2$4  Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy.  {Am^imrm' 
CHICAGO  COLLEGE  OF  PHARMACY. 
After  the  annual  business  meeting  and  election  of  officers  of  the  Alumni 
Association  of  the  Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy,  the  School  of  Pharmacy  of 
the  University  of  Illinois,  on  the  evening  of  March  28th,  the  fourth  of  the  series 
<of  meetings  for  the  discussion  of  pharmacopceial  revision  was  held.  Mr.  W.  B. 
Day  read  a  paper  on  "  The  Proposed  Introduction  of  Powdered  Drugs  into  the 
Pharmacopoeia."  He  stated  that  such  introduction  would  mean  simply  the 
appending  to  the  present  official  description  of  the  entire  cellular  drugs  the 
microscopical  description  of  the  powder.  The  latter  description  would  involve 
only  a  mention  or  a  brief  description  of  the  characteristic  structural  features. 
-Objections  that  had  been  made  were  :  greater  difficulty  in  identifying  the  drug, 
greater  difficulty  in  determining  its  quality  and  purity  and  increased  liability  to 
deterioration.  As  against  these  arguments,  he  urged  that  instruction  in  the  use 
of  the  microscope  and  in  the  study  of  the  minute  structure  of  drugs  now  occu- 
pies a  prominent  place  in  the  curricula  of  our  colleges  of  pharmacy  and  that 
.-such  knowledge  is  now  more  widely  diffused  among  pharmacists  than  ever 
ibefore  ;  that  microscopes  of  excellent  quality  can  be  had  at  low  prices  ;  that  the 
apparatus  and  skill  required  for  the  examination  of  drugs  microscopically  are 
not  greater  than  for  the  chemical  examinations  now  described  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia ;  that  suitable  containers  are  more  easily  provided  for  powders  than  for 
entire  drugs  ;  that  considerations  of  convenience  and  utility  have  led  to  the 
almost  exclusive  use  of  powdered  or  cut  as  compared  with  whole  drugs,  and 
that  inasmuch  as  drugs  are  used  so  largely  in  the  powdered  form,  it  would  seem 
best  that  they  be  recognized  by  the  Pharmacopoeia  in  this  form,  to  the  end  that 
standards  of  identity  and  purity  may  thereby  be  established.  In  this  respect, 
we  may  well  follow  the  example  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  to  be  issued 
next  year,  which  will  contain  descriptions  of  the  more  important  drugs  in  the 
form  of  powder. 
A  preliminary  report  on  "The  Therapo-pharmacy  of  the  Solid  Preparations 
for  Internal  Use  "  was  presented  by  Professor  C.  S.  N.  Hallberg.  It  was  stated 
that  the  confusion  that  prevailed  relative  to  the  many  forms  of  these  prepara- 
tions had  led  him  to  attempt  a  classification  based  upon  their  general  thera- 
peutic purposes  and  comprising  the  following  groups  :  (1)  those  affecting  the 
mouth  and  the  respiratory  organs,  and  embracing  the  troches;  (2)  those  in- 
tended for  solution  or  action  in  the  stomach,  including  the  powders  and  tritu- 
rations with  their  modifications  as  cachets,  capsules  and  tablet  triturates,  and 
{3)  those  intended  to  act  through  the  intestinal  tract,  for  which  purpose  the 
pill  is  the  form  best  adapted.  The  drugs  comprised  in  these  respective  groups 
were  indicated  by  their  therapeutic  properties,  as  antiseptics,  astringents, 
cathartics,  diuretics,  etc.,  and  these  properties  would  indicate  the  pharmaceu- 
tical form  to  be  adopted  in  order  to  secure  the  desired  therapeutic  effect.  Gen- 
eral titles  and  definitions  for  the  various  classes  of  preparations,  together  with 
general  formulas  for  their  preparation,  were  presented.  Should  these  be  intro- 
duced into  the  Pharmacopoeia,  it  would  not  only  aid  the  pharmacist  and  the 
prescriber  in  discriminating  between  these  various  preparations,  but  would 
liave  a  tendency  to  check  the  promiscuous  use  of  tablets  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession. 
