568 
German  Pharmacopoeia. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X  December,  1900. 
It  becomes  a  matter  of  great  importance,  therefore,  to  remember  that 
these  differences  do  exist,  and  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  any  possible 
misunderstanding  or  mistake  in  this  particular  direction. 
Among  the  preparations  or  forms  of  dispensing  for  which  general 
formulae  are  given  in  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,  and  that  are  some- 
what foreign  to  us,  are  Elaeosacchara,  Electuaria  Granula,  Pastilli  and 
Species.  This  latter  would  appear  to  us  to  be  an  antiquated  method 
of  dispensing  drugs,  but  it  seems  to  be  still  popular  in  Germany,  espe- 
cially for  domestic  use.  This  domestic  or  popular  use  of  old  remedies 
is  one  that  should  not  be  lost  sight  of.  There  are  many  drugs  and 
preparations  that  are  confined  almost  entirely  to  domestic  practice, 
but  the  fact  that  they  do  not  appear  in  physicians'  prescriptions 
should  not  cause  them  to  be  dropped  from  the  official  lists.  This 
fact  has  been  recognized  by  the  revisers  of  the  German  Pharmaco- 
poeia, and  they  have  retained  many  of  these  popular  drugs  and 
compounds,  among  them  no  less  than  six  formulas  for  species,  or 
tea  mixtures. 
Some  of  the  official  titles  in  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  appear 
to  us  strange  and  antiquated.  Who  but  a  few  of  the  American 
pharmacists  or  physicians  would  recognize  a  popular  and  well- 
known  oil  in  "  Oleum  Jecoris  Aselli." 
Some  of  the  drugs  of  vegetable  origin  are  but  little  known  in 
this  country,  but  even  the  names  of  well-known  drugs  appear  some- 
what strange.  This  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  various  drugs  are 
grouped  according  to  the  portion  of  the  plant  that  they  are  derived 
from  ;  for  instance,  herbs,  roots,  fruits,  seeds  and  leaves  are  grouped 
together  with  the  corresponding  Latin  prefix,  and  it  is  this  grouping 
that  is,  at  first  sight,  bewildering  or  strange.  The  descriptions  of  the 
majority  of  the  crude  drugs  are  very  complete,  and  in  many  cases 
structural  details  are  given  with  great  minuteness  and  care.  This 
has  been  considered  necessary  owing  to  the  fact  that  German 
pharmacists  are  beginning  to  buy  many  of  their  vegetable  drugs 
in  a  cut  or  powdered  condition.  These  minute  histological  descrip- 
tions are  therefore  added  to  facilitate  the  recognition  of  the  vari- 
ous crude  drugs,  even  in  the  comminuted  state,  by  means  of  the 
microscope; 
Assay  processes  have  been  introduced  and  standards  established 
for  opium,  aconite,  cinchona,  nux  vomica,  belladonna,  hydrastis, 
hyoscyamus,  ipecac  and  pomegranate  root  bark.    The  assay  pro- 
