78  The  U.S. P.  as  a  Legal  Standard.  {^SS&iSS0- 
literation  of  the  French  system,  had  introduced  the  unnecessary 
genitive  construction  into  many  common  names.  In  the  current 
edition  these  ancient  forms  contrast  strongly  with  some  ultra-scien- 
tific and  even  fantastic  structural  formulas. 
By  contrasting  the  first  and  current  issues,  it  is  easy  to  note  the 
translation  of  the  control  of  it  from  medical  to  pharmaceutic  authori- 
ties. The  first  edition  was  prepared  wholly  within  the  medical  pro- 
fession. Pharmacists  were  not  mentioned  in  the  call  for  organization 
and  every  delegate  had  the  degree  of  M.D.  The  Pharmacopoeia  of 
1900  is  distinctly  a  pharmaceutic  production.  The  authority  for  its 
publication  rests  with  the  "  Committee  of  Revision,"  composed  of 
twenty-five  persons.  Eleven  are  given  in  the  list  with  the  degree 
of  M.D.,  but  of  these,  four  represented  pharmaceutical  organizations 
in  the  convention,  and  at  least  two  others  are  not  in  medical 
practice. 
These  points  are,  however,  largely  sentimental  and  it  is  necessary 
to  proceed  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  paper.  An  analytical  manual 
should  be  comprehensive  and  precise,  with  as  much  conciseness  as 
is  consistent  with  clearness.  All  the  obligations  of  professional  life 
are  burdensome  at  the  present  day.  The  practical  analyst  who  de- 
sires to  give  his  clients  the  best  service  and  to  hold  them  to  his 
interest,  must  be  a  member  of  several  societies,  a  subscriber  to 
several  journals,  and  must  be  continually  adding  to  his  library.  He 
ought  to  be  spared  unnecessary  expense  in  these  lines.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  druggist.  The  Pharmacopoeia  is  a  work  that  every 
druggist  should  possess.  An  effort  should  be  made  to  keep  its  cost 
within  low  limits. 
As  an  analytical  manual  the  Pharmacopoeia  is  much  too  elaborate 
in  some  ways  and  insufficient  in  others.  It  is  not  a  manual  of  drug 
analysis,  for  it  includes  only  those  drugs  that  are,  or  are  supposed 
to  be,  in  use  by  physicians.  It  is  further  limited  by  the  fact  that 
only  one  school  of  physicians  is  consulted.  Remedies  used  largely 
by  many  physicians  not  of  the  regular  school  are  wholly  excluded. 
It  carries  the  analysis  of  some  articles  to  a  degree  of  elaboration 
beyond  the  requirements  of  practical  work. 
The  literary  style  is  objectionable  in  some  ways.  While  there 
may  be  no  serious  criticism  on  the  general  literary  form,  there  is 
quite  too  much  turgidity  and  prolixity  of  expression.  The  formal 
and  elaborate  phrases  in  the  specific  definitions  may  be  pardoned. 
