Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  i 
June,  1900.  / 
Editorial. 
275 
marked  disposition  shown  to  give  pharmacists,  and  particularly 
those  who  had  served  conspicuously  in  the  work  of  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association,  positions  of  honor  and  trust. 
The  officers  of  the  Convention  included  five  members  who  are 
active  in  the  medical  profession,  and  four  who  are  closely  allied  in 
pharmaceutical  work.  All  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
are  prominent  retail  pharmacists.  The  Committee  of  Revision  is 
represented  by.  six  medical  men  and  nineteen  pharmacists  or 
teachers  in  colleges  or  schools  of  pharmacv.  This  emphasizes 
several  things  :  (i)  That  however  the  average  pharmacist  views  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  nevertheless  the  active  mem- 
bers of  this  Association  stand  for  the  progress  of  the  mutual  work 
of  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical  professions  ;  (2)  and  furthermore 
that  the  pharmacists  are  not  losing  any  ground,  but  rather  growing 
in  the  respect  of  the  physician.  It  must  be  said,  however,  that 
notwithstanding  the  balance  of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  phar- 
macist, there  was  every  disposition  shown  to  make  the  coming 
work  one  of  value  to  the  physician  as  well  as  to  the  apothecary. 
A  third  feature,  which  must  be  gratifying  to  the  professions,  was 
the  rather  large  distribution  of  good,  sound  common  sense  among 
the  delegates.  It  did  not  depend  upon  any  one  man  to  see  that  the 
Convention  was  not  imposed  upon,  or  that  the  Committee  of  Revis- 
ion be  properly  instructed.  While  it  is  true  that  the  Convention  of 
1900  was  almost  solely  guided  by  the  recommendations  of  the  Com- 
mittee of  Revision  of  1890,  nevertheless,  any  ill-advised  action  or 
one  in  which  there  was  the  least  question  of  advisability  was  imme- 
diately and  with  little  effort  defeated.  It  was  pleasing  to  note  the 
alertness  with  which  the  members  opposed  everything  which  would 
detract  in  any  sense  from  the  value  of  the  book  which  the  societies 
and  colleges  which  had  sent  them  expected  them  to  uphold. 
Surely,  no  man  who  attended  the  Convention  returned  home  with 
any  other  thought  than  that,  come  what  may,  the  honor  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  is  safe.  Let  the  experimental  or  "  scouting  "  party 
continue  their  researches.  Let  the  experimenters  in  pure  science 
bring  the  fruits  of  their  labors  and  researches.  Let  come  what  may 
to  this  or  any  future  Convention  or  Revision  Committee  we  can 
expect  that  good  sense  and  judgment  will  rule.  It  now  remains 
for  each  and  all  to  help  the  Committee  of  Revision  to  make  the 
next  Pharmacopoeia  one  in  character  fitting  the  first  revision  of  the 
twentieth  century. 
