Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  "I 
February,  19 18.  ' 
Editorial. 
121 
that  great  leader  of  pharmacy  in  America  who  in  obedience  to  the 
will  of  the  Divine  ceased  his  earthly  career  with  the  commencement 
of  the  year.  G.  M.  B. 
Evidences  of  Bureaucracy  and  Inefficiency  in  Governmental 
Departments. 
In  the  December  number  of  the  American  Journal  of  Phar- 
macy, p.  561,  appeared  an  editorial  headed  "  The  Departments  of 
the  Government  Need  the  Advice  of  the  Drug  Trade. "  If  ever 
there  was  evidence  that  such  advice  is  needed  it  will  be  found  in 
the  official  "  Manual  for  Army  Cooks,"  issued  as  Document  564 
of  the  War  Department,  from  the  office  of  the  Quartermaster  Gen- 
eral under  date  of  November  21,  19 16. 
The  Manual,  as  a  whole,  is  excellent  and  serves  a  useful  and 
necessary  purpose.  The  recipes  and  directions  are  apparently  clear, 
comprehensive  and  practical.  Minor  defects  doubtless  occur  in 
these,  but  which  are  negligible  and  excusable.  The  Manual  con- 
tains definitions,  as  do  most  U.  S.  Army  and  Navy  manuals,  and  it 
is  in  the  framing  of  these  definitions  that  the  compilers  or  those  im- 
mediately responsible  for  its  preparation  lay  themselves  open  to 
ridicule  and  criticism. 
What  would  have  been  easier  than  to  ask  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture  to  assist  in  the  preparation  of  such  definitions  as 
come  within  its  scope?  That  would  have  been  the  proper  course, 
the  course  prompted  by  efficiency  rather  than  expediency  and  ad- 
herence to  precedent,  which  seem  to  be  the  most  potent  influences 
for  harm  in  all  governmental  department  work.  Such  was  not  the 
course  followed,  however,  as  will  be  realized  by  a  few  quotations 
representing  the  gems  of  a  collection  of  the  most  crudely  drawn  and 
incompletely  worded  definitions  of  which  it  is  possible  to  conceive 
in  a  government  document. 
"Aniline.  Dye  used  in  highly  colored  confectionery.  A  product  of  petro- 
leum. The  red  shades  are  harmless,  but  the  chemicals  used  in  making  blue, 
green  and  other  colors  are  injurious." 
"  Comma.  An  herb  found  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  United  States 
and  in  Mexico,  much  used  in  seasoning  soups  and  stews." 
"Ferment.    A  substance  capable  of  producing  yeast  fermentation." 
*  Glucose.  A  cheap  sugar  that  will  not  easily  crystallize  or  a  cheap  syrup 
that  will  not  crystallize — very  much  like  "  Silver  Drip,"  but  much  thicker. 
Glucose  is  often  made  by  treating  cornmeal  with  sulphuric  acid.  It  is  very 
wholesome." 
