558 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
{   December,  1914. 
of  pharmacy  in  conjunction  with  pure-drugs  laws  should  relieve  phy- 
sicians and  the  public  of  any  doubt  as  to  the  composition,  purity, 
quality,  and  strength  of  all  drugs  and  medicinal  preparations  used  in 
the  treatment  of  disease.  As  these  laws  are  enforced  at  the  present 
time  it  is  plainly  evident  that  the  methods  of  control  are  inadequate 
and  do  not  serve  to  safeguard  public  health  as  well  as  they  could 
or  should. 
Boards  of  health  and  other  State  and  Federal  officials  intrusted 
with  the  enforcement  of  these  laws  should  endeavor  to  call  attention 
to  the  desirability  of  having  druggists  exercise  a  close  scrutiny  of 
the  drugs  and  preparations  included  in  their  stock,  to  keep  drugs, 
chemicals,  and  preparations  in  suitable  containers,  to  throw  away  old 
or  useless  material,  and  to  see  that  scales,  weights,  and  measures  are 
reliable  and  accurate  under  the  conditions  imposed  upon  them. 
Some  eltort  should  also  be  made  to  see  that  drug  stores  are 
equipped  with  the  necessary  analytical  apparatus  with  which  to 
analyze  or  examine  all  supplies  and  thus  assist  in  maintaining  a 
more  efficient  control  of  the  articles  sold  as  medicine. 
Consistent  and  efficient  control  of  the  identity,  purity,  and  strength 
of  all  drugs  and  preparations  as  furnished  the  consumer  would  make 
for  progress  in  the  science  of  medicine  and  should  prove  to  be  an 
important  factor  in  promoting  public  health. 
PROGRESS  IN  PHARMACY. 
A  Quarterly  Review  of  Some  of  the  More  Interesting  Litera- 
ture Relating  to  Pharmacy  and  Materia  Medica. 
By  M.  I.  Wilbert,  Washington,  D.  C. 
The  changes  in  values  of  medicinal  products  of  all  kinds  con- 
tinue to  attract  general  attention  in  the  drug  trade.  Stocks  of  a 
number  of  chemicals,  as  well  as  many  of  the  foreign  botanical  drugs, 
have  been  practically  exhausted,  and  the  prices  asked  for  these  sub- 
stances remain  high.  In  connection  with  many  other  drugs,  prices 
have  decreased  to  some  extent,  and  market  conditions  generally  are 
now  fairly  well  fixed.  The  values  of  opium  and  its  alkaloids  re- 
main high,  as  do  prices  for  nearly  all  drugs  and  chemicals  of 
German  or  of  Austrian  origin.  Prices  for  mercurials  of  all  kinds, 
Russian  paraffin  oil,  thymol,  phenol  and  phenol  products  generally 
