AmMay?i907arm'}     The  Scope  of  the  National  Formulary.  209 
digestive  ferments,  in  the  stomach,  are  but  seldom  deficient  and  are 
practically  never  entirely  absent.  He  further  says,  "  The  popularity 
of  certain  proprietary  compounds  must  be  attributed  solely  to  their 
seductive  taste  and  appearance." 
In  an  editorial  notice  on  "Antidyspeptics  and  Vehicles  "  (Journal 
American  Medical  Association,  March  23,  1907,  page  1046),  the 
writer  says : — 
"  Alcohol  has  a  stimulating  action  on  the  functions  of  the  stomach, 
and,  especially  in  the  form  of  wine,  will  often  relieve  the  uncomfor- 
table feelings  that  come  on  after  eating,  and  herein  lies  one  of  the 
principal  reasons  for  the  popularity  of  mixtures  containing  alcohol." 
What  is  said  of  the  mixtures  of  pepsin  and  pancreatin,  or  the 
alcohol-containing  preparations  of  the -digestive  ferments,  applies 
equally  well  to  a  host  of  other  alcohol-containing  aromatic  com- 
pounds that  are  and  have  been  exploited  as  panaceas  for  this,  that 
and  the  other  affliction,  and  for  many  of  which  the  National  Formu- 
lary, unfortunately,  contains  equivalent  formulas. 
It  is  true  that  one  of  the  objects  of  the  National  Formulary  is  to 
combat  the  rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  proprietary  mixtures 
that  are  being  exploited  through  the  medical  profession ;  but,  the 
more  important  feature,  that  of  having  the  active  ingredients  in 
these  mixtures,  be  it  alcohol  or  other  drug,  properly  recognized  and 
acknowledged,  should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  either  by  the  pharmacist 
or  the  physician. 
In  attempting  to  bring  the  use  of  National  Formulary  prepara- 
tions to  the  attention  of  physicians,  the  pharmacist  is  but  doing  a 
duty  that  he  owes  to  himself  and  to  his  customers,  or,  more  prop- 
erly speaking,  to  the  public  at  large.  Before  entering  on  this 
admittedly  necessary  and  in  many  respects  promising  propaganda, 
however,  the  pharmacist  should  acquaint  himself  with  the  work 
that  is  now  being  done  in  connection  with  the  American  Medical 
Association  and  should  also  know  something  of  the  corresponding 
work  that  has  been  undertaken  by  the  British  Medical  Associa- 
tion, the  German  Apothecaries'  Society,  the  Swiss  Pharmaceutical 
Society  and  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Paris. 
Even  a  most  cursory  knowledge  of  this  work  that  is  being  carried 
on  in  various  parts  of  the  world  will  be  of  advantage  ;  in  that  it 
demonstrates  that  the  use  of  nostrums  and  semi-secret  proprietaries 
is  not  confined  to  the  physicians  of  this  country,  although,  perhaps, 
it  is  more  apparent  and  more  widespread  here  than  abroad. 
