286 
EDITORIAL. 
The  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress  at  Paris,  1867. — The 
Committee  of  the  Society  of  Pharmacy  of  Paris  have  issued  a  circular  of 
invitation  to  all  regularly  constituted  Pharmaceutical  Associations,  to  send 
delegates  to  the  Congress  to  be  held  in  that  city  in  August  next,  and  that  our 
readers  may  have  an  opportunity  to  know  its  objects  we  have  translated, 
as  literally  as  possible,  both  papers,  which  will  be  found  at  page  280. 
The  matter  was  brought  before  the  Annual  Meeting  of  our  College  on 
the  25th  of  March,  and  delegates  were  appointed  to  attend  the  Congress. 
(See  the  minutes  at  page  276  ) 
The  questions  stated  in  the  programme  should  be  fully  considered  by 
our  College,  and  its  delegates  should  be  duly  instructed  in  its  views,  that 
the  matter  shall  be  more  than  a  mere  form.  Great  variations  exist  in  the 
constitution  of  the  pharmaceutical  body  in  Europe  ;  on  the  continent  the 
influence  of  the  governments  is  felt  more  decidedly  in  Russia  and  Germany 
than  in  France,  and  in  England  much  less  than  in  France,  while  in  the 
United  States  Pharmacy  is  absolutely  free  from  special  legislation.  The 
question,  what  degree  of  freedom  from  State  interference  is  most  advan- 
tageous to  the  progress  and  success  of  our  scientific  art,  viewed  in  refer- 
ence to  the  community,  has  been  agitated  in  Germany  for  several  years, 
and  some  of  our  foreign  brethren  are  interested  to  know  how  our  unlicensed 
pharmacy  meets  the  demands  which  in  all  situations  must  be  made  on  its 
practitioners.  The  questions  arising  out  of  sale  of  poisons — the  feasibility 
of  introducing  here  the  decimal  weights  into  Pharmacy,  and  lastly  the  new 
idea  of  a  universal  Pharmacopoeia  for  all  civilized  nations,  are  sufficiently 
interesting  to  invite  reflection  by  our  members  and  promote  a  general  dis- 
cussion in  the  meetings. 
Errata. — Page  114,  vol.  xxxix.,  March,  1867,  13th  line,  omit  the  word 
•'drying."  Page  116,  same  volume,  first  line  from  bottom,  read  "Zin- 
giber nigra;  second  line  from  bottom,  "Zingiber  alba."  Page  189,  fifth 
line  from  bottom,  read  "1865."  Page  154,  for  "  Brown's  glycerin,"  read 
"  Bower's  glycerin,"  an  error  of  the  press  in  the  Medical  and  Surgical 
Reporter. 
The  Commencement  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  was  held  in 
the  Academy  of  Music,  March  14th,  1867,  on  which  occasion  the  degree 
of  Graduate  in  Pharmacy  was  conferred  upon  forty  two  students  of  the 
Class  of  1866-67,  who  had  successfully  passed  the  examination,  by  Dill- 
wyn  Parrish,  Esq.,  Vice-President  of  the  Institution.  The  occasion  was 
the  most  marked  of  its  kind  that  has  yet  occurred  as  regards  the  number 
of  graduates,  the  great  concourse  of  spectators  who  filled  the  large  hall  of 
the  Academy,  and  the  numerous  guests  and  members  of  the  College  who 
occupied  the  stage.  The  valedictory  address  was  given  by  Prof.  Robert 
Bridges,  after  which  Mr.  Bertine  S.  Erwin,  on  behalf  of  the  Zeta  Phi 
Association  of  the  students,  in  a  shcrrt  appropriate  speech,  presented  to  the 
