174 
Editorials. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      March,  1884. 
on  unofficinal  'formulas  was  appointed.  This  committee  has  divided  the 
necessary  labor  among  its  members,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  by  this  divi- 
sion of  labor  formulas  may  be  secured  which  may  be  used  by  the  pharma- 
cists in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  which  may,  at  least  in  a  measure,  do 
away  with  the  ready-made  medicines  of  the  present  market.  To  accom- 
plish as  much  good  as  possible,  it  is  desirable  that  the  committee  should  be 
aided  by  all  interested.  Formulas  may  be  sent  to  the  chairman,  Mr.  Col- 
cord,  or  if  .on  special  subjects,  may  be  communicated  to  the  sub-committee 
having  that  subject  in  charge.  These  committees  are  as  follows  :  On  elixirs. 
—J.  T.  Shinn,  Philadelphia;  W.  M.  Searby,  San  Francisco;  M.  W.  Alex- 
ander, St.  Louis ;  N.  H.  Jennings,  Baltimore,  and  J.  D.  Wells,  Cincinnati. 
On  ointments.' — S.  A.  D.  Sheppard,  Boston.  On  fluid  extracts. — Ewen  Mc- 
Intyre,  New  York.  On  emulsions. — Chas.  Becker,  Washington,  D.  C.  On 
pills. — C.  L.  Keppler,  New  Orleans,  and  R.  H.  Cowdrey,  Chicago.  On 
wines.— J.  W.  Colcord,  Lynn,  Mass. 
A  Proposed  National  Pharmacopoeia  —The  "Journal  of  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association,"  January  26,  1884,  contains  the  text  of  the  fol- 
lowing bill,  which  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Randall  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, January  8th,  read  twice,  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Ways 
and  Means,  and  ordered  to  be  printed  : 
A  Bill  to  Prepare  and  Publish  a  National  Pharmacopceia  for 
the  United  States. 
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea- 
sury shall,  as  soon  as  practicable,  detail  two  officers  of  the  Marine  Hospital 
Service,  and  the  Secretary  of  War  shall  detail  two  officers  of  the  Medical 
Staff  of  the  Army,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  shall  detail  two  officers 
of  the  Medical  Staff  of  the  Navy,  for  the  duty  of  compiling  and  preparing 
a  Pharmacopceia,  which  shall  be  known  as  the  u  National  Pharmacopceia 
of  the  United  States  of  America,"  and  shall  be  held  and  accepted  as  the 
standard  for  the  purveying,  compounding  and  dispensing  of  drugs  or  medi- 
cinal agents,  and  shall  be  taken  as  authority  in  the  Treasury  Department 
on  all  questions  arising  under  the  tariff  laws  of  the  United  States  with 
regard  to  the  nomenclature,  description  and  purity  of  drugs  or  remedial 
agents,  and  shall  further  be  received  as  evidence  in  the  United  States 
courts.  And  the  matters  contained  in  the  said  Pharmacopoeia  shall  be  free 
for  use  by  all  authors  and  commentators  for  the  benefit  of  the  medical  and 
pharmaceutical  professions,  and  of  the  community  at  large;  and  it  shall 
not  be  lawful  for  any  one  to  reprint  and  publish  the  said  Pharmacopoeia  as 
a  whole. 
Sec.  2.  That  the  medical  officers  detailed  as  above  provided  shall  invite 
the  American  Medical  Association  and  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  at  their  next  annual  meetings,  to  form  committees  of  not  more 
than  three  members  from  each  of  the  said  Associations,  which  committees, 
if  so  appointed,  may  co-operate  with  the  above-named  medical  officers  in 
the  preparation  of  the  said  Pharmacopoeia,  forming  a  board  which  shall 
have  power  from  time  to  time  to  add  to  its  number  as  may  in  its  judgment 
he  necessary,  and  which  shall  elect  a  chairman  and  a  secretary,  and  adopt 
such  rules  as  it  shall  see  fit  for  the  expediting  and  perfecting  of  the  said 
