590 
The  Next  U.  S.  P.  Revision. 
i  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
*•     August,  1 918. 
proven  its  efficiency.  The  committees  have  cooperated  splendidly 
and  worked  smoothly  throughout  the  revision.  The  general  com- 
mittee of  fifty  is  needed  for  a  full  representation  of  the  varied  in- 
terests of  the  Pharmacopoeia  and  to  provide  experts  in  every  field 
from  which  to  form  the  sub-committees,  while  the  executive  com- 
mittee, composed  of  the  chairmen  of  the  fifteen  sub-committees,  is 
effective  in  coordinating  all  interests  of  the  book  and  in  securing  de- 
cisions, and  the  one  chairman  for  both  general  and  executive  com- 
mittees affords  the  necessary  centralization  and  harmony  for  the 
organization. 
Now  the  chief  cause  of  delay  in  revision  work  is  acknowledged 
to  be  the  time  lost  through  the  cumbersome  method  heretofore  in 
vogue  for  interchange  of  opinions  and  for  securing  discussions  and 
votes.  If  this  one  feature  can  be  corrected,  the  time  necessary  for 
revision  can  be  reduced  to  reasonable  limits  and  the  publication  of 
the  new  book  greatly  facilitated. 
In  the  last  revision,  those  who  observed  the  working  of  the  com- 
mittees, caught  a  clue  to  the  solution  of  this  problem.  It  consists  in 
the  establishment  of  a  plan  for  frequent  personal  conferences  dur- 
ing the  active  period  of  revision.  This  was  tried  to  a  limited  degree, 
when  revising  the  U.  S.  P.  IX,  and  it  thoroughly  proved  its  value 
in  securing  prompt  decisions,  in  clearing  up  many  knotty  problems 
satisfactorily  and  quickly,  and  in  stimulating  all  members  to  inten- 
sive work. 
The  sub-committees  may  need  only  one  or  two  such  personal 
meetings,  but,  to  obtain  the  full  benefit  from  this  plan,  the  executive 
committee  should  be  authorized  to  meet  at  least  once  a  month,  dur- 
ing the  whole  of  the  active  revision,  to  present  reports,  conduct  dis- 
cussions, and  reach  decisions. 
This  was  accomplished  heretofore  by  correspondence,  amount- 
ing to  thousands  of  pages,  and  when  it  is  realized  that  the  old  plan 
required  four  weeks  as  a  minimum,  and  often  six  or  eight  weeks  or 
longer,  for  each  decision  of  the  executive  committee,  the  value  of 
this  plan  becomes  apparent.  (Two  weeks  were  always  allowed  after 
the  proposal  of  any  proposition  for  its  discussion,  then  came  the 
mailing  of  the  discussion  and  vote  sheet  and  two  more  weeks  for 
the  votes  to  come  in,  before  its  announcement.) 
The  tax  upon  the  energies  and  time  of  the  members  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee,  if  this  meeting  plan  is  adopted,  is  realized,  but, 
by  reducing  the  actual  time  of  revision  to  one-third  or  less  of  that 
