,  leaving  a  clear  profit  of  $2  on  each 
•copy  sold.  The  chairman  of  the  sub-committee  adds,  in  Circular  No.  133, 
that  "these  explanations  were  not  given  until  Friday,  the  13th"  (Thurs- 
day, April  13?),  and  that  therefore  the  sub-committee  cannot  be  taken  to 
task  for  not  being  able  to  have  taken  advantage  of  Mr.  Houghton's  offer." 
Further  comments  appear  to  he  unnecessary. 
EEVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGEAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
The  Pharmacopceia  of  the  United  States  of  America.  Sixth  Decennial 
Revision.  By  authority  of  the  National  Convention  for  Revising  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  held  at  Washington,  A.  D.  1880.  New  York  :  Wm. 
Wood  &  Co..    8vo,  pp.  520. 
In  announcing  the  appearance  of  this  work  due  praise  should  be 
accorded  to  the  untiring  and  well-directed  labor  performed  by  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  of  Revision,  Dr.  Chas.  Rice,  of  New  York,  which 
alone  made  the  early  i3ublication  possible,  through  systematizing  the  work 
performed  by  the  individual  contributors. 
A  critical  review  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  would  at  the  present  time  be  pre- 
mature, since  for  many  of  the  formulas  the  experience  of  the  apothecary 
will  be  required  before  their  possible  defects  may  become  known.  We 
