580 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
[  Am.  Jour,  t'harrn. 
I   December,  1903. 
The  mistake  is  probably  due  to  an  inadvertent  duplication  of  dates 
on  the  part  of  the  designer.  The  date  under  "  Editor  of  the  U.  S. 
Pharmacopoeia"  should  have  been  1880-1901,  Dr.  Charles  Rice 
not  being  a  member  of  the  Pharmacopceial  Revision  Committee  in 
1870. 
Pharmacopoeias. — The  supplement  to  the  Dutch  Pharmacopoeia 
and  the  new  edition  of  the  Italian  Pharmacopoeia  have  been  thor- 
oughly discussed  in  recent  numbers  of  the  German  pharmaceutical 
journals.    A  few  of  the  details  may  be  interesting. 
Ointments. — The  new  Italian  Pharmacopoeia  divides  ointments, 
rather  arbitrarily  into  pomades  and  ointments.  As  a  base,  benzo- 
inated  lard,  vaseline  and  lanolin  are  directed  to  be  used;  many  of  the 
formula  in  which  benzoinated  lard  is  given  as  the  base  also  allow 
the  use  of  vaseline  or  lanolin.  Ointment  of  yellow  oxide  of 
mercury  and  the  ointment  of  oxide  of  zinc  are  to  be  made  with 
vaseline  only. 
In  the  matter  of  tinctures  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  recom- 
mendations of  the  international  conference  were  not  more  closely 
followed.  The  tinctures  are  directed  to  be  made  by  maceration, 
and  not  more  than  half  of  the  tinctures  of  potent  remedies  are  of  the 
strength  directed  by  the  Brussels  conference,  10  per  cent. 
Powders  in  the  Italian  Pharmacopoeia  are  directed  to  be  very  fine, 
fine  or  coarse.  The  very  fine  powders  must  pass  through  a  sieve 
having  1,600  meshes  to  a  square  centimeter  of  surface,  for  fine  pow- 
ders the  sieve  must  have  900  meshes,  and  for  coarse  powders  100 
meshes  to  a  square  centimeter. 
Alcoholaturae  is  the  name  applied  in  the  Supplement  to  the 
Dutch  Pharmacopoeia  to  tinctures  of  fresh  herbs. 
These  preparations  are  directed  to  be  made  by  cutting  and  con- 
tusing the  plant,  or  part  of  the  plant,  and  macerating  for  seven  days 
with  an  equal  weight  of  alcohol.  The  fluid  is  then  expressed  and 
filtered. 
Incense. — The  Chemist  and  Druggist  (London)  has  devoted  con- 
siderable space  in  some  of  its  recent  numbers  to  a  discussion  of 
formulas  for  the  incense  used  in  Roman  Catholic  and  other  ritual- 
istic churches.  Among  the  formulas  that  have  been  suggested  are 
the  following  : 
(1)  Gum  olibanum,  20;  gum  benzoin,  6;  cort.  cascarilla,  5  ;  cassia 
bark,  2  ;  cloves  (arom.),  2.  Contuse  and  make  into  a  coarse  powder. 
