572 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I   December,  1911. 
points  out  that  the  reports  as  a  whole  are  calculated  to  give  phar- 
macists a  very  good  idea  of  the  progress  of  pharmacy  within  the 
last  few  years  and  by  comparing  the  various  recommendations  and 
suggested  monographs  one  will  find  little  difficulty  in  constructing 
a  skeleton  of  the  new  Pharmacopceia  which,  long  overdue,  should 
be  published  not  later  than  191 2. 
The  Pharmaceutical  Journal  (London,  191 1,  v.  87,  p.  296)  in 
commenting  on  the  third  report  made  by  the  Committee  of  Ref- 
erence in  Pharmacy,  says :  "It  is  expected  that  the  pharmaceutical 
and  medical  editors  of  the  pharmacopoeia  will  now  undertake  the 
preparation  of  a  draft  text  for  the  consideration  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia Committee.  This  work,  it  is  said,  will  devolve  upon  Dr. 
Nestor  Tirard  and  Prof.  Greenish,  and  may  be  expected  to  occupy 
some  considerable  amount  of  time." 
British  Pharmaceutical  Codex. — The  new  British  Pharma- 
ceutical Codex  is  now  in  press,  and  a  sample  monograph  describing 
ergot  and  its  preparations  {Pharm.  J.,  London,  1911,  v.  87,  pp.  299- 
300)  gives  some  indication -of  the  extensive  changes  that  have  been 
made  in  the  style  and  make  up  of  the  book. 
Ash  Content  of  Drugs. — John  C.  Umney,  commenting  on  the 
paper  on  the  ash  content  of  drugs  (Am.  J.  Pharm.,  1911,  v.  83,  pp. 
474-478)  thinks  that  the  author's  deductions  from  the  records  he 
quotes  are  hardly  justified.  Umney  believes  that  roots,  barks  and 
even  leaves  are  capable  of  control  by  ash  content  and  the  matter 
of  sampling  offers  no  insurmountable  difficulties  in  connection  with 
drugs  of  high  standard  to  be  used  as  medicine. — Brit.  &  Col. 
Drug.,  191 1,  V.  60,  pp.  342-343.    See  also  editorial  Ibid.,  p.  339. 
Acetylsalicylic  Acid. — Seel  and  Friederich,  in  the  first  install- 
ment of  a  report  on  compressed  tablets,  present  their  result  in  con- 
nection with  tablets  of  acetylsalicylic  acid,  and  conclude  that  the 
commercial  tablets  are  far  from  satisfactory  and  go  far  to  account 
for  the  repeated  complaints  from  physicians  regarding  the  variable 
action  of  this  drug. — Pharm.  Zentralh.,  191 1,  v.  40,  pp.  1055-1062. 
Acetylsalicylic  Acid. — A  news  note  quotes  from  a  report  on 
the  comparative  prices  of  acetylsalicyhc  acid  and  aspirin  in  Paris 
and  London.  In  France  acetylsalicylic  acid  sells  for  about  $1.33  per 
kilo  (2.2046  pounds),  while  aspirin,  which  is  a  proprietary  article, 
sells  for  $6.95  per  kilo  in  2  kilo  lots  or  $10.13  per  kilo  in  smaller  lots. 
In  England  the  price  of  acetylsalicylic  acid  varies  from  49  tO'  55 
cents  per  pound.    The  name  aspirin  is  still  protected  by  registra- 
