Am'ju°iy?if9h4arm'}   Purposes  of  the  National  Formulary.  331 
"As  tins  book,"  in  the  language  of  the  preface  to  the  National 
Formulary,  "  appeared  at  a  time  which  happened  to  be  particularly 
favorable  for  the  realization  of  the  object  to  be  attained,"  it  gained 
so  much  ground,  even  outside  of  the  locality  for  which  it  was 
originally  intended,  that  the  joint  committee,  authorized  by  the 
societies  which  it  represented,  tendered  the  work  to  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  as  a  nucleus  for  the  construction  of  a 
National  Formulary.  This  was  done  at  the  annual  meeting  held  in 
Pittsburg,  in  1885. 
The  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  having  accepted  the 
gift,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  such  a  work,  and  as  a 
first  result  this  committee  presented  at  the  next  annual  meeting, 
held  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  1886,  a  preliminary  draft  for  a  National 
Formulary. 
It  comprised  whatever  the  committee  had  been  able  to  gather, 
either  from  existing  formularies,  from  its  own  labors,  or  from  the 
special  contributions  of  individuals  or  societies. 
This  draft  showed  more  forcibly  than  could  have  been  done  in 
any  other  manner,  how  serious  the  existing  evil  was,  and  at  the 
same  time  how  difficult  would  be  the  task  to  bring  into  harmony 
the  conflicting  views  and  customs. 
For  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  committee  to  accomplish  this 
task  with  better  expectation  of  success,  it  was  enlarged  by  the  addi- 
tion of  one  member  from  every  State  Pharmaceutical  Association  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada. 
.  The  committee  thus  constituted,  two  of  the  thirty-five  members 
coming  from  the  Dominion,  represented  the  best  element  in  the  do- 
main of  Pharmacy.  Two  years  later,  in  1888,  the  work  was  given 
to  the  public. 
So  much  for  a  brief  historical  sketch  of  the  National  Formulary. 
Some  reflections  may  now  be  indulged  in,  as  to  the  causes  making 
it  necessary,  and  the  means  to  be  employed  for  its  more  general  use 
by  both  physician  and  pharmacist. 
My  experience  and  observation  in  a  limited  way  leads  me  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  average  physician  is  unfamiliar  with  this  work, 
and,  to  a  certain  extent  also,  that  of  the  United  States  Pharmaco- 
poeia. This  may  account  in  a  measure  for  his  readiness  to  prescribe 
any  new  remedy  offered,  and  his  ready  acceptance  of  the  extrava- 
gant statements  made  in  their  praise  we  must  attribute  to  human 
