Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
August,  1920.  I 
U.  S.  Pharmacopoeial  Revision. 
555 
Preface  as  to  the  reason  for  this  change,  which  is  that  the  micron 
is  the  standard  unit  of  microscopic  measurement. 
II.  That  a  Hmit  for  extraneous  matter  be  fixed  by  the  U.  S.  P. 
in  each  definition  of  a  vegetable  drug  where  such  contamination  is 
unavoidable. 
nomencIvATure:  . 
The  following  suggestions  are  respectfully  submitted  for  con- 
sideration : 
1.  That  the  general  style  of  the  present  Pharmacopoeia  in  the 
arrangement  of  Latin  and  English  titles  and  of  synonyms  and  ab- 
breviations be  continued. 
2.  That  changes  in  official  titles,  Latin  or  English,  be  made  only 
for  very  important  reasons  and  that  conservatism  be  the  basic 
policy  in  dealing  with  all  propositions  which  involve  changes  in 
titles  which  have  already  become  more  or  less  fixed  by  custom. 
3.  That  in  the  adoption  of  new  official  titles,  practical  consider- 
ation, especially  with  reference  to  their  use  in  prescriptions,  be 
deemed  of  greater  importance  than  matters  of  etymology,  or  of 
classical  analogy. 
4.  That  with  the  introduction  of  new  drugs,  which  have  entered 
commerce  under  a  vernacular  title,  the  names  be  in  every  instance 
Latinized  by  the  appending  of  a  Latin  ending,  and  not  introduced 
unchanged  as  Latin  titles  in  the  Pharmacopoeia,  to  be  classified  as 
indeclinable  nouns.  In  other  words,  that  the  list  of  indeclinable 
nouns  like  Buchu,  Gambir,  Sumbul,  etc.,  be  not  extended.  This 
recommendation  does  not,  however,  imply  the  suggestion  that  in- 
declinable nouns  already  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  be  changed. 
5.  That  when  a  new  chemical  is  made  official,  the  name  be 
Latinized  by  adding  the  termination,  either  "a"  or  "um,"  according 
to  analogy  or  according  to  the  nature  of  the  chemical  in  question. 
That  means  that  third  declension  endings  be  avoided  and  that 
the  names  of  newly  added  chemicals  be  given  terminations  which 
will  relegate  them  either  to  the  first  or  to  the  second  declension. 
This  practice  will  greatly  facilitate  correct  usage  in  prescription 
writing. 
6.  That  cumbersome  chemical  names,  such  as  Sulphonethyl- 
methanum,  which  cannot  be  expected  to  become  an  integral  part  of 
prescription  nomenclature,  be  avoided,  and  that  short  coined  names 
be  used  instead. 
