Am.  Jour.  Pnarru.  > 
February,  1906.  J 
Doses  in  the  U.S. P. 
89 
i6'oo       c.c.        =4      fluid  drachms   27 
30*00         "         =  1         "     ounce   4 
6o*oo        "         =2        "     ounces   1 
I20'00          "           =4                     "    3 
36o,oo        "         =—12       "         "    1 
Doses  by  Count. 
2  pills    II 
1  pill   3 
Set  of  two  powders   1 
Antitoxin  units                                                    •   .•   z 
A  comparative  review  of  the  above  table  evidences  the  fact  that 
the  minimum  average  dose,  for  an  official  substance,  is  0-00015,  or 
0-15  milligrammes.  This  minute  quantity  is  the  average  do^e  given 
for  the  now  official  crystalline  aconitine  and  is  followed  by  o  0003,  the 
official  average  dose  for  strophanthin.  The  bulkiest  dose  for  a  solid 
is  that  given  for  pepo,  30  grammes. 
The  smallest  official  dose  for  a  liquid  is  that  for  the  volatile  oil 
of  mustard,  given  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  as  0  008  c.c,  a  quantity 
that,  under  present  conditions  would  be  rather  difficult  to  imagine. 
The  largest  official  dose,  on  the  other  hand,  for  any  of  the  official 
articles,  is  that  given  for  the  solution  of  magnesium  citrate,  360  c.c. 
A  more  careful,  comparative  study  of  the  table  of  dose  quantities 
must  suggest  the  fact  that  the  members  of  the  Committee  on  Revision 
have  not  been  particularly  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  the  quantities 
that  are  supposed  to  indicate  average  doses  in  the  metric  system. 
Thus,  for  instance,  we  find  such  quantities  as  0008,0045,0065, 
0-125,  o-6o,  3*-oo,  4-00,  8-oo,  16-00,  30-00,  6o-oo,  120-00,  360-00. 
Many  of  these  recur  repeatedly,  but  never  once  do  we  find  such 
quantities  as  5  00,  10  00,  25  00,  50  00  or  IOO-OO. 
This  absence  of  decimal  figures,  in  some  instances,  is  the  more 
apparent  when  we  realize  that  the  committee  appears  to  have  taken 
cognizance  of  the  fact  that  decimal  quantities  are  of  advantage,  and 
has  selected  roo  gramme  or  i-oo  c.c.  as  the  unit  of  quantity  in  a 
very  large  number  of  instances.  Thus  we  find  that  roo  gramme 
occurs  no  less  than  seventy-eight  times  while  roo  c.c.  occurs  sixty- 
three  times,  as  the  average  dose  of  official  articles. 
A  slight  discrepancy  is  also  to  be  noted  in  the  difference  of  opinion 
that  appears  to  exist  in  connection  with  the  quantities  used  to  indi- 
cate the  metric  equivalents  of  1  grain  and  1  minim. 
In  giving  the  average  doses  by  measure  the  committee  has  in- 
variably given  0-05  c.c.  as  being  the  equivalent  of  1  minim.  In 
