24 
Tenth  International  Congress. 
{  Am.  Jour.  Phann. 
(    January,  Ittll. 
REPORT  OF  THE  PROCEEDINGS  OF  THE  TENTH  INTER- 
NATIONAL CONGRESS  OF  PHARMACY,  BRUS- 
SELS, SEPTEMBER  i-6,  1910.* 
By  Reid  Hunt, 
Professor  of   Pharmacology,   Hygienic  Laboratory,  United   States  Public 
Health  and  Marine-Hospital  Service. 
The  opening  session  was  held  in  the  Palais  des  Academies  Sep- 
tember 1.  More  than  600  delegates,  about  one-half  of  whom  came 
from  countries  other  than  Belgium,  were  present.  Sixteen  foreign 
governments  had  formally  accepted  the  invitation  to  participate  in 
the  congress,  and  20  were  represented  by  official  delegates.  Dele- 
gates were  present  from  the  following  American  Republics :  Argen- 
tina, Chile,  Venezuela,  Guatemala,  San  Salvador,  Haiti,  and  the 
United  States. 
The  work  of  the  congress  was  outlined  at  the  opening  meeting, 
at  which  the  governor  of  Brabant,  representing  the  minister  of  the 
interior ;  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  congress ;  and  several  of 
the  foreign  delegates,  made  addresses.  The  speakers  emphasized, 
as  the  two  subjects  of  greatest  international  interest:  (i)  The  fur- 
ther unification  of  the  pharmacopoeias,  with  special  reference  to  the 
adoption  of  uniform  methods  of  assay  of  important  drugs ;  and 
(2)  the  control  of  the  sale  of  specialties  (proprietary  medicines), 
from  the  stand-point  of  public  health  as  well  as  that  of  the  material 
interests  of  the  pharmacists.  The  governor  of  Brabant,  M.  Beco, 
formerly  of  the  ministerial  department  having  control  of  public 
health,  hygiene,  and  pharmacy,  urged  the  congress  to  add  to  its 
programme  the  subject  of  public  hygiene,  stating  that  he  did  not 
believe  that  pharmacists  are  as  well  qualified  to  deal  with  the  prob- 
lems of  this  subject  as  is  desirable,  and  pointing  out  the  possibilities 
of  pharmacists  securing  for  themselves  a  more  privileged  position 
if  they  will  extend  their  activities  beyond  the  narrower  commercial 
pursuits. 
The  service  of  the  Belgian  Government  in  connection  with  the 
conference  of  1902,  which  resulted  in  the  securing  of  a  greater  de- 
gree of  uniformity  in  the  formulas  of  heroic  medicines  in  the  various 
pharmacopceias,  was  the  subject  of  much  favorable  comment  on  the 
part  of  several  of  the  foreign  delegates. 
*  Public  Health  Reports,  volume  xxv,  No.  40,  1910,  pp.  1406-1408. 
