9o 
Doses  in  the  U.S. P. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharru. 
\    February,  1906. 
giving  the  doses  by  weight  the  members  of  the  committee  have, 
apparently,  been  more  exacting  and  give  0-065  as  the  equivalent  of 
1  grain ;  they  do,  however,  give  o-oi  as  being  the  equivalent  of 
1/5  grain  and  0-005  as  Demg  the  equivalent  of  \  / 10  of  a  grain. 
In  only  two  instances  is  the  quantitatively  more  correct,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  more  reasonably  decimal,  quantity  15*00,  men- 
tioned as  being  the  equivalent  of  half  an  ounce  ;  by  weight  for 
chondrus,  and  by  measure  for  syrup  of  ipecac  as  an  emetic. 
Quite  a  number  of  additional  features  might  be  referred  to  in 
connection  with  the  above  table  of  dose  quantities ;  what  has  been 
said,  however,  will  serve  to  show  that  while  the  members  of  the 
Committee  on  Revision  have  succeeded  in  giving  us  a  practical  solu- 
tion of  the  much-dreaded  question  of  official  doses,  and  while  they 
have  also  contributed  materially  toward  advancing  the  use  of  the 
metric  system  in  medicine,  in  this  country,  they  have  not  been  alto- 
gether successful  in  the  selection  of  quantities  indicative  of  approxi- 
mate, average  metric  doses. 
In  conclusion,  it  may  be  of  interest  to  enumerate  just  a  few  oft  lie 
doses  included  in  the  first  revision  of  the  U.S.P.,  published  in  1820, 
comparing  them  with  the  quantities  given  as  average  doses,  seventy- 
five  years  later,  in  the  eighth  decennial  revision,  published  in  1905. 
To  facilitate  comparison  all  of  the  quantities  are  given  in  grains: 
Dose  in  grains,        Dose  in  grains, 
Name  of  Drug. 
U.S. P., 
1830. 
U.S. P.,  1900. 
....      5  to 
15 
4 
Asafetida  
  5  " 
20 
4 
5 
1 
....      5  " 
10 
2 
Cantharides  ... 
1 
6  " 
10 
1 
  10  " 
240 
15 
  4  " 
10 
1 
  1     ' ' 
4 
4 
  60  " 
90 
15 
3 
1 
3° 
15 
30 
15  ' 
5 
4 
40 
15 
40 
15 
  20  " 
60 
60 
Squills  
60 
2 
%  ■ 
1/30 
Phosphorus   >f"      %  1/128 
