Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1900. 
U.S. P.  National  Convention. 
285 
as  obligatory  on  the  physician  or  as  forbidding  him  to  exceed  them  whenever  in 
his  judgment  this  seems  advisable.  The  committee  is  directed  to  make  a  distinct 
declaration  to  this  effect  in  some  prominent  place  in  the  new  Pharmacopoeia. 
3.  NOMENCLATURE. 
It  is  recommended  that  changes  in  the  titles  of  articles  at  present  official  be 
made  only  for  the  purpose  of  insuring  greater  accuracy  or  safety  in  dispensing. 
In  the  case  of  newly  admitted  articles,  it  is  recommended  that  such  titles  be 
chosen  as  are  in  harmony  with  general  usage  and  convenient  for  prescribing  ; 
but  in  the  case  of  chemicals  of  a  definite  composition  a  scientific  name  should 
be  given  at  least  as  a  synonym.  It  is  further  recommended  that  every  common 
name  and  English  title  of  articles  used  in  the  present  United  States  Pharma- 
copoeia, whose  synonyms,  both  for  the  medicinal  and  commercial  drug,  be 
either  described  or  modified  so  as  to  leave  no  doubt  as  to  what  is  wanted. 
4.  ASSAY  PROCESSES. 
The  committee  is  instructed  to  append  assay  processes  to  as  many  of  the. 
potent  drugs  and  preparations  made  therefrom  as  may  be  found  possible,  pro- 
vided that  the  processes  of  assay  are  reasonably  simple  (both  as  to  methods 
and  apparatus  required)  and  lead  to  fairly  uniform  results  in  different  hands. 
As  regards  the  products  of  such  assays,  tests  of  identity  and  purity  should  be 
added  wherever  feasible.  Physiological  tests  for  determining  strength  should 
not  be  introduced  by  the  committee. 
5.   PURITY  AND  STRENGTH  OF  PHARMACOPOEIA^  ARTICLES. 
The  committee  is  instructed  to  revise  as  carefully  as  possible  the  limits  of 
purity  and  strength  of  the  pharmacopceial  chemicals  and  preparations  for 
which  limiting  tests  are  given.  While  no  concession  should  be  made  towards 
a  diminution  of  medicinal  value,  allowance  should  be  made  for  unavoidable, 
innocuous  impurities  or  variations  due  to  the  particular  source  or  mode  of 
preparation,  or  to  the  keeping  qualities  of  the  several  articles.  In  the  case  of 
natural  products  the  limits  of  admissible  impurities  should  be  placed  high 
enough  to  exclude  any  that  would  not  be  accepted  by  other  countries. 
Regarding  the  strength  of  diluted  acids,  tinctures,  and  galenical  preparations 
in  general,  it  is  recommended  that  the  committee  keep  in  view  the  desirability 
of  at  least  a  gradual  approach  upon  mutual  concessions  towards  uniformity 
with  similar  preparations  of  other  pharmacopoeias,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
potent  remedies  which  are  in  general  use  among  civilized  nations.  It  is  recom- 
mended that  every  article  in  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  that  has  no 
medicinal  value,  and  is  used  solely  for  mechanical  and  technical  purposes,  be 
discarded  from  the  next  Pharmacopoeia. 
6.  GENERAE  FORMULAE. 
It  is  recommended  that  general  formulae  be  introduced,  as  far  as  the  par- 
ticular nature  of  the  several  drugs  will  permit,  for  fluid  extracts,  tinctures,  and 
such  other  preparations  as  are  made  by  identical  processes,  and  that  the  gen- 
eral formula  to  be  followed  in  each  case  be  merely  indicated  by  reference. 
7.  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 
The  committee  is  instructed  to  retain  the  metric  system  of  weights  and 
measures  adopted  in  the  Seventh  Decennial  Revision. 
