ADecemberPi19i71  ^    Decomposition  of  Quinine  Bisulphate.  595 
We  think  that  we  have  shown  clearly  that  a  danger  existis  in  heat- 
ing strong  solutions  of  quinine  bisulphate  for  any  medicinal  or 
pharmaceutical  purpose,  such  as  is  directed  for  the  preparation  of 
solutions  for  hypodermic  injection.  As  this  danger  does  not  exist 
in  the  case  of  the  much  more  soluble  bihydrochloride,  or  bihydro- 
bromide,  or  the  somewhat  less  soluble  hydrochloride,  we  would  sug- 
gest that  it  would  be  a  wise  step  if  one  of  these  salts  were  invariably 
used  where  it  may  be  necessary  to  heat  the  quinine  salt  for  any 
such  purpose  before  administration. 
THE  TRIPLE  ALLIANCE  IN  MILITARY  MEDICINE.1 
By  J.  Madison  Taylor,  M.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
The  domain  of  military  medicine  is  a  blend  of  three  major  com- 
ponents or  subjects:  medicine,  dentistry  and  pharmacy,  with  sanita- 
tion and  hygiene  essential  factors  of  each ;  veterinary  surgery  is  a 
branch.  As  to  which  one  of  these  three  departments  of  human 
welfare  effort  shall  be  esteemed  paramount,  there  may  be  justifiable 
variants  of  opinion.  There  can  be  no  question  but  each  is  on  a 
practical  par  with  the  other  in  the  objects  they  aim  to  achieve. 
The  first  line  of  defense  is  the  medical  corps,  for  the  reason, 
they  it  is  who  pick  the  fighting  men  as  no  others  can.  Without  this 
critical  selection  there  would  come  together  a  mere  herd  of  dubious 
candidates — most  expensive  to  the  government  by  reason  of  poten- 
tial defectives  and  dependents.  The  second  line  of  defense  we  may 
safely  claim  is  also  the  military  surgeons,  because  theirs  is  the  re- 
sponsibility of  putting  these  men  in  conditions  of  highest  efficiency, 
of  keeping  them  there,  of  forefending  them  from  all  preventable 
decrepitudes,  of  repairing  them  when  damaged  and  of  restoring 
them  to  the  trenches,  of  reducing  to  a  minimum  their  dependence 
upon  either  the  government  pay  rolls  or  the  public  charge.  Can  you 
beat  that  for  a  man's  sized  contract? 
In  the  process  of  preventing  the  preventable  depreciation  of  life 
and  vigor  and  fighting  power,  the  medical  corps  must  qualify  as 
1  Read  before  a  joint. meeting  of  the  National  Pharmaceutical  Service 
Association  and  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  November  13,  1917,  and  offered  for  consentaneous  publication  in 
the  New  York  Medical  Record  and  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association,  and  The  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
