33o 
Editorial. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\       June,  1877. 
Resolved,  That  its  delegates  to  the  American  Medical  Association  be  instructed  to  use  every  proper 
means,  by  their  votes  and  influence,  to  prevent  the  consummation  of  the  plan  proposed  by  Dr.  Squibb. 
The  Society  has  acted  wisely  in  directing  the  appointment  of  a  committee  with 
the  view  of  subjecting  the  Pharmacopoeia  to  a  preliminary  revision  and  facilitating 
the  labor  in  this  direction  of  the  Pennsylvania  State  Medical  Society. 
The  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  is  the  important  subject  engaging  the  atten- 
tion of  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical  professions  of  the  United  States,  and  which 
has  become  so  prominent  at  the  present  time  through  the  proposition  of  Dr.  Squibb 
to  place  that  work  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 
We  do  not  purpose  to  enter  into  the  merits  of  the  claim  for  such  control  or  owner- 
ship, which  have  been  ably  reviewed  by  Mr.  A.  B.  Taylor;  but  it  may  not  be  amiss 
to  sketch  in  a  few  words  a  plan  by  which  a  "  Pharmacopoeia  "  could  be  secured  which 
would  represent  the  actual  wants  of  the  medical  profession  and  the  pharmaceutical 
knowledge  of  the  United  States.  To  accomplish  this  object,  it  is,  in  our  opinion,, 
absolutely  necessary  to  secure  the  active  co-operation  of  as  many  medical  and 
pharmaceutical  societies  as  possible,  so  as  to  have  all  sections  of  the  country  fairly 
represented.  This  active  co-operation  should  express  itself  in  the  preliminary 
revision  of  the  "  Pharmacopoeia  "  by  each  society,  which  should  be  so  full  and  complete 
that  the  revised  work  would  represent  a  "  Pharmacopoeia  "  for  the  locality  in  which 
the  society  is  located.  All  the  local  "Pharmacopoeias"  should  then  be  referred  to 
an  Editing  Committee,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  compile  them  into  one.  This 
committee  may  be  small,  not  exceeding  five  in  number,  who  may  be  selected  from 
any  locality,  insuring  their  frequent  meeting  whenever  necessary.  During  the  pro- 
gress of  the  revision,  the  clerical  labors  would  necessarily  be  large  and  require  the 
engagement  of  a  secretary,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to  prepare  the  material  of  all 
local  "  Pharmacopoeias  "  in  such  a  manner  as  would  enable  the  committee  to  criti- 
cally examine  all  the  propositions  and  act  intelligently  upon  them.  The  action  of 
the  committee  should  then,  as  soon  as  possible,  be  communicated  to  each  society 
having  prepared  a  local  "  Pharmacopoeia, "  to  be  again  critically  examined,  and  the 
results  of  these  examinations  should  be  transmitted  to  the  committee  for  their  final 
action,  to  be  based  upon  the  suggestions  and  criticisms  as  reported  to  them  from 
the  various  societies. 
By  this  plan  the  active  co  operation  of  each  medical  and  pharmaceutical  society 
in  every  part  of  the  country  could  be  secured,  and  the  work,  before  its  final  adop- 
tion, would  be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  a  large  number  of  experts,  so  that 
the  processes  could  scarcely  fail  to  be  as  perfect  as  the  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
country  could  make  them. 
There  is  still  a  large  number  of  those  interested  in  the  perfection  of  the  "  Phar- 
macopoeia,'" who,  under  the  rules  adopted  by  the  Pharmacopceial  Convention  of 
1870,  are  not  entitled  to  representation.  We  refer  to  the  various  State  Pharmaceu- 
tical Societies,  of  which  we  now  have  thirteen,  and  hope  to  have  many  more  by 
1880.  But  in  our  opinion,  any  labor  performed  by  them  would  be  gladly  accepted 
by  the  National  Convention,  and  their  delegates  would,  we  believe,  be  received  as 
they  should  be. 
It  will  be  perceived  that  this  plan  is  based  upon  the  assumption  that  those  who 
