478 
EDITORIAL. 
"  Dr.  Wilson  thus  reports  from  the  Edinburgh  Section : — *The  list  of 
the  Materia  Medica  allotted  to  its  share  is  nearly,  if  not  altogether,  com- 
plete, and  will  soon  be  transmitted  to  the  other  Committees  ;'  and  Dr. 
Aquilla  Smith  states,  that  '  Descriptions  of  the  Drugs  derived  from  the 
vegetable  kingdom  have  been  drawn  up  by  the  members  of  the  Com- 
mittee, but  they  cannot  be  completed  until  the  Galenical  Preparations 
are  definitely  settled  and  printed.'  Professor  Harvey,  the  Botanical 
Eeferee,  is  engaged  in  preparing  his  report,  which  will  shortly  be  com- 
pleted. Of  the  Chemical  Preparations  in  the  list  of  the  Materia  Medica, 
the  formulas  of  the  numerous  preparations  of  iron  have  been  printed  in 
No.  8  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Committee,  and  circulated  amongst  the 
members  of  the  three  Branch  Committees.  The  preparations  of  mercury 
were  sent  to  Dr.  Wilson,  the  secretary  of  the  Edinburgh  Committee,  in 
April,  1861,  and  all  the  remaining  chemical  substances  have  been  reported 
upon  and  approved  of  by  the  Committee. 
"  The  London  Committee  has  constructed  its  third  of  the  list  of  the 
Materia  Medica,  and  likewise  nearly  all  the  processes  for  the  chemicals 
attached  to  that  portion,  and  is  now  having  a  fair  copy  prepared  for  trans- 
mission to  the  other  Committees. 
"  Part  II.  The  three  sections  of  the  Committee  have  framed  all  the 
groups  of  Galenical  Preparations  ;  the  whole  have  been  commented  upon, 
and  most  of  them  revised,  and  either  transmitted  or  about  to  be  immedi- 
ately forwarded  for  final  comments. 
"  It  has  been  agreed  by  the  three  sections,  that  a  General  Meeting  of 
Delegates  from  each  shall  be  held  in  Edinburgh  the  first  week  in  next 
September,  in  order  to  adjust  any  differences  which  may  remain,  and  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  printing  and  publication  of  the  work,  which 
it  may  be  seasonably  hoped  will  be  accomplished  by  the  end  of  the  pres- 
ent year. 
"  The  Council  will  be  enabled  to  appreciate  the  labor  of  compiling 
the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  and  the  cause  of  its  somewhat  tardy  appear- 
ance, when  it  is  stated  that  every  preparation  contained  in  the  work  has 
been  made,  often  repeatedly,  and  each  process  practically  examined  ;  and 
it  is  the  hope  of  the  Committee  that  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  will  be 
found  worthy  of  the  sanction  and  approval  of  the  General  Council. 
"  A.  B.  Garrod,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  Secretary, 
"84,  Harley  street,  Cavendish  square,  July  1,  1861 
Our  Thanks  are  due  to  Dr.  Hartmann,  of  Cleveland,  for  the  translations 
on  the  "  Adulterations  of  Musk/'  and  '<  some  Species  of  Helleborus,''  at 
pages  426  and  427. 
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