436 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
[  Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
l  September,  1906. 
New  Belgian  Pharmacopoeia. — The  recently  issued  third  edition 
of  the  Belgian  Pharmacopoeia  is  the  latest  addition  to  the  newly 
revised  national  pharmacopoeias. 
As  might  have  been  expected  from  the  interest  that  was  taken  by 
the  Belgian  Government  in  the  proceedings  of  the  Conference  for 
the  Unification  of  the  Formulae  of  Potent  Medicaments,  the  protocol 
adopted  by  that  Conference  has  been  closely  adhered  to  in  the  de- 
scriptions and  formulas  contained  in  this  pharmacopoeia. 
While  the  Belgian  Pharmacopoeia  cannot  be  said  to  embody  any 
distinctively  radical  innovations  it  does  contain  a  number  of  features 
that  might  profitably  be  included  in  our  own  U.S. P. 
As  in  some  of  the  other  recently  issued  foreign  pharmacopoeias 
directions  for  sterilizing  medicinal  preparations,  as  well  as  the  appa- 
ratus with  which  they  are  to  come  in  contact,  are  given  at  some 
length. 
Wherever  practicable,  essential  oils  are  represented  by  their  prin- 
cipal constituents  free  from  terpenes. 
Physiological  sodium  chloride  solution  is  directed  to  be  made  by 
dissolving  0-8  per  cent,  of  sodium  chloride  in  distilled  water,  and 
sterilizing  the  resulting  solution. 
A  list  of  the  drugs  and  preparations  which  must  be  kept  in  every 
pharmacy  is  appended,  also  a  list  of  the  reagents  and  the  necessary 
apparatus  for  carrying  out  the  prescribed  chemical  tests. 
Austrian  Pharmacopoeia. — At  the  urgent  request  of  the  Austrian 
pharmacists  the  Government  has  deferred  the  date  on  which  the 
recently  published  pharmacopoeia  is  to  become  official,  until  January 
hi  1907.  This  has  been  done  to  allow  pharmacists  the  necessary 
time  to  become  acquainted  with  the  many  changes  that  have  been 
introduced  and  to  prepare  their  medicaments  accordingly. 
Belgian  Pharmacists  Decorated. — Belgium  is  one  of  the  compara- 
tively few  countries  where  the  educational  qualifications  that  are 
exacted  of  pharmaceutical  students  are  exceptionally  high,  the 
degree  of  Doctor  of  Science  being  required  before  a  student  can 
register  as  a  pharmaceutical  student  in  one  of  the  three  universities 
that  give  pharmaceutical  instruction.  That  the  ultimate  results  are 
appreciated  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  Belgian  Government 
has  recently  paid  a  high  compliment  to  the  practitioners  of  pharmacy 
in  that  country  by  decorating  no  less  than  eleven  Belgian  pharma- 
cists with  crosses  as  Chevaliers  of  the  Order  of  Leopold. 
