ji ly ''im*^'"' }  ^^/^^^  Revision  German  Pharmacopoeia.  327 
directions  is  adopted  in  place  of  the  method  of  the  previous  revis- 
ions wherein  each  item  was  preceded  by  the  amount  printed  in  words 
and  the  process  was  elaborated  throughout  the  formula. 
In  the  monographs  on  drugs  and  chemical  products  the  style  of 
treatment  more  closely  simulates  that  of  the  U.S.F.  VIII.  The 
purity  rubric  has  been  adopted  and  is  quite  generally  given  in  the 
chemical  products.  Here,  however,  one  notes  a  lack  of  uniformity. 
For  examples,  Potassium  bromide  "  must  contain  not  less  than 
98.7  per  cent,  of  pure  KBr  "  (U.S. P.,  97  per  cent.)  and  Potassium 
carbonate  "  in  the  neighborhood  of  95  per  cent,  pure  ICCO3 " 
(U.S. P.,  98  per  cent.),  but  the  monographs  on  Potassium  Iodide, 
Potassium  Bicarbonate,  and  Potassium  Nitrate,  as  well  as  those  of 
other  salts,  lack  entirely  such  statements  of  the  purity  requirements. 
This  shows  a  lack  of  co-ordination  of  the  work  of  the  revision  or  a 
failure  to  adhere  systematically  to  what  appears  to  have  been  in- 
tended as  one  of  the  advanced  thoughts  to  be  adopted  in  the  work. 
The  purity  rubric  is  extended  to  many  of  the  drugs  and  even  to 
some  of  the  galenicals.  Here  the  method  of  stating  the  purity 
requirement  at  the  very  beginning,  preceding  even  the  definition 
of  the  drug  or  the  process  of  the  preparation,  does  not  appeal  to 
the  writer  as  an  improvement  over  the  U.S. P.  method  of  including 
the  alkaloidal  standard  as  part  of  the  definition.  It  strikes  us  as 
odd  to  see  as  the  initial  statement  in  Cantharides  contains  not  less 
than  0.8  per  cent,  cantharidin,"  and  in  Cinchona  "  contains  not  less 
than  6.5  per  cent,  alkaloid,  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  quinine  and 
cinchonine,"  or  in  oil  of  Lavender  contains  not  less  than  29.3  per 
cent.  Linalylacetate,"  and  in  Extract  of  Hyoscyamus  "  contains 
0.5  per  cent.  Hyoscyamine "  (U.S. P.,  0.3  per  cent,  mydriatic 
alkaloids. 
In  the  official  titles,  many  of  the  old  time-honored  Latinized 
vernacular  names  are  retained  and  such  mediaeval  titles  as  "  Borax," 
Cerussa,"  Lithargyrum,"  "  Minium,"  still  appear  in  this  twen- 
tieth century  revision. 
The  German  method  of  spelling  Latinized  chemical  names  is  re- 
tained in  the  official  titles.  As  examples,  Baryum  chloratum  with 
the  German  synonym  as  Baryum  chlorid,  Kalium  chloricum  with 
Kalium  chlorat  as  synonym  and  Morphinum  hydrochloricum  with 
morphin  hydrochlorid  as  the  German.  This  has  always  been  con- 
fusing  to  the  English-speaking  nations. 
The  method  of  classifying  titles  so  tliat  the  official  barks,  leaves. 
