AmMa?!"if9oarm' }    Standardization  of  Officinal  Drugs.  2 1 3 
By  the  time  that  the  next  revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  were  made, 
the  old  fluid  extract  could  simply  be  dropped  and  the  new  prepara- 
tion, which  would  by  that  time  have  replaced  it  in  actual  practice, 
be  substituted  for  it. 
As  regards  a  name  for  such  a  line  of  preparations,  the  question  is 
too  trivial  a  one  to  be  publicly  discussed.  The  committee  of  revi- 
sion has  always  consisted  of  men  thoroughly  honorable  and  perfectly 
judicious,  and  they  can  be  relied  upon  to  select  a  fitting  name. 
The  time  preceding  the  meeting  of  the  Convention  is  now  very 
short,  and  it  is  most  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  the  conclusions  of 
the  delegates  which  shall  be  reached  within  the  next  week  shall  be 
the  result  of  a  broad  and  unbiassed  consideration  of  the  question. 
THE  STANDARDIZATION  OF  OFFICINAL  DRUGS  AND 
PREPARATIONS.— A  PLEA  FOR  THE  TRUTH. 
By  G.  M.  Beringer,  Ph.G. 
Read  before  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting, 
April  22. 
The  standardizing  of  the  drugs  and  preparations  of  the  pharma- 
copoeia is  a  subject  which  is  now  attracting  a  great  deal  of  notice  in 
the  pharmaceutical  press  and  which  will  undoubtedly  claim  the 
attention  of  the  committee  on  revision.  Unfortunately,  the  discus- 
sion has  resulted  in  a  mass  of  glittering  generalities  and  harsh 
personalities  have  been  indulged  in  to  such  an  extent  that  there  is 
danger  of  the  vital  points  of  the  discussion  being  overlooked. 
The  standardizing  of  preparations  would  not  prevent  the  dishonest 
dealer  from  selling  goods  below  the  standard.  We  have  in  our 
present  pharmacopoeia  standards  of  purity  for  most  chemicals,  yet 
such  articles  as  cream  of  tartar  and  precipitated  sulphur  are  met 
with  most  grossly  adulterated,  and  many  of  the  commercial  chemi- 
cals do  not  answer  the  officinal  requirements.  Has  the  assaying  of 
opium  prevented  the  dishonest  druggist  or  wholesale  manufacturer 
making  laudanum  below  the  officinal  strength  ?  Has  there  been 
any  improvement  in  the  quality  of  this  article,  as  sold  by  the  coun- 
try store-keeper  in  bottles,  since  our  Pharmacopoeia  introduced  a 
method  of  opium  assay?  The  term  "  country  laudanum  "  is  still 
applied  by  dealers  in  the  article  to  a  mixture  containing  a  variable 
quantity  of  opium  and  a  great  deal  of  caramel  and  water.  Standard- 
ization is  not  the  panacea  for  this  evil. 
