Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1886. 
Editorial. 
365 
were  also  made  in  a  body  to  the  Miller  Organ  Factory  and  to  the  grounds  of 
the  Lebanon  Brewing  Company;  and  after  the  final  adjournment,  an  excur- 
sion was  made  by  rail  to  the  famous  Cornwall  iron  mountain,  and  to  the  pic- 
nic grounds  at  Mount  Gretna  and  Lake  Conewago,  where — an  unlooked-for 
thunderstorm  notwithstanding — a  very  agreeable  afternoon  was  spent. 
The  Ohio  Pharmaceutical  Association  convened  at  Springfield,  June  2-4.  Pres- 
ident Melville  in  the  chair  ;  and  opened  with  an  address  of  welcome  by  the 
Mayor.  The  address  of  the  president,  the  reports  of  other  officers  and  com- 
mittees, and  a  report  of  the  State  Board  of  Pharmacy,  were  read  and  disposed 
of;  and  a  number  of  papers,  practical  and  scientific,  were  read,  for  which  two 
prizes  were  awarded.  The  officers  elected  are :  president,  Prof.  V.  Coblentz, 
Springfield  ;  vice-presidents,  C.  N.  Nye,  Canton,  and  W.  D.  Fulton,  Bucyrus; 
secretary  and  treasurer  were  re-elected.  Next  meeting  at  Akron,  on  the  second 
Wednesday  of  June,  1887. 
Texas  Pharmaceutical  Association. — At  the  meeting  held  at  Dallas,  April  27th, 
G.  H.  Rice,  of  Baudera,  was  elected  President,  W.  L.  Tucker,  Waco,  Secretary, 
and  E.  W.  Lancaster,  Marshall,  Treasurer.  The  next  meeting  will  be  held  at 
Fort  Worth,  on  the  second  Tuesday  of  May,  1887. 
West  Virginia  Pharmaceutical  Association. — The  annual  meeting,  announced 
for  June  8th,  was  not  held,  for  want  of  a  quorum. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Theoretical  Science  in  the  Pharmacopoeia. — The  critical  paper  on  "  Official  Phar- 
macy," by  Mr.  Rother,  which  is  published  in  the  present  number,  treats  of  "  a 
new  feature  of  a  rather  questionable  nature,"  which  was  introduced  in  the  last 
edition  of  the  "IT.  S.  Pharmacopoeia."  When  it  is  remembered  that  the  object 
of  a  pharmacopoeia  is  to  define  the  character,  establish  the  purity  and  regulate 
the  strength  of  medicines,  its  position  as  a  law  book  becomes  at  once  apparent. 
This  character  is,  in  the  main,  well  preserved  in  our  Pharmacopoeia,  as  far  as 
the  galenical  preparations  and  chemicals  are  concerned,  and  even  the  addition 
of  formulas  to  the  latter — though  not  necessary  for  defining  the  character  or 
establishing  the  purity  of  the  compounds,  and  which,  have  been  omitted,  with- 
out detriment,  from  various  pharmacopoeias — may  be  defended  on  account  of 
usefulness  in  assisting  to  explain  tests  of  identity  and  purity.  But  the  Phar- 
macopoeia wisely  abstains  from  entering  upon  theoretical  grounds,  and  hence 
alcohol  is  not  defined  to  be  hydroxyl-ethane  or  methyl-carbonol,  nor  is 
glycerin  called  propenyl-alcohol,  or  defined  to  be  a  triatomic  alcohol ;  nor  is 
tartaric  acid  designated  as  dioxysuccinic  acid,  or  its  relation  to  erythrit,  malic 
acid,  etc.,  indicated. 
In  defining  animal  and  vegetable  drugs,  the  Pharmacopoeia  has  chosen  a 
different  course.  Although  the  characters  of  good  rhubarb  have  been  known 
for  a  long  time,  it  is  only  recently  that  the  plant  or  plants  yielding  it  became 
known.  Obviously,  a  knowledge  of  the  botanical  name  of  a  plant  is  not  neces- 
sary for  the  recognition  of  a  drug,  and  this  is  acknowledged  by  the  Pharma- 
copoeia in  admitting,  for  instance,  as  sarsaparilla  the  roots  of  undetermined 
