136 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
j  Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
X      March.  1903. 
PROGRESS  IN  PHARMACY. 
A  QUARTERLY  REVIEW  OF  SOME  OF  THE  MORE  INTERESTING  ADVANCES 
IN  PHARMACY  AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
By  M.  I.  WlI,BERT, 
Apothecary  at  the  German  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
The  New  Fifth  Edition  of  the  Russian  Pharmacopceia  has  just 
been  issued.  According  to  the  reviews  of  the  same  in  the  German 
pharmaceutical  journals,  it  is  far  from  being  an  ideal  or  perfect  phar- 
macopceia, but  it  is  nevertheless  quite  an  improvement  on  any  of 
the  editions  that  have  preceded  it.  Unfortunately  perhaps  for  the 
general  reader,  outside  of  Russia,  the  Revision  Committee  has  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  other  pharmacopoeias,  and  has  given  all  of 
the  directions  and  descriptions  in  the  vernacular.  As  Russian  is  a 
language  that  has  interested  but  comparatively  few  scholars  it  will 
be  seen  that  this  pharmacopceia  will  not  be  readily  available  for 
reference,  study,  or  comparison. 
Assay  processes  are  included  for  several  of  the  drugs  of  organic 
origin.  Cinchona  is  to  be  estimated  gravimetrically,  and  is  to  con- 
tain at  least  3-5  per  cent,  of  alkaloids.  Opium  is  to  contain  from 
10  to  12  per  cent,  of  morphine,  also  estimated  gravimetrically. 
Many  of  the  organic  drugs  are  described  in  the  powdered  form.  This 
will  no  doubt  be  appreciated  by  the  practical  druggist,  as  it  furnishes 
him  with  an  authoritative  guide  for  the  examination  of  powders  as 
to  their  identity  and  purity. 
This  is  the  first  national  pharmacopceia  that  has  been  published 
since  the  meeting  of  the  International  Congress  for  the  unification 
of  potent  remedies.  According  to  the  Apotheker  Zeitung  no  changes 
have  been  made  in  the  strength  of  galenical  preparations,  so  that 
all  of  the  preparations,  for  which  international  standards  have  been 
proposed,  are  practically  included  as  they  were  in  the  last  or  fourth 
edition.  These  it  will  be  remembered  corresponded  closely  to  the 
standards  proposed  by  the  International  Congress. 
International  Standards. — In  reference  to  the  proposed  inter- 
national standards  it  may  be  said  that  Prof.  Dr.  August  Ritter  von 
Vogl,  in  his  report  to  the  Austrian  Government,  says  that  the  pro- 
gram as  proposed  by  the  Belgian  Government  and  as  finally  adopted 
by  the  International  Conference,  agreed  in  all  particulars  with  the 
proposed  and  fundamental  principles  as  already  adopted  by  the 
