AnA^st^So"m'}  Eighth  Decennial  Revision  of  Pharmacopoeia.  359 
new  pharmacopoeia  as  representing  doses  of  official  articles  in  metric 
quantities,  bear  such  a  startling  resemblance  to  the  corresponding 
fips,  bits,  levies  and  shillings  that  were  formerly  used  in  connection 
with  our  decimal  system  of  coinage,  that  the  question  inadvertently 
suggests  itself,  Can  it  be  that  the  members  of  the  revision  commit- 
tee, are  Rip  Van  Winkle-like,  the  reawakened  greatnesses  of  bygone 
generations  ? 
Changes  in  Titles, — For  many  decades  it  appears  to  have  been  the 
ambition  of  successive  revision  committees  to  establish  a  record  for 
the  number  of  changes  in  titles.  The  Pharmacopoeia  for  1880  con- 
tains a  list  of  256  changes,  and  this  number  was  readily  exceeded 
by  the  revision  committee  for  1890  with  a  total  of  281  changes. 
The  latter  comparatively  high  number  is  again  exceeded  by  the  pres- 
ent committee,  who  present  us  with  a  list  of  no  less  than  297 
changes  in  titles.  Of  this  number  142  are  changes  in  the  official 
Latin  and  155  changes  in  the  official  English  titles  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia. Many  of  the  changes  that  have  been  made  are  quite  in 
keeping  with  the  instructions  that  were  given  the  committee  by  the 
National  Convention.  Some  of  the  changes,  however,  and  of  these 
there  are  not  a  few,  fully  illustrate  the  truism  quoted  by  the  presi- 
dent, Dr.  Horatio  C.  Wood,  in  his  address  before  the  National  Con- 
vention, that:  "In  this,  as  in  former  ages,  men  are  creating  confusion 
by  creating  names." 
The  production  of  such  lexicographic  monstrosities  as  "  Fluidex- 
tractum  "  and  "  Fluidextract "  should  require  a  more  satisfactory 
explanation  than  the  feeble  apology  that  is  offered  in  the  preface  of 
the  Pharmacopoeia,  particularly  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  instruc- 
tions given  by  the  national  convention  of  1900  distinctly  "  recommend 
that  changes  in  the  titles  at  present  official  be  made  only  for  the 
purpose  of  insuring  greater  accuracy  or  safety  in  dispensing." 
For  upwards  of  half  a  century  it  has  been  customary  to  abbrevi- 
ate the  titles  for  this  class  of  preparations  by  F.  E.,  Fid.  Ext.,  or 
Ext.  (Latin  title)  Fid.  Any  one  and  all  of  these  abbreviations 
would  be  manifestly  incorrect  in  connection  with  the  new,  official, 
compounded  titles. 
In  this  connection  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  revision  com- 
mittee might  have  attained  precisely  the  same  results  by  adhering 
more  closely  to  its  instructions  and  incorporating  general  formulas 
or  at  least  by  dividing  the  extract  preparations  into  two  logical 
