Am'M°ay;i907?rm'}     The  $c0Pe  °f  the  National  Formulary.  211 
The  introduction  of  saccharin,  as  a  sweetening  agent,  is  a  matter 
on  which  there  may  exist  a  difference  of  opinion.  In  view  of  the 
fact,  however,  that  its  use  in  foodstuffs  is  being  discouraged  there 
would  appear  to  be  little  or  no  excuse  for  introducing  it  purely  as  a 
sweetening  agent  in  medicinal  preparations.  This  substance 
appears  to  have  been  added  quite  regardless  of  actual  necessity, 
largely  because  it  has  been  and  perhaps  is  still  being  used  by  manu- 
facturing pharmacists.  In  at  least  two  of  the  preparations,  Elixir 
catharticum  compositum  and  Elixir  gentianae  glycerinatum,  it  is 
directed  in  proportions  that  are  not  alone  unpractical  but  positively 
nauseating.  Even  when  reduced  to  one-tenth  the  amount,  particu- 
larly in  the  cathartic  elixir,  it  is  still  unpleasantly  prominent. 
The  possible  errors  that  arise  out  of  attempts  at  unduly  simpli- 
fying formulas  is  well  illustrated  by  the  formula  for  Liquor  ferri 
peptonati  cum  mangano.  This  formula  directs  that  commercial 
ferric  peptonate  be  used.  This  substance  at  best  is  variable,  is 
unstable  and,  as  usually  met  with,  is  decomposed  and  unfit  for  use. 
Commercial  manganese  peptonate,  suggested  in  the  alternative 
formula,  is  even  more  unsatisfactory  than  the  ferric  peptonate. 
In  this  connection  it  appears  to  be  unfortunate  indeed  that  the 
committee  did  not  include  the  widely  used  formula  by  Dietrich,  or 
the  very  simple  formula  suggested  by  Mr.  Dunning  in  the  Proceed- 
ings of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  for  1905  (p.  397). 
One  rather  peculiar  complication  that  has  arisen  recently  is  the 
ruling  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  that  the  formulas  included 
in  the  appendix  do  not  constitute  an  integral  part  of  the  book.  As 
under  the  strict  letter  of  the  law  the  pharmacopoeias  from  which 
these  formulas  were  taken  are  also  not  included  in  the  law,  and  as 
the  use  of  such  formulas,  or  rather  the  use  of  the  preparations  made 
according  to  the  formulas,  is  rather  widespread,  it  would  appear  that 
in  this  particular  instance  the  ruling  by  the  department  is  not  a 
very  wise  one  and  would  p  robably  be  reconsidered  if  the  attention 
of  the  officials  were  called  to  it. 
In  conclusion  I  would  like  to  say  that  whatever  the  future  may 
have  in  store  for  the  National  Formulary,  the  complications  that 
have  arisen  out  of  its  recognition  by  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  have 
had  a  beneficent  effect  on  the  practice  of  pharmacy.  Pharmacists 
in  all  parts  of  the  country  are  evidencing  a  healthy  interest  in  the 
content  and  the  scope  of  the  National  Formulary.    The  criticisms 
