574 
Possibility  of  Unification 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I-    December,  1917. 
elimination  of  which  would  probably  aid  in  securing  federal  recogni- 
tion of  homeopathic  standards. 
As  the  time  fixed  for  the  holding  of  the  Pharmacopceial  Conven- 
tion in  1920  is  rapidly  approaching,  it  is  both  opportune  and  appro- 
priate that  changes  proposed  to  be  made  in  the  tenth  revision  should 
be  discussed.  The  proposition  that  I  present  to  you  now,  it  must  be 
understood,  is  upon  my  own  initiative.  It  has  not  yet  been  dis- 
cussed with  any  one  and  must  not  be  construed  as  being  in  any 
way  an  official  proposition  emanating  from  or  authorized  by  the 
Committee  of  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
My  thought  is  that  there  should  be  but  one  American  Pharma- 
copoeia and  that  should  be  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States 
of  America.  As  the  legal  authority  of  this  nation,  the  scope  of 
this  work  should  be  so  extended  and  broadened  as  to  supply  proper 
standards  for  all  medicines  of  known  composition  or  formula  that 
are  commonly  used  by  any  recognized  school  or  branch  of  medicine. 
In  just  so  far  as  the  Pharmacopoeia  fails  in  doing  this,  it  fails  in 
discharging  its  function  as  a  legal  authority.  In  order  to  fulfill  its 
national  obligations  its  pronouncements  cannot  be  limited  to  the 
ideas  of  any  school  or  cult.  If  the  Pharmacopoeia  were  to  fail  to 
meet  in  a  satisfactory  manner  and  to  a  fair  degree  the  demands  of 
the  country  and  the  needs  of  the  government  for  standards,  then  its 
doom  as  a  legal  standard  would  soon  be  sealed. 
There  has  been  a  noticeable,  even  though  it  has  been  gradual, 
coming  together  of  the  various  recognized  schools  of  medicine  and 
they  undoubtedly  have  much  in  common  in  their  practices  today. 
The  pharmacopceial  convention  was  originally  restricted  to  dele- 
gates from  medical  societies  and  medical  colleges  but  with  each 
decennial  gathering  the  representation  has  been  extended  so  as  to 
include  the  various  departments  of  the  federal  service,  pharma- 
ceutical societies  and  schools  of  pharmacy,  and  in  the  recent  conven- 
tion the  American  Chemical  Society,  the  Association  of  Official 
Agricultural  Chemists,  the  Association  of  State  and  National  Food 
and  Dairy  Departments,  the  National  Wholesale  Druggists'  Asso- 
ciation and  the  National  Dental  Association  were  all  represented 
by  delegates.  As  it  appears  to  me  there  should  be  no  objection 
to  a  further  extension  so  as  to  include  the  homeopathic  medical 
schools  and  the  homeopathic  medical  societies  of  proper  standing. 
There  appears  to  be  no  valid  reason  why  the  homeopaths'  require- 
ments for  standards  could  not  be  covered  in  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia. 
