320  Bichloride  of  Mercury  Tablets.       { Am-  ^Jj™- 
to  be  followed  in  fixing  the  U.  S.  P.  standard.  I  believe  that  we 
should  appropriate  from  the  foreign  pharmacopoeias  all  that  our 
experience  and  judgment  prove  to  be  correct  and  in  accordance  with 
American  practice.  In  this  instance  I  cannot  approve  of  following 
the  dictum  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia.  I  have  here  a  sample 
of  the  official  German  corrosive  sublimate  tablets  that  have  been  in 
my  possession  since  last  March.  You  will  observe,  first,  that  these 
are  not  uniform  in  color  and  that  fading  has  commenced  to  take 
place.  Secondly,  the  shape  is  in  conformity  with  that  of  the  Ph.  Gr., 
twice  as  long  as  broad,  and  the  manufacturer,  to  show  this  and 
possibly  to  permit  of  economy  in  using  only  half  a  tablet  at  a  time, 
has  made  them  with  a  ridge  across  the  centre.  This  resembles  forms 
of  the  pink  linked  phenolphthalein  and  other  proprietary  laxative 
wafers  that  are  so  extensively  used  in  this  country.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  conceive  of  a  more  dangerous  experiment  than  to  officially 
recognize  such  a  shape  for  bichloride  tablets.  It  would  be  on  a  par 
with  the  adoption  of  the  Italian  pharmacopceial  standard  of  the 
round  tablet  which  we  are  now  ready  to  condemn.  There  is  no 
uniformity  in  the  European  pharmacopoeias  on  this  formula,  and 
so  the  argument  for  adopting  an  international  standard  falls  flat. 
Thirdly,  the  solution,  when  made  of  a  strength  of  I  to  iooo,  as 
commonly  used,  is  so  delicate  a  pink  tint  as  to  be  barely  perceptible. 
So  far  as  I  know,  no  American  manufacturer  has  yet  placed  on 
the  market  a  bichloride  of  mercury  tablet  copied  after  that  of  the 
German  Pharmacopoeia.  As  this  formula  has  been  published  for 
more  than  fourteen  years,  this  is  noteworthy  and  may  be  construed 
as  an  evidence  of  the  good  judgment  of  our  manufacturers.  To 
now  insist  that  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  must  adopt  and  make  legal 
a  shape  that  has  not  met  favor  in  American  practice  is  a  unique 
proposition  that  lacks  the  popular  approval  that  is  essential  to  its 
effectiveness. 
The  importance  of  throwing  every  safeguard  possible  around  the 
sale  and  handling  of  such  poisonous  substances  is  now  thoroughly 
recognized.  The  newspapers  have  given  wide  publicity  to  the 
deaths,  either  suicidal  or  accidental,  occurring  from  bichloride 
tablets.  The  evils  resulting  from  the  overzealous  newspaper  which 
gives  its  readers  all  the  details  of  the  method  by  which  some  poor 
unfortunate  has  gone  on  the  long  voyage,  have  been  discussed  and 
decried,  yet,  nevertheless,  it  continues  its  course  with  little  or  no 
abatement. 
