AmM^'iS)6arriQ'}      Notes  on  the  New  Pharmacopoeia.  207 
depths  of  these  mysteries  of  science.  We  shall  hope  thereby  to 
kindle  in  your  breasts  an  enthusiasm  in  the  pursuit  of  this  kind  of 
knowledge.  Incidental  to  this,  we  shall  hope  to  add  to  your  happi- 
ness, to  make  life  more  to  you,  to  make  it  richer,  clearer,  more 
beautiful,  as  you  see  and  enjoy  the  beauties  around  you — the  beauty 
of  natural  objects,  the  beauties  of  form,  of  color,  of  movement, 
beauties  of  natural  law,  of  proportion,  of  relation  of  cause  to  effect. 
We  shall  hope  to  help  you  to  use  some  of  the  knowledge  thus 
acquired  in  the  pursuit  of  your  art.  But  do  not  make  the  mistake 
of  seeking  to  practice  your  art  until  you  have  fully  mastered  the 
science  upon  which  that  art  is  based.  Only  by  this  course  can 
you  expect  to  be  successful  pharmacists. 
■3*  *  *  *  *  *  * 
It  has  been  the  custom  for  a  long  time  to  speak  of  each  different 
edition  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  as  that  of  the  year  of  its 
revision.  Thus  we  have  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1820,  1850,  1880, 
and  1890,  but  inasmuch  as  it  usually  took  from  two  to  three  and  a 
half  years  to  prepare  each  revision,  it  always  happened  that  the 
work  was  issued  several  years  later  than  the  date  which  it  bore.  It 
has  been  thought  best,  therefore,  to  drop  that  method  of  designat- 
ing the  work,  and  to  call  it  as  in  the  present  instance  "  The  Eighth 
Decennial  Revision."  From  the  year  1820,  when  the  first  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia  was  issued,  it  has  been  revised  every  ten 
years,  but  the  work  of  revision  has  in  recent  times  been  so  laborious 
that  it  has  taken  a  long  time  to  get  it  ready  for  issuance.  It  may 
seem  strange  to  some  of  you  that  it  should  have  taken  five  years  in 
the  present  case  to  revise  this  book,  but  a  close  examination  will 
show  that  the  amount  of  work  to  be  done  was  very  great.  And 
when  you  remember  that  this  work  was  done  by  twenty-five  persons 
residing  in  some  cases  at  great  distances  from  their  co-laborers,  and 
that  they  had  to  be  consulted  about  a  thousand  and  one  small 
details,  you  can  see  that  this  alone  would  occupy  a  great  deal  of 
time.  But  this  is  not  all.  Some  changes  have  been  made  which 
have  involved  a  great  deal  of  technical  work.  For  instance,  spe- 
cific gravities  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1890  were  to  be  taken  at 
I5°C.=59°  F.,  they  are  now  to  be  taken  at  25°C.=77°  F.  The 
reason  for  this  change  is  that  770  F.  is  nearer  the  average  tempera- 
ture of  stores  and  laboratories  in  which  the  specific  gravities  have 
to  be  taken.    Solubilities  in  like  manner  are  to  be  taken  at  770  F., 
