Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
May,  1877.  J 
Minutes  of  the  College. 
259 
each  to  nominate  one  member,  and  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  to 
nominate  two  members  of  that  council.  That  is,  in  my  opinion,  the  second  impor- 
tant proposition,  and  all  others  are  of  far  less  importance  ,•  these  two  propositions 
differ  so  entirely  from  the  manner  in  which  the  "  Pharmacopoeia  "  has  been  hereto- 
fore revised,  that,  if  adopted,  there  would  certainly  be  a  very  great  and  radical 
change.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  "  Pharmacopoeia  "  was  revised  by  dele- 
gates appointed  by  the  incorporated  medical  societies  and  colleges  and  by  the  col- 
leges of  pharmacy  of  the  United  States.  These  delegates  met  every  ten  years,  and; 
in  the  interval  each  one  of  these  bodies  was  expected  to  have  subjected  the  "  Phar- 
macopoeia "  to  a  preliminary  revision.  The  results  of  theses  labors  were  taken  to 
Washington,  where  a  general  plan  for  the  final  revision  was  agreed*  upon,  resulting; 
in  the  appointment  of  a  committee,  to  whom  the  preliminary  revisions  by  the  differ- 
ent societies  were  referred. 
If  the  American  Medical  Association  take  charge  and  become  the  proprietors  oF 
the  "  Pharmacopoeia,"  as  proposed  by  Dr.  Squibb,  it  will  be  optional  with  therr> 
whether  or  not  they  will  adhere  to  the  second  proposition  laid  out  by  hinu. 
to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  medical  staffs  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  and  of  the  pharma- 
cists ;  for  then,  of  course,  they  may  constitute  the  council  as  they  please,  and 
change  the  mode  of  revision  at  will.  That  appears  to  me  to  be  a  very  serious  objec- 
tion to  Dr.  Squibb's  plan.  Another  objection  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  American 
Medical  Association  is,  like  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  an  unincor- 
porated body;  whilst  the  delegates  to  the  Decennial  Convention  in  Washington 
were  admitted  only  from  incorporated  bodies.  I  do  not  know  how  far  the  represen- 
tation of  the  medical  colleges  goes  in  the  American  Medical  Association,  but  surely 
pharmacists  have  no  voice  there,  and  could  do  nothing  to  prevent  the  Medical 
Association  from  changing  the  mode  of  revision  at  any  time,  and  from  appointing 
the  council  in  an  entirely  different  manner  from  that  recently  proposed. 
While  I  freely  admit  that  many  of  the  minor  propositions  of  Dr.  Squibb  are  emi- 
nently proper,  I  believe  that  those  two  points  are  essentially  wrong.  In  connection 
with  the  last  one,  there  is  yet  what  appears  to  me  an  important  consideration,, 
namely,  that  this  council  of  five  men  must  be  necessarily  appointed  from  contigu- 
ous localities,  and  that  it  cannot  be  expected  that  they  should  be  familiar  with  the 
wants  of  the  entire  country ;  and  to  rely  upon  what  is  published  in  the  journals  as 
to  what  should  be  changed  or  admitted  or  dismissed  from  the  "Pharmacopoeia'"  is 
entirely  insufficient.  Such  information  should  come  from  bodies  who  have  a  direct 
interest  in  the  matter. 
The  President.  There  are  several  friends  present  this  afternoon,  not  immedi  - 
ately connected  with  the  College,  and  it  is  hoped  they  may  feel  entirely  free  tc 
unite  in  the  discussion  as  freely  as  the  members  of  the  College,  or  any  person, 
interested  who  may  not  have  been  specially  invited. 
Mr.  A.  B.  Taylor.  Mr.  President  :  Some  time  since  I  received  from  Dr.  E, 
R.  Squibb,  a  pamphlet,  and  commenced  writing  a  brief  review  of  that  pamphlet. 
That  was  previous  to  the  calling  of  this  meeting.  On  hearing  that  this  meeting; 
was  called,  I  thought  it  would  be  perhaps  a  good  place  to  ventilate  this  subject. 
On  motion  of  Prof.  Remington,  Mr.  Taylor  was  requested  to  read  his  review,. 
The  paper  is  published  on  page  209. 
