Amjune?i907frm'}  Progress  in  Pharmacy.  275 
of  the  opsonins,  the  further  study  of  which  is  destined  to  play  a 
very  important  part  in  the  treatment  and  prevention  of  disease. 
Literature  on  Opsonic  Therapy. — An  exhaustive  list  of  the  recent 
literature  on  this  interesting  subject  has  but  recently  been  published 
in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association  (May  4,  1907, 
page  1539). 
International  Pharmacopoeia  Commission. — The  Belgian  Royal 
Academy  of  Medicine  has  made  a  proposal  to  form  an  International 
Pharmacopoeia  Commission,  with  its  seat  in  Brussels,  with  the  object 
of  furthering  uniformity  among  the  existing  pharmacopoeias,  as  a 
result  of  the  Brussels  Conference  for  the  unification  of  formulae  of 
potent  medicaments. 
The  Dutch  Pharmacopoeia  Commission  has  already  promised  its 
adhesion,  and  the  Belgian  Government  is  to  approach  the  other 
governments  which  participated  in  the  Conference.  (Chem.  and 
Drug.,  April  20,  1907,  page  578.) 
Studies  in  Experimental  Alcoholism  is  the  title  of  Hygienic  Labora- 
tory Bulletin  No.  23,  that  contains  a  detailed  account  of  a  series  of 
experiments,  conducted  by  Dr.  Reid  Hunt,  on  the  effect  of  varying 
amounts  of  alcohol  on  oxidation  processes  in  the  animal  body.  The 
results  obtained  are  destined  to  lead  to  additional  observations  and 
will  undoubtedly  shed  much  light  on  the  direct  effects  of  the  use 
and  abuse  of  alcohol  in  health  as  well  as  disease.  So  far  as  pub- 
lished, these  experiments  appear  to  confirm  the  frequently  expressed 
opinion  that  alcohol,  in  all  forms,  is  a  potent  factor  and  that  its 
continued  use,  or  abuse,  may  and  does  lead  to  certain  changes  in 
metabolism  that  are  deleterious  in  character  and  tend  to  reduce  the 
resistance  of  animal  organisms  to  the  poisonous  effects  of  certain 
ingested,  and  probably  also  to  self-produced  poisons. 
Transactions  of  the  Section  on  Pharmacology  and  Therapeutics  of 
the  American  Medical  Association,  at  the  fifty-seventh  annual  ses- 
sion, held  at  Boston,  Mass.,  June  5  to  8,  1906,  have  just  been 
reprinted  in  one  handsome  octavo  volume  of  328  pages. 
The  book  contains  much  that  is  of.  direct  interest  to  pharmacists, 
and  the  material  is  presented  in  a  form  that  is  readily  available  for 
reference. 
The  American  Medical  Association. — The  fifty-eighth  annual  ses- 
sion of  the  American  Medical  Association  is  to  be  held  at  Atlantic 
City,  June  4  to  7,  1907,  and  promises  to  be  one  of  the  most  interest- 
