224  U.  S.  and  Br.  Pharmacopoeias.  {AmMay'i?9h9arm- 
territories  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States  laws.  It 
is  also  a  legal  authority  in  a  number  of  States.  Outside  of  these 
limits  its  authority  is  only  moral,  and  yet  it  has  the  loyal  support 
of  the  great  majority  of  the  physicians  and  pharmacists  of  our 
country. 
The  make-up  of  the  bodies  under  whose  direct  authority  these 
works  are  issued  is  altogether  different.  The  B.P.  is  issued  by  the 
"  General  Council  of  Medical  Education  and  Registration  of  the 
United  Kingdom."  This  council  is  made  up  of  thirty  members, 
eighteen  elected  by  the  medical  colleges  or  universities,  one  each  by 
the  Apothecaries'  Society  of  London  and  Apothecaries'  Hall  of 
Ireland,  five  nominated  by  the  Queen,  and  five  direct  representatives, 
one  of  the  latter  probably  being  an  apothecary,  so  that  the  phar- 
macists have  a  one-tenth  representation  in  the  council.  The  general 
supervision  of  the  work  was  performed  by  a  committee  of  nine  of 
the  General  Council  {two  of  whom  were  apothecaries).  This  com- 
mittee graciously  acknowledged  the  great  value  of  the  assistance 
rendered  by  a  committee  of  twelve  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of 
Great  Britain,  and  also  that  of  a  number  of  eminent  referees.  The 
editing  of  the  work  was  performed  by  the  distinguished  chemist, 
Prof.  John  Attfield.  Some  of  the  pharmacists  of  Great  Britain  are 
not  satisfied  with  the  present  arrangement,  but  think  that  the 
revision  of  their  Pharmacopoeia  should  be  assumed  by  the  British 
Pharmaceutical  conference,  with  the  co-operation  of  the  Pharma- 
ceutical Associations  and  Societies  of  Great  Britain,  Ireland  and  the 
Colonies. 
The  U.S. P.  is  revised  by  a  committee  appointed  by  the  "  National 
Convention  for  Revising  the  Pharmacopoeia,"  which  meets  in  Wash- 
ington at  the  commencement  of  each  decade.  The  convention  is 
made  up  of  three  accredited  delegates  from  each  of  the  incorporated 
National  and  State  Medical  and  Pharmaceutical  Associations,  and 
Colleges  of  Medicine  and  Pharmacy,  in  continuous  operation  for  at 
least  five  years  immediately  preceding  ;  in  addition  the  Army,  Navy 
and  Marine  Hospital  Service  are  represented  by  three  delegates 
each.  The  committee  in  charge  of  the  last  revision  consisted  of 
twenty- five  members,  the  majority  of  whom  were  pharmacists. 
The  books  when  compared  from  a  typographical  standpoint  are 
both  found  to  be  8vo's,  although  the  B.P.  is  smaller,  being  8*4  x  5^ 
inches,  containing  535  pages.    The  binding  of  the  B.P.  is  superior, 
