440 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I  September,  1905. 
this  subject  Mr.  Naylor  outlined  the  principles  of  standardization 
and  also  gave  a  short  history  of  its  practical  application  in  Great 
Britain.  After  calling  attention  to  a  number  of  processes  for  stand- 
ardizing the  more  popular  alkaloidal  drugs,  he  devoted  some  time 
to  calling  attention  to  the  fact  that  standardized  preparations,  like 
all  others,  are  subject  to  changes  that  may,  and  actually  do,  con- 
tribute to  the  loss  of  active  principles,  even  when  kept  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.  In  this  connection  he  stated  that  prepara- 
tions of  nux  vomica  were  undoubtedly  the  most  stable  while  the 
liquid  preparations  of  ipecac  were  the  most  subject  to  loss  of  alka- 
loidal content.  Mr.  Naylor  also  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
preparations  that  are  made  from  standardized  drugs  may,  and  fre- 
quently do,  differ  very  materially  in  alkaloidal .  content,  and  he 
therefore  considers  it  unwise  to  rely  absolutely  on  the  alkaloidal 
indications  of  the  drug  without  confirming  them  by  a  careful  assay 
of  the  finished  product. 
At  least  three  additional  papers,  presented  at  the  Conference 
meeting,  were  largely  devoted  to  the  same  subject.  Dr.  W.  E.  Dixon 
discussed  the  "  Bio-chemical  Standardization  of  Drugs ;  "  Thomas 
Maben,  F.C.S.,  read  a  very  interesting  paper  on  "  Standardization  in 
the  new  U.S. P. ;  "  and  Messrs.  Umney  and  Bennett  discussed  "  The 
Essential  Oils  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia."  The  latter 
paper  contains  a  detailed  review  of  the  tests  and  requirements  em- 
bodied in  the  several  monographs  on  essential  oils  in  the  U.S.P  ,  and 
is  well  worth  careful  perusal,  particularly  at  this  time.  Dr.  Dixon, 
in  his  paper  on  physiological  standardization  of  drugs,  argued  that 
this  method  was  altogether  as  reliable  as  chemical  tests,  and  in  some 
instances,  at  least,  offered  the  only  satisfactory  method  by  means  of 
which  the  potency  and  consequent  efficiency  of  therapeutic  prepara- 
tions could  be  tested.   (The  Pharmaceutical  Journal,  July  22,  1905.) 
The  Metric  System  of  Weights  and  Measures  in  Australia. — -A  bill 
has  been  introduced  in  the  Parliament  of  the  Federal  Government 
of  Australia  which  provides  that  the  use  of  the  metric  system  shall 
be  permissible  and  that  the  Governor-General  shall  have  power  to 
make  it  compulsory  at  any  future  date.  (Phar.  Jour.y  1905, 
page  806) 
The  Coming  of  the  Mil. — "  The  recent  announcement  that  official 
recognition  had  been  accorded  to  the  proposed  new  terms  for  metric 
measures  of  capacity — the  mil,  decimil  and  centimil — raises  fresh 
