harm. i     77^  Scope  of  the  National  Formulary.  205 
No. 
Ash. 
Sol.  in 
Sol.  in 
Color  and  Condition  of  Drugs, 
Alcohol. 
Water. 
I 
3-62 
71*20 
75-00 
Light  colored  cubes. 
2 
5  "47 
64-10 
69*00 
Dark  colored  mass. 
3 
7'35 
74-90 
77-00 
Reddish  brown  mass. 
4 
3-84 
80 -8o 
79-00 
Light  colored  cubes,  white  inside. 
5 
4-13 
82-20 
76 'OO 
Light  colored  cubes,  white  inside. 
6 
4*03 
78-20 
65 -oo 
Grayish  brown,  hard  cylindrical  rolls. 
7 
3 '59 
50-40 
40*00 
Pasty  mass,  musty  odor,  brown  color. 
8 
2'53 
44'oo 
32  00 
Yellow  pasty  mass. 
9 
362 
86-6o 
78  00 
Brown  colored  cubes,  yellowish  inside. 
10 
4-40 
76*00 
78*00 
Brown  mass,  hard,  blackish  brown.  " 
11 
4-96 
73 '4o 
70 'OO 
Dark  brown  cylindrical  rolls. 
12 
6-97 
68 -8o 
56-00 
Semisolid  brown  mass. 
THE  SCOPE  AND  THE  SHORTCOMINGS  OF  THE 
NATIONAL  FORMULARY. 
By  M.  I.  Wilbert. 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
The  recognition  that  has  been  accorded  to  the  National  Formu- 
lary by  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act,  June  30,  1906,  gives  to  that  work 
an  authoritative  standing  quite  different  from  that  intended  for  it, 
either  by  its  originators  or  even  the  most  zealous  advocate  for  its 
compilation. 
To  more  fully  appreciate  the  object  and  the  proposed  uses  of  the 
book  it  would  be  necessary  to  review  at  some  length  the  various 
discussions  at  the  meetings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation, which  led  up  to  the  publication  of  the  first  edition  of  the 
National  Formulary.  For  to-day,  however,  we  must  content  our- 
selves with  a  meagre  outline  of  the  facts  by  pointing  out  the  various 
steps  that  were  actually  taken. 
So  early  as  1853  Mr.  John  Meakin  proposed  that  the  Association 
collect  and  publish  generally  acceptable  formulas  for  widely  used 
unofficial  preparations,  and  in  1857,  just  fifty  years  ago,  such  a  com- 
pilation was  published  in  the  volume  of  the  proceedings  for  that 
year,  as  the  report  of  a  committee  of  which  Mr.  Meakin  was  chair- 
man. 
The  project  was  further  discussed,  from  time  to  time,  and  the 
development  of  what  has  become  known  as  "  the  elixir  craze  "  was 
the  direct  incentive  for  the  publication  of  a  collection  of  formulas, 
