^'"'Mry^im*'^"'' }  G^'^^^^CL'y^  Pharmacopoeia  Requirements.  225 
methods  and  procedure  required  in  determining  physical  constants, 
analytical  data^  etc.,  and  also  specific  definitions  of  general  terms 
used  in  the  body  of  the  book — such  as  coarse,  medium  and  fine 
(pieces  or  powder),  room  temperature,  unweighable  residue,  soluble 
and  insoluble,  etc. 
This  feature  of  the  old  edition  has  not  only  been  continued 
but  has  been  extended  and  improved  in  the  new.  The  advantage 
— from  several  viewpoints — of  such  a  special  treatment  of  general 
methods,  terms  and  other  details,  seems  to  me  to  be  obviously  very 
great,  and  in  principle  at  least  should  be  adopted  in  the  pending 
revision  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia. 
In  this  connection  it  is  to  be  noted  that  for  the  sterilization  of 
any  substances  that  may  require  such  treatment,  the  requirement 
in  both  the  old  and  the  new  editions  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia 
is  a  very  general  one,  consisting  merely  in  the  statement  that 
unless  otherwise  stated,  sterilization  is  accomplished  by  the  appli- 
cation of  heat  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  bacteriological  technic, 
giving  due  regard  to  the  properties  of  the  substance  to  be  sterilized. 
Obviously  real  compliance  with  such  a  general  requirement  neces- 
sitates some  training  in  the  essential  principles  of  bacteriology  as 
applied  to  sterilization.  It  is  intended,  I  believe,  that  the  new 
United  States  Pharmacopoeia  shall  include  some  requirement  on 
sterilization.  It  is  plain  that  either  our  requirement  must  be  much 
more  specific  than  the  German — probably  impractically  so — or  the 
training  in  pharmaceutical  schools  and  colleges  should  include  at 
least  enough  bacteriology  to  cover  such  a  requirement. 
The  methods  and  procedure  for  the  determination  of  the  melt- 
ing points,  freezing  points,  and  boiling  points  of  pharmacopoeia! 
substances  as  prescribed  in  this  new  edition,  seem  to  me  to  repre- 
sent both  progress  and  retrogression — though  the  former  doubtless 
predominates.  In  the  attempt  to  justify  this  general  conclusion, 
permit  me  to  briefly  contrast  the  old  and  the  new  requirements 
and  to  offer  comment  upon  certain  details : 
In  both  the  old  and  the  new  editions  the  melting  point  re- 
quirements, as  to  methods  and  procedure  described  in  the  introduc- 
tory chapter,  are  divided  into  two  parts ;  the  first  part  applying 
to  all  pharmacopoeial  products  except  the  fats  and  fatty  substances, 
and  the  second  part  to  the  fats  and  fatty  substances. 
In  the  old  edition  the  requirements  for  compounds  of  the  first 
class  provide  the  following  details :  Dry  the  sample  in  a  desiccator 
