352     Eighth  Decennial  Revision  of  Pharmacopoeia.  {AnAuSa905^m- 
of  these  contains,  in  addition  to  what  may  be  called  the  common  stock  of 
medicines,  that  peculiar  to  its  own  locality,  and  therefore  marking  it  with  dis- 
tinctive characters. 
Neither  is  there  any  want  of  works  of  great  learning  and  value  upon  the 
natural  and  chemical  history  of  drugs.  Some  of  the  most  eminent  natural 
philosophers  of  the  age  have  not  thought  it  beneath  them  to  illustrate  the 
science  of  pharmacy  by  their  labors  ;  and  there  is  therefore  no  excuse  left  but 
indolence  or  ignorance,  for  any  gross  errors  in  so  important  a  work  as  a  Phar- 
macopoeia. 
The  skill  displayed  in  its  compilation  may  for  this  reason  be  viewed  by 
strangers  as  no  unfair  index  of  the  state  of  science  in  the  community  which  is 
satisfied  with  the  performance;  for  in  a  work  requiring,  not  extraordinary  talent, 
but  patience,  research,  learning  and  accuracy,  we  may  rest  assured  that  the 
skill  which  the  public  sentiment  requires  will  soon  be  brought  to  the  task. 
We  are  therefore  disposed  to  examine  every  work  of  the  kind  which  issues 
from  our  press  with  jealousy  and  to  give  it  a  close  scrutiny,  and  we  seize  the 
present,  which  is  our  first  opportunity  of  vindicating  the  rights  of  the  Journal 
of  the  College  of  Pharmacy  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  so  important  a  matter. 
Much  that  is  said  in  the  succeeding  twenty  pages  that  are  devoted 
to  the  review  of  this,  the  first,  revision  of  the  U.S. P.,  would  apply 
equally  well  to  the  recently  published  eighth  decennial  revision  of 
the  same  book,  as  the  two  have  many  points  in  common. 
The  first  revision,  as  does  the  one  before  us,  includes  doses. 
The  first  revision,  as  does  the  eighth,  represents,  for  the  science 
of  pharmacy,  a  marked  step  in  advance. 
The  first  revision  of  the  U.S.P.  was  put  to  press  in  five  months 
from  the  date  of  the  meeting  of  the  delegates  in  June,  1830;  the 
present,  eighth  revision,  has  required  more  than  five  years. 
The  first  revision  was  thoroughly,  and  somewhat  severely,  criti- 
cized, and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  eighth  revision  will  be  criticized 
even  more  thoroughly,  though  less  severely  and  with  a  greater 
degree  of  moderation. 
The  privilege  assumed  by  the  editor  of  the  American  Journal 
of  Pharmacy,  three-quarters  of  a  century  ago,  to  sit  in  judgment  on 
authoritative  works  of  this  kind  has,  since  then,  been  repeatedly 
exercised,  and  each  succeeding  decennial  revision  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia of  the  United  States  of  America  has  been  critically  reviewed 
for  the  purpose  of  pointing  out  its  shortcomings  and  its  weaknesses. 
This  criticism  has  always  been  presented,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
depreciating,  or  detracting  from  the  popularity  of  the  book,  but  with 
the  idea  of  interesting  all  classes  of  pharmacists  in  the  necessity  ol 
improving  the  work  and  thus  induce  them  to  contribute  their  obser- 
