244  Pharmaceutical  Meeting.  {AmMay!'i££arm' 
have  the  merit  of  having  open  formulae.  Mr.  Wilbert  said  that 
the  late  Charles  Rice,  who  was  chairman  of  the  first  committee  on 
National  Formulary,  objected  to  the  admission  of  formulae  equiva- 
lent to  proprietary  formulae,  and  that  on  this  question  there  was  a 
decided  difference  of  opinion. 
Referring  to  that  portion  of  Mr.  Wilbert's  paper  in  which  he 
commented  on  the  formulae  of  the  National  Formulary,  Henry  C. 
Blair  said  that  he  did  not  agree  entirely  with  the  statement  that 
the  presence  of  10  or  15  per  cent,  of  alcohol  will  destroy  the  action 
of  a  digestive  ferment,  and  stated  that  a  rennet  preparation  con- 
taining 16  per  cent,  of  alcohol  coagulated  the  casein  of  milk.  Mr. 
Blair  also  spoke  of  another  ferment  preparation  which  contained 
18  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and  yet  was  active. 
Warren  H.  Poley  said  that  clinical  results  seemed  to  show  that 
alcoholic  preparations  of  the  digestive  ferments  have  a  certain  value. 
In  calling  attention  to  some  of  the  special  preparations  Mr.  Poley 
said  that  those  with  some  mystery  about  them,  or  those  made  at 
a  distance,  appeal  to  the  physician  as  well  as  to  the  patient. 
Mr.  Wilbert  maintained  that  the  digestive  ferments  have  a  value, 
but  not  when  administered  internally,  and  in  illustration  pointed  out 
that  rennet,  while  useful,  should  be  applied  to  milk  in  the  sauce  pan 
rather  than  after  the  ingestion  of  the  milk.  Continuing,  Mr.  Wilbert 
said  that  perhaps  clinical  and  physiological  results  could  not  be  dis- 
cussed by  pharmacists  with  physicians,  but  suggested  that  pharma- 
cists keep  closely  in  touch  with  the  progress  in  therapeutics. 
W.  L.  Cliffe  called  attention  to  the  formula  of  the  elixir  of  gly- 
cerophosphates and  said  that  it  does  not  give  as  satisfactory  a  prep- 
aration as  that  marketed  by  the  manufacturers.  He  found  that 
by  replacing  the  aromatic  elixir  with  white  wine  the  tendency  to 
become  terebinthinate  was  overcome.  He  also  advised  increasing 
the  amount  of  phosphoric  acid  by  the  addition  of  15  c.c.  of  the 
dilute  acid,  and  the  addition  of  a  small  amount  of  alcohol  to  make 
up  the  deficiency  caused  by  the  use  of  white  wine.  With  reference 
to  the  glycerinated  elixir  ot  gentian,  Mr.  Cliffe  said  that  it  was 
intended  as  a  substitute  for  Gray's  Glycerin  Tonic  originated  by 
Dr.  John  B.  Gray,  but  that  the  formula  directed  less  gentian  than 
the  original  one,  which  was  furnished  him  a  few  years  ago  by 
Messrs.  Kelley  and  Durkee,  of  Boston  (Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,  Vol.  70, 
p.  201). 
