^"junrim*™"}  Washington  Branch  A.  Ph.  A.  297 
"  Resolved,  That  the  Association  of  American  Medical  Colleges 
commends  to  the  attention  of  medical  educators  and  examiners,  the 
Hmited  materia  medica  lists  pubhshed  by  the  joint  committee  of 
the  Council  on  Medical  Education,  and  of  the  National  Confederation 
of  State  Medical  Examining  and  Licensing  Boards,  and  the  Chicago 
Medical  Society. 
Resoh'ed,  That  the  association  urge  upon  the  colleges  and  the 
examining  boards  the  necessity  for  the  recognition  of  the  principle 
underlying  these  lists,  and  for  the  early  adoption  by  the  boards  of  a 
materia  medica  list  to  which  licensure  examinations  shall  largely  be 
confined." 
The  subject  was  further  discussed  by  Messrs.  Kalusowski, 
Flemer,  Hilton,  Hunt,  and  Wilbert,  and  the  general  trend  of  much 
of  the  discussion  suggested  the  desirability  of  having  the  Pharma- 
copoeia of  the  United  States  restricted  to  important  medicaments 
so  that  it  might  serve  as  the  basis  for  materia  medica  instruction 
in  medical  schools. 
Dr.  Reid  Hunt  expressed  the  belief  that,^  a-:  present,^  the  physi- 
cian's part  in  the  revision  of  the  Phanracooceia  is  but  a.-miiror  .oae, 
and  that  much  of  what  the  better  informed  medical  men  might 
have  to  say  is  discounted  by  the  fi'ctitious  value  that  is  ac(:'oYded  to 
the  reputed  needs  of  the  less  conscientious,  or  less  competent  prac- 
titioner who  is  willing  to  continue  the  i-fse  ov  SLibstances  that  ^.p^pear 
to  have  no  recognizable  medicinal  value.  ,     ,  ; 
Mr.  M.  I.  Wilbert  called  attention  to  some  of  the  recent  comments 
that  have  appeared  on  this  same  subject,  and  quoted  Dr.  D.  L.  Edsall 
who,  in  his  address  as  chairman  of  the  Section  on  Pharmacology  and 
Therapeutics  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  points  out  that 
the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States  is  now  used  by  but  few 
teachers  of  materia  medica  and  is  little  known  tO'  medical  practi- 
tioners. 
"  Revision  may  make  it  better  or  may  make  it  even  worse  so 
far  as  its  usefulness  to  students  and  practitioners  is  concerned, 
according  as  it  is  intended  to  make  it  purely  a  reference  book  or 
also  a  practical  working  book ;  in  other  words,  whether  it  is  revised 
upward  or  downward. 
Unless  marked  changes  are  made  in  it,  however,  it  will  remain 
as  it  is  now,  chiefly  a  name  to  the  vast  majority  of  the  medical 
profession  and  will  render  no  appreciable  service  in  improving  thera- 
peutic practice." 
