280 
U.S. P.  National  Convention. 
Am.  Jour.  Phariri. 
June,  1900. 
Pharmacopoeia.  The  tares  grew  rapidty,  for  in  the  second  edition  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  that  of  1820,  fluid  measures  were  employed.  The  sin  of  the 
men  of  1820  in  changing  from  parts  by  weight  to  liquid  measures  of  quantity 
was  made  greater  by  the  fact  that  the  liquid  measures  were  not  at  that  time  in 
use  among  the  apothecaries  of  America.  That  the  amblyopia  of  the  Revisers 
was  not  deeper  than  that  of  their  contemporaries  is,  however,  shown  by  the 
following  extract  from  a  contemporary  review  of  the  National  Pharmacopoeia 
in  July,  1821  :  'If  the  American  Pharmacopoeia  be  adopted  .throughout  the 
United  States,  as  no  doubt  it  will  be,  these  modes  of  indicating  quantities  must 
necessarily  come  into  use,  and  that  they  will  be  continued  after  having  been 
once  introduced  we  do  not  hesitate  to  affirm,  because  they  are  more  definite 
and  precise  and  consequently  safer  than  the  old  methods.  In  such  case  it  will 
be  necessary  that  the  apothecaries  be  provided  with  the  measures  above 
mentioned.' 
"The  language  of  the  Massachusetts  Pharmacopoeia  of  1808  was  English. 
The  first  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  of  1820  was  printed  in  Latin,  with 
a  translation  of  the  Latin  into  English  upon  the  opposite  page  ;  and  the  Con- 
vention of  1830,  as  not  departing  from  the  use  of  Latin,  justified  itself  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  preface  because  '  the  Latin,  if  not  essentially  necessary;  may  prove 
highly  serviceable  by  fixing  the  precise  meaning  of  an  English  phrase  which 
might  not  otherwise  be  well  understood.'  Fancy  an  American  apothecary 
or  an  American  doctor  of  the  present  time,  when  he  could  not  understand  the 
exact  meaning  of  the  English,  turning  to  the  Latin  to  clarify  his  thoughts. 
"The  Pharmacopoeias  of  1820  and  3830  were  prepared  by  the  conventions 
themselves,  these  conventions  being  composed  solely  of  physicians.  In  1840 
the  growth  in  numbers  of  the  convention  necessitated  the  reference  of  the 
detailed  work  of  revision  to  a  committee,  and  the  method  still  in  vogue  was 
inaugurated.  The  same  convention  made  itself  further  historic  by  determining 
that  the  convention  to  be  called  in  1850  should  be  composed  of  the  two  pro- 
fessions of  Medicine  and  of  Pharmacy,  by  whose  co-union  in  labor  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States  as  an  authority  has  been 
made  possible. 
"Since  1840  the  great  part  of  the  labor  of  revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  has 
fallen  upon  the  successive  Chairmen  of  the  Committee  of  Revision.  In  sixty 
years  of  these  labors  there  have  been  only  four  chairmen,  namely,  George  B. 
Wood,  from  1840  to  i860  ;  Franklin  Bache,  from  i860  to  1870 ;  Joseph  Carson, 
from  1870  to  1880 ;  Charles  Rice,  from  1880  to  1900.  As  no  revision  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  has  been  more  successful  than  the  last,  and  as  at  no  time  have 
the  necessary  duties  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee  been  as  great  as 
they  are  at  present,  so  never  in  the  century  has  there  been  found  a  man  more 
laborious,  more  conscientious  and  painstaking,  or  better  fitted  by  extraordinary 
acquirements  and  personal  qualities  to  fulfil  the  onerous  duties  of  the  position 
than  the  present  chairman  ;  and  your  President  most  earnestly  hopes  that  by 
his  continuance  in  office  the  success  of  the  next  revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia 
may  be  ensured. 
"  During  its  whole  life  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  has  received  no 
governmental  support,  and  has  been  free  from  governmental  control.  Under 
the  circumstances  the  influence  which  it  has  exerted  upon  the  pharmaceutical 
and  medical  professions,  the  voluntary  obedience  which  has  been  given  to  it, 
