Am.  Jour.  Pharm  ) 
Feb.,  1878.  / 
Editorial. 
91 
necessary  corollary  of  the  faculty  of  medicine,  whilst  the  Society  of  Pharmacy 
bears  ths  same  relation  to  the  Superior  School  of  Pharmacy,  and  the  provincial 
societies  are  in  like  manner  associated  with  the  local  schools. 
Since  1830  the  Society  has  had  the  good  fortune  to  have  the  position  of  Genera^ 
Secretary  filled  by  Robiquet,  Soubeiran  and  Buignet,  whose  contributions  to  science 
have  entitled  them  to  hold  a  high  place  amongst  its  cultivators.  Other  members  of 
the  Society  have  also  contributed  largely  to  the  advancement  of  chemistry  and  its 
application,  amongst  whom  may  be  named  Serullas,  Boullay,  Pelouze,  Robinet, 
Serturner,  Pelletier,  Caventou  and  Berthelot,  who  also  belonged  to  the  ranks  of 
pharmacy,  and  only  a  few  weeks  since  exchanged  his  position  of  Resident  Member 
for  that  of  Associate. 
Among  other  services  rendered  by  the  Society  of  Pharmacy  was  the  part  taken 
at  the  Medical  Congress  in  1845,  which,  upon  that  occasion,  placed  the  section  of 
pharmacy  upon  a  level  with  the  section  of  medicine.  The  excitement  caused 
among  French  pharmacists  in  the  following  year  by  the  promulgation  of  the  ordon- 
nance  relating  to  the  sale  of  poisons  induced  the  Society  of  Pharmacy  to  appoint  a 
Commission  for  the  purpose  of  demanding  its  revision,  and  it  was  successful  in 
effecting  this  object. 
In  1863,  when,  a  new  edition  of  the  Codex  was  in  preparation,  six  members  of  the 
Society  were  appointed  members  of  the  Commission  charged  with  this  duty.  At 
the  same  time  the  Society  divided  its  sixty  resident  members  into  twenty  sub-com- 
mittees for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  mode  of  preparation  and  conservation  of  one 
or  other  class  of  medicaments,  thus  lending  by  virtue  of  their  special  competence 
an  effectual  support  to  the  Commission,  to  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  and  to  the 
School  of  Pharmacy. 
More  recently,  in  response  to  applications  from  the  provinces,  a  commission  of 
five  members  was  appointed  to  define  the  composition  and  preparatiou  of  new 
remedies,  in  regard  to  which  there  was  want  of  uniformity  and  consequent  incon- 
venience to  medical  men,  pharmacists  and  patients.  The  report  of  this  Commision 
has  recently  appeared  in  this  journal. 
In  addition  to  these  claims  to  be  regarded  as  a  "  society  of  public  utility  "  numer- 
ous prizes  have  been  conferred  for  essays  on  subjects  connected  with  abstract  and 
applied  science,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Bussy  on  animal  char- 
coal, Fremy  on  the  pectous  and  gelatinous  substances  of  fruit,  and  Pasteur  of  tar- 
taric and  racemic  acids. — Phar.  Jour.,  Dec.  29,  1877. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Preliminary  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. — The  Committee  on  Preliminary 
Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  appointed  by  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy 
met  for  organization  in  September  last,  and  elected  Alfred  B.  Taylor  chairman  and 
William  C.  Bakes  Secretary.  The  committee  decided  to  meet  semi-monthly,  and 
a  joint  meeting  is  held  every  two  months  with  the  committees  appointed  by  the 
College  of  Physicians  and  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society.    A  series  of 
