Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  > 
March,  1884.  jf 
Editorials. 
173 
able  in  commerce.  Dr.  Miller  said  it  was  sold  under  the  name  of  oil  of 
limetta. 
Professor  Trimble  exhibited  the  outer  shells  of  the  coffee  bean,  from 
Liberia,  that  had  been  handed  to  him  to  examine  for  caffeine,  and  hoped 
to  be  able  to  report  on  it  at  a  future  meeting. 
There  being  no  further  business,  on  motion,  adjourned. 
T.  S.  WiEGrANj),  Registrar. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Unofficinal.  Formulas. — We  have,  in  former  volumes,  frequently 
drawn  the  attention  of  our  readers  to  the  inconveniencies  arising  from  the 
use  by  pharmacists  of  preparations  made  according  to  unpublished  pro- 
cesses, and  from  prescribing  by  physicians  of  preparations  of  which  they 
know  little  more  than  the  names.  These  inconveniences  are  so  generally 
known  and  acknowledged  as  evils,  that  attempts  have  been  frequently 
made  in  various  localities  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  dispensing  of  such 
preparations.  One  of  the  first  measures  undertaken  by  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association  after  its  organization  was  the  collection  of 
unofficinal  formulas  in  local  use.  This  was  suggested  by  Mr.  John  Meakim, 
of  New  York,  and  in  1853,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Joseph  Laidley,  of  Richmond, 
Va.,  the  Executive  Committee  undertook  the  collection  of  such  formulas; 
but  not  receiving  any  aid  from  others,  it  was  deemed  advisable  in  1856  to 
appoint  a  special  committee  of  ten,  which  was  subsequently  increased  to 
fourteen,  with  Mr.  Meakim  as  chairman.  This  committee  collected  a  con- 
siderable number  of  formulas  which  were  published  in  the  Proceedings, 
1857  and  1858.  A  number  of  unofficinal  formulas  were  also  reported  by  Mr. 
J.  F.  Hancock,  of  Baltimore,  in  1874. 
While  the  "  elixir  nuisance  "  was  at  its  height,  committees  were  appointed 
and  presented  formulas  at  the  meetings  held  in  1873  and  1875,  and  by  special 
vote  of  the  Association,  these  formulas  were  recommended  for  general  use 
and  were  also  officially  communicated  to  the  various  medical  societies  in  the 
United  States  with  the  suggestion  that  physicians  if  prescribing  elixirs  at 
all,  make  use  of  the  formulas  recommended.  This  action  did  not  remove 
the  evil,  but  it  invested  at  least  these  formulas  with  a  certain  authoritative- 
ness,  capable  of  producing  greater  uniformity  in  a  set  of  preparations}  nearly 
all  of  which,  it  seems  to  us,  should  be  left  to  extemporaneous  prescription. 
But  as  long  as  physicians  can  be  induced  to  resort  to  other  than  pharma- 
copceial  preparations,  the  necessity  will  also  exist  to  devise  formulas  for 
such,  no  matter  how  transient  or  ephemeral  their  use,  or  how  slight  their 
medicinal  value  may  be.  This  necessity  exists  everywhere;  hence  the 
compilation  of  numerous  formularies,  several  of  which  are  recognized  in 
European  countries  as  authorities  in  such  cases  where  the  pharmacopoeia 
does  not  supply  the  want. 
At  the  last  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  a  motion  • 
made  by  Mr.  J.  W.  Colcord,  of  Lynn,  Mass.,  was  carried  and  a  committee 
! 
