EDITORIAL. 
477 
for  pecuniary  outlay,  young  men  will  find  it  capital  well  invested  to 
urge  on  their  studies,  and  accomplish  the  task  of  graduation,  without  risk- 
ing its  postponement  to  a  distant  opportunity  which  to  them  may  never 
offer.  Many  instances  occur  to  us  where  great  regret  has  been  expressed 
that  this  important  professional  accomplishment  had  been  neglected,  when, 
in  after  business-life,  the  advantages  of  a  diploma  have  been  urged  by  its 
necessity  as  a  certificate  of  qualification. 
Progress  of  the  British  Pharmacop(eia. — In  the  August  number  of  the 
Pharmaceutical  Journal,  we  find  the  following  Report  of  Dr.  Garrod,  Sec- 
retary of  the  Pharmacopoeia  Committee,  having  the  Revision  of  the  Phar- 
macopoeia in  charge — by  which  it  will  be  seen  that,  although  nearly  ready 
for  the  press,  it  will  not  be  issued  in  October  as  was  anticipated  last  winter. 
The  interest  felt  by  many  pharmaceutists  and  physicians  in  the  early 
completion  of  this  work,  induces  us  to  copy  the  report  in  full.  It  exhibits 
an  outline  view  of  the  manner  in  which  the  revision  has  proceeded. 
The  British  Pharmacopceia. — At  a  meeting  of  the  General  Council  of 
Medical  Education  and  Registration,  held  on  Tuesday,  July  2,  the  fol- 
lowing Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  Committee  was 
read  : — 
"  During  the  period  which  has  elapsed  since  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Council  of  Medical  Education  and  Registration  in  1860,  the  three  di- 
visions of  the  Pharmacopoeia  Committee  has  persevered  in  their  labors, 
and  the  manuscript  of  the  British  Pharmacopceia  is  approaching  comple- 
tion, and  will  very  shortly  be  ready  for  press,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing report,  which,  with  co-operation  of  Dr.  Aquilla  Smith,  of  the  Dublin; 
and  Dr.  Charles  Wilson,  of  the  Edinburgh  Committees,  I  am  now  enabled 
to  lay  before  the  Council : 
"  In  order  that  the  exact  state  of  forwardness  of  the  work  may  be  cor- 
rectly understood  by  the  Council,  it  will  be  well  to  give  a  short  sketch  of 
its  construction. 
"  It  is  divided  into  two  parts,  with  an  Appendix. 
"Part  I.  contains  a  list  of  the  Materia  Medica,  in  which  all  the  sub- 
stances employed  as  medicines  are  inserted,  and  appended  to  each  is  its 
origin,  with  its  definition,  principal  characters,  tests  for  purity,  and  an 
enumeration  of  its  officinal  preparations. 
"  Part  II.  contains  the  various  groups  of  Galenicals, — as  extracts,  in- 
fusions, tinctures,  ointments,  &c.,  with  the  methods  of  preparing  each  ; 
likewise  the  processes  for  making  the  numerous  chemicals  described  in 
the  first  part  of  the  work. 
"The  Appendix  includes  the  substances  employed,  not  as  remedies,  but 
only  in  their  preparation  ;  and  likewise  the  various  test  solutions  to  be 
used  in  ascertaining  the  strength  and  purity  of  drugs. 
"One-third  of  the  work  has  been  allotted  to  each  section  of  the  Com- 
mittee, and  the  portion  framed  by  any  one  has  been  transmitted  to  the 
other  two  Committees,  commented  upon,  and  afterwards  revised  by  the 
original  Committee,  and  again  recommented  upon  ;  all  undecided  points 
are  then  reserved  until  the  final  general  meeting  of  the  delegates  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  Committee. 
"  Part  1.  is  necessarily  the  least  complete,  as  a  knowledge  of  all  the 
preparations  in  Part  II.  is  required  before  its  final  adjustment. 
