i6 
International  Standards. 
[Am.  Jour.  Pbarni. 
1     January,  1903. 
with  similar  preparations  of  other  Pharmacopoeias,  particularly  in 
the  case  of  potent  remedies  which  are  in  general  use  among  civilized 
nations." 
This  would  appear  to  answer  the  question  without  the  peradven- 
ture  of  a  doubt.  It  even  makes  it  imperative  on  the  committee  to 
take  cognizance  of  any  definite  offer  for  securing  greater  uniformity 
in  the  strength  of  galenical  preparations,  and  particularly  of  such 
as  are  to  be  classed  under  potent  remedies. 
The  next  question  that  suggests  itself  is  as  to  the  advantages  to 
be  derived  by  a  more  general  adoption  of  these  proposed  inter- 
national standards.  The  need  of  greater  uniformity  will  be  recog- 
nized when  we  reflect  on  the  rapidity  with  which  medical  literature 
is  spread  from  one  country  to  another.  This  will  appeal  to  us  more 
readily  if  we  look  through  one  of  the  more  popular  weekly  medical 
journals  and  note  the  number  of  abstracts  from  all  quarters  of  the 
globe.  Medical  journals  in  Europe,  on  the  other  hand,  quote  exten- 
sively from  the  medical  literature  of  this  country,  and  it  is  not  at 
all  uncommon  to  find  that  an  abstract  from  an  American  journal 
reappears  in  another,  actually  credited  to  a  foreign  source.  With 
this  liberal  interchange  of  views  and  experiences,  particularly  in 
view  of  the  usual  practice  of  confounding  the  source  of  origin,  it 
would  appear  that  similar  standards  would  be  imperatively  necessary. 
This,  in  our  own  case  at  least,  is  the  more  apparent  when  we 
reflect  that  the  average  physician  in  this  country  has  little  or  no 
knowledge  of  the  contents  of  pur  Pharmacopoeia,  or  how  its  prepa- 
rations differ  in  strength  from  those  in  use  in  other  countries. 
The  wide  variation  in  the  strength  of  some  of  these  preparations 
is  illustrated  in  the  accompanying  table,  giving  the  proposed  inter- 
national standard  and  the  present  strength  in  sixteen  of  the  larger 
independent  States.  A  few  words  in  explanation  of  this  accompany- 
ing table:  The  necessary  data  was  taken  from  the  latest  (1902) 
edition  of  the  "Universal  Pharmacopbe,"  by  Bruno  Hirsch,  and 
includes  not  only  the  most  recent  editions  of  the  various  national 
Pharmacopoeias,  but  also  the  older  supplement  to  the  German  and 
the  supplement  to  the  Dutch  Pharmacopoeia.  This  explains  the 
reason  why  this  table  includes  several  preparations  not  found  in  the 
body  of  these  respective  national  standards. 
Let  us  consider  the  proposition  of  the  International  Conference 
more  in  detail.    Of  the  general  recommendations  that  will  probably 
