520 
Minutes  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting*  { 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.  1,  1873. 
On  this  label  the  Commissioner  and  his  assistants  differed  in  judgment ;  one 
said  that  the  ordinary  direction  did  not  indicate  the  dose,  while  the  other  con- 
tended that  it  did,  and  must  be  stamped. 
The  Committee,  at  last,  finding  it  was  useless  to  prolong  the  discussion,  re- 
tired, satisfied  that  the  trade  must  be  prepared  to  meet  the  requirements  o^ 
the  recent  letter  of  instructions  issued  by  the  Commissioner,  until  a  modifica- 
tion of  the  law  or  its  total  repeal  can  be  effected. 
The  report  was  fully  considered  and  accepted,  and  will  appear  in  full  in  the 
next  number  of  the  Journal. 
Charles  Bullock  read  a  portion  of  the  recent  report  published  by  the  Drug 
Exchange.  He  clearly  demonstrated  the  absurdity  of  the  Commissioner's 
opinions  on  several  points,  and  particularly  in  relation  to  the  difference  be- 
tween a  printed  and  a  written  label  with  directions,  the  first  requiring  a  stamp 
and  the  latter  being  exempt. 
;  The  whole  matter  was  fully  discussed  by  Messrs.  Shoemaker  ,  Blair,  R.  C. 
Davis,  W.  B.  Webb  and  others,  each  one  presenting  some  embarrassing  fea- 
ture of  the  operation  of  the  law,  which  would  make  it  intolerable  to  the  whole 
trade,  and  all  were  of  opinion  that  nothing  short  of  its  repeal,  so  far  as  it  re- 
lates to  a  tax  on  medicines  prepared  from  published  formulae,  would  be  satis- 
factory. 
Mr.  Vogelbach  offered  a  resolution  appointing  a  Committee  to  bring  for- 
ward a  test  case  for  legal  decision  in  the  U.  S.  Court,  supporting  it  with  the 
argument  that  we  had  better  meet  the  case  at  once. 
Mr.  A.  H.  Jones  advocated  no  action  in  a  legal  point  of  view,  but  thought 
agitation  of  the  subject  desirable,  both  in  the  Journal  of  the  College  and  in  the 
public  press.  This  view  was  coincided  with  by  Prof.  Procter,  who  advocated 
delay  until  after  the  meeting  of  Congress,  when  it  was  hoped  that  by  properly 
presenting  the  case  to  the  members  of  that  body,  a  repeal  of  the  law  might  be 
effected. 
Mr.  Yogelbach's  resolution  was  then  adopted  as  follows  : 
Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  this  College  be  appointed  to  bring  forward  a  test 
case  under  the  recent  ruling  of  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  before  the 
U.  S.  District  Court  for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania,  for  a  decision  as  re- 
gards the  proper  interpretation  of  Schedule  C  of  Act  of  July  13th,  1864,  and  other 
sections  applying  to  said  schedule  and  amendments  thereto,  if  in  their  opinion  it  is 
advisable  to  do  so. 
The  Chair  appointed  Robert  Shoemaker,  Joseph  P  Remington,  Charles  Bul- 
lock, James  T.  Shinn  and  Herman  A .  Vogelbach,  the  Committee;  and  the 
Meeting,  on  motion,  added  the  President  to  their  number. 
Then  on  motion  adjourned. 
William  J.  Jenks,  Secretary. 
Pmtte  of  tjje  lijarmaautital  Ittetinj. 
A  pharmaceutical  meeting  was  held  on  the  afternoon  of  October  21st3  1873, 
in  the  hall  of  the  College.  Present,  twenty  members.  Dillwyn  Parrish,  Pre- 
sident, in  the  chair. 
