360     Eighth  Decennial  Revision  of  Pharmacopoeia.  {A^uJg0uusrt,Tm!'m 
classes  headed  "  Extracta  "  and  "  Extracta  Fluida  "  respectively.  By 
doing  so  they  could  have  readily  obviated  "  the  intermingling  in  the 
text  of  extracts  and  fluid  extracts  "  that,  as  is  stated  in  the  preface 
to  the  Pharmacopoeia,  was  the  sole  reason  for  this  change. 
By  adopting  a  general  descriptive  heading  for  fluid  extracts,  the 
revision  committee  might  also  have  divested  the  book  of  a  large 
number  of  practically  useless  preparations  with  which  it  is  at  pres- 
ent encumbered. 
Among  other  changes  of  doubtful  utility  is  the  introduction  of 
"  Spiritus  Glycerilis  Nitratis  "  in  place  of  "  Spiritus  Glonoini."  While 
the  former  is  undoubtedly  proper  and  perfectly  correct  from  a  chemi- 
cal point  of  view,  it  is  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  is,  like  many 
of  the  other  changes,  not  fully  in  harmony  with  the  instructions 
that  should  have  guided  the  committee. 
Despite  the  comparatively  large  number  of  changes  in  nomen- 
clature that  have  been  made  by  the  present  committee,  the  members 
have  not  seen  their  way  clear  to  adopt  the  recommendations  of  the 
American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  as  to  the 
spelling  of  chemical  terms.  This  is  rather  unfortunate,  as  several,  if 
not  all  of  the  leading  medical  journals  of  the  country  have  adopted 
the  more  rational  spelling  for  chemical  terms,  and  it  is  not  likely 
that  they  will  readopt  the  antiquated  superfluities  retained  by  the 
present  pharmacopoeia. 
In  this  connection  the  members  of  the  revision  committee  would 
have  done  well  to  remember  that  anything  that  makes  for  simplicity 
makes  for  progress,  and  even  if  they  were  not  prepared  to  drop  the 
terminal  e  from  the  English  names  for  alkaloids,  there  is  practically 
no  reason  why  the  same  termination  should  be  retained  in  connec- 
tion with  such  words  as  bromide,  chloride,  oxide,  etc. 
Assay  Processes. — The  Committee  on  Revision  has  given  rather  a 
liberal  interpretation  to  the  instruction  given  by  the  National  Con- 
vention, "  to  append  assay  processes  to  as  many  of  the  potent  drugs 
and  preparations  made  therefrom  as  may  be  found  possible,  provided 
that  the  process  of  assay  is  reasonably  simple  (both  as  to  methods 
and  apparatus  required)  and  leads  to  fairly  uniform  results  in  differ- 
ent hands." 
In  following  out  these  instructions  the  committee  has  appended 
assay  processes  to  at  least  twenty  potent  drugs  and  the  preparations 
made  from  them.     Assay  processes  have  also  been  appended  to 
