554 
U.  S.  Pharmacopoeial  Revision. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
August,  1920 
Volumetric  Solutions. — It  is  further  suggested  that  the  "V.  S." 
following  the  designation  of  the  normaUty,  e.g.,  "tenth-normal  sul- 
phuric acid  V.  S.,"  be  omitted.    It  is  practically  tautology. 
Thermometers. — The  thermometers  official  in  the  present  U, 
S.  P.  are  almost  unobtainable  and  furthermore  there  seems  to  be  no 
need  for  several  of  the  thermometers  specified.  It  is  suggested 
that  in  the  next  revision  a  more  readily  obtainable  type  of  thermom- 
eter be  adopted  and  their  number  reduced  to  a  more  practical  basis. 
BOTANY  AND  PHARMACOGNOSY. 
The  following  recommendations  are  respectfully  submitted  to 
the  General  Committee: 
1.  That  the  Sub-Committee  on  Botany  and  Pharmacognosy 
be  given  authority  to  investigate  the  source  of  certain  official  sub- 
stances like  Saigon  Cinnamon,  Asafoetida,  etc.,  which  are  at  present 
of  either  indefinite  or  partly  indefinite  origins. 
2.  That  this  Sub-committee  make  a  searching  inquiry  into  plant 
names  that  are  adopted  to  represent  the  botanical  origins  of  vege- 
table drugs,  to  determine  priority  in  accordance  with  the  Vienna 
Code. 
3.  That  histological  descriptions  be  given  in  the  text  of  the 
U.  S.  P.  for  all  crude  drugs  considered  therein,  which  possess  cellular 
structure. 
4.  That  the  range  in  width  of  the  medullary  rays  of  various  drugs 
be  based  on  studies  of  longitudinal-tangential  sections. 
5.  That  the  limit  of  ash  for  all  drugs  be  revised  in  accordance 
with  the  latest  data. 
6.  That  the  family  name  be  the  sole  group  name  to  follow  natural 
origins  in  the  drafting  of  official  definitions  for  drugs  of  vegetable 
or  animal  source. 
7.  That  the  list  of  plant  synonyms  be  carefully  revised. 
8.  That  a  limit  of  impurities  be  stated  in  the  definition  for 
Prunus  Virginiana  and  that  this  be  fixed  tentatively  as  "not  more 
than  3  per  cent,  of  wood  or  other  foreign  matter." 
9.  That  a  determination  of  the  crude  fiber  allowable  in  powdered 
wild  cherry  bark  be  made,  to  the  end  that  a  limit  of  impurities  be 
placed  on  the  powdered  or  ground  drug. 
10.  That  the  term  "micron"  be  employed  in  the  next  revision 
of  the  U.  S.  P.  in  place  of  "millimeter  (mm.)"  for  designating  the 
size  of  microscopic  objects  and  that  a  statement  be  placed  in  the 
