Am.  Jour.  Pharm.^ 
February,  1920.) 
Composition  Powder. 
97 
Cephalic  Powder  again  appears  in  King's  American  Dispensatory 
(1852)  but  with  the  snuff  omitted  from  its  formula.  Here  the  scien- 
tific title  "Pulvis  Myricae  Compositus"  is  first  employed,  the  old 
title  "Cephalic  Powder"  being  retained  as  a  synonym. 
In  the  1909  edition  of  King's  ''Dispensatory"  we  again  find  Cephalic 
Powder  under  the  title  "Pulvis  Myricae  Compositus  (Eclectic)"  or, 
Compound  Powder  of  Bayberry.  It  is  also  pointed  out  in  this  work 
that  this  powder  should  not  be  confused  with  "Composition  Powder" 
bearing  the  same  title. 
Dick's  "Encyclopedia"  (1872)  publishes  a  formula  for  Thomson's 
Composition  Powder  which  does  not  agree  with  the  one  accepted 
by  the  National  Formulary  but  which  does  correspond,  practically, 
with  the  third  formula  given  by  Thomson  under  "Composition 
Powder"  in  his  "Materia  Medica"  of  1841. 
The  first  edition  of  the  National  Formulary,  published  in  1888, 
accepted  the  formula  for  Composition  Powder  as  given  by  Thomson 
in  his  works  of  1835  1841,  and  applied  to  it  the  Latin  title  "Pulvis 
Myricae  Compositus."  Compound  Powder  of  Bayberry  was  the, 
English  name  employed  and  the  old  title,  "Composition  Powder," 
was  made  the  synonym.  These  titles  and  formula  have  been  carried 
through  all  succeeding  revisions  of  the  N.  F.  without  change. 
Some  idea  of  the  use  and  misuse  of  the  name  "Composition 
Powder' '  can  be  gotten  by  an  inspection  of  some  of  the  pharmaceutical 
formularies  For  example,  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  Formulary  of 
London  (1904)  publishes  a  group  of  thirteen  formulas,  differing  not 
only  in  ingredients  but  in  proportions  used,  all  entitled  Composition 
Powder.  In  comparing  these  formulas,  briefly,  it  was  found  that 
all  of  them  contained  capsicum  and  ginger,  eleven  contained  cloves 
and  only  nine  contained  bayberry  bark  which  is  the  principal  ingre- 
dient in  the  Thomsonian  Composition  Powder  and  from  which  the 
Latin  and  English  titles  are  taken.  The  other  ingredients  in  these 
formulas  were  chiefly  cinnamon  bark  and  laurel  berries. 
The  Era  Formulary  of  19 14  gives  six  formulas  for  Cofnposition 
Powder  not  one  corresponding  exactly  to  the  Thomsonian  formula 
recognized  by  the  National  Formulary.  Several  other  references 
showed  contradictory  formulas  which  are  unnecessary  to  discuss  in 
detail  at  this  time. 
To  summarize  briefly,  Composition  Powder  originated  with  the 
work  of  Dr.  Samuel  Thomson  in  1825  or  earlier.  It  became  popu- 
lar and  found  its  way  into  many  of  the  works  on  materia  medica  and 
