Amjine^imrm'}        U.S.P.  National  Convention.  287 
than  the  previous  Pharmacopoeia  was  issued  ;  that  the  paper,  binding  and  press- 
work  were  better  and  the  book  furnished  to  the  public  at  the  price  of  $2.50 
against  the  price  of  $4.00  for  the  previous  Pharmacopoeia. 
"  In  addition  to  this,  the  committee  has  a  balance,  as  shown  by  the  Treasurer's 
report  and  a  certified  statement  from  the  trust  company  in  which  the  funds  are 
deposited,  of  $11,861.70.  There  are  still  some  small  bills  unpaid,  and  some 
receipts  yet  in  possession  of  the  committee,  which  will  leave  a  net  balance  in 
the  hands  of  the  committee  of  about  $12,000.  A  considerable  sum  has  been 
expended  by  the  committee  for  research  work,  and  the  results  of  these 
researches  are  available  for  the  next  revision  of  the  work  and  they  will  greatly 
facilitate  the  work  of  the  next  committee.  This  action  of  the  committee  will 
greatly  forward  the  work  of  the  next  committee,  and  we  trust  that  it  will  enable 
the  latter  to  issue  a  more  perfect  revision  in  less  time  than  was  consumed  in 
preparing  the  seventh  revision. 
"The  greater  part  of  the  labor  of  revision  was  accomplished  by  means  of  cor- 
respondence, hectographed  circulars  being  used  as  the  means  of  communication 
and  for  voting  purposes.  This  method  entailed  on  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee an  immense  amount  of  labor,  and  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical  pro- 
fessions owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  our  chairman  for  the  masterly  manner  in 
which  he  performed  his  arduous  duties.  An  expert  was  employed  to  collect 
from  all  sources  detailed  criticisms  of  the  work  and  from  these  digests  were 
prepared  and  distributed,  which  will  undoubtedly  be  of  great  service  to  the 
next  Committee  of  Revision,  by  furnishing  readily  accessible  data  for  the  im- 
provement of  such  preparations  as  have  been  justly  criticised.  The  authority 
vested  in  the  committee  by  the  last  Convention  to  employ  and  pay  experts, 
when  necessary,  was  utilized,  it  being  the  sense  of  the  committee  that  no  effort 
should  be  spared  to  make  the  seventh  revision  as  perfect  as  possible,  and  if 
special  knowledge  could  be  secured  from  any  source  which  would  add  to  the 
accuracy  or  completeness  of  the  work,  it  should  be  obtained  and  freely  utilized. 
"  It  will  be  remembered  that  at  the  last  Convention  in  1890,  one  of  the  burn- 
ing questions,  and  one  which  caused  possibly  the  greatest  amount  of  discussion, 
was  the  introduction  of  assay  processes  to  be  appended  to  the  descriptions  of 
the  more  energetic  or  otherwise  improved  drugs  containing  active  principles, 
provided  the  therapeutic  value  of  the  drug  depends  upon  the  amount  of  these 
principles,  and  provided  also  that  these  principles  can  be  assayed  and  identified 
with  reasonable  accuracy  and  without  requiring  complicated  processes.  The 
working  out  of  this  problem  probably  caused  the  committee  as  much  labor  and 
consumed  relatively  more  time  than  an}'  other  special  work,  and  while  much 
remains  to  be  done  in  this  department  of  the  work,  it  may  be  safely  said  that 
progress  is  being  made,  and  this  Convention  will  be  asked  to  give  the  next 
Committee  of  Revision  similar  authority,  in  order  that  additional  assay  pro- 
cesses, which  are  reliable,  may  be  introduced  into  the  next  revision.  According 
to  the  instructions  of  the  Convention  for  the  seventh  revision,  no  substance 
which  cannot  be  produced  otherwise  than  under  a  patented  process,  or  which 
is  protected  by  proprietary  rights,  shall  be  introduced  into  the  Pharmacopoeia; 
"Probably  no  instruction  of  the  Convention  has  caused  more  criticism  than 
this  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  synthetic  proprietary  remedies  were  com- 
paratively in  their  infancy  in  1890.  But,  as  is  well  known,  the  materia  medica 
has  been  enriched  or  cursed  with  an  enormous  flood  of  preparations  of  this 
