536  Needs  of  the  Business  Pharmacist.  {x^0^Zl'^%^' 
adulteration  of  drugs  was  practised.  The  further  question  was 
asked  by  what  standards  the  purity  of  drugs  and  chemicals  was 
determined.  The  replies  show  that  in  only  two  or  three  States  has 
any  attempt  been  made  to  ascertain  facts.  Most  of  the  officials 
state  frankly  that  no  work  has  been  done,  in  some  cases  from  lack 
of  appropriation,  in  others  because  they  have  no  direct  power,  and 
in  some  because  food  work  takes  up  all  the  time  of  the  chemists. 
It  is  instructive  to  note  that  many  of  them  express  the  hope  of 
obtaining  legislation  and  appropriations  in  the  near  future.  Some 
vaguely  state  that  there  is  no  doubt  that  adulteration  of  drugs  is 
practised  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  replies  to  the  question  of 
standards  show  that  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  is  taken  as 
the  standard  for  drugs  mentioned  therein,  but  in  other  cases  the 
standards  are  arbitrarily  fixed  by  the  officials  themselves.  It  is 
obvious,  therefore,  that  we  must  be  on  the  alert  to  avert  danger 
Irom  this  source.  Already,  in  spite  of  warnings,  control  of  drugs 
and  pharmaceutical  products  has,  in  at  least  one  State,  passed  out 
of  the  hands  of  pharmacists.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  lack  of 
systematic  work  on  our  part.  We  have  already  pledged  the  sup- 
port of  this  association  to  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry  in  the  work  they 
are  undertaking,  and  this  support  should  be  material  and  not  merely 
consist  of  abstract  resolutions.  At  present  we  are  leaving  to 
chemists,  State  and  Federal  officials,  work  that  should  be  done  by 
ourselves,  and  we  are  allowing  positions  that  could  and  should  be 
filled  by  pharmacists  to  be  filled  by  graduates  from  technical  schools 
and  universities,  who  formulate  what  have  been  called  "  arm-chair 
standards,"  and  who  indulge  in  "  yellow  chemistry."  The  fixing  of 
standards  of  purity  properly  belongs  to  this  section,  and  should  form 
part  of  our  work,  either  through  a  special  committee  or  through 
the  Committee  on  the  Drug  Market.  It  should  not  be  left  to  the 
pure  chemist,  for  the  latter  lacks  the  practical  pharmaceutical  knowl- 
edge and  commercial  experience  which  is  necessary  for  the  proper 
formulation  of  standards. 
A  QUESTION  OF  DIRECT  INTEREST. 
One  of  the  questions  directly  of  interest  to  the  drug  trade  is  that 
of  the  use  of  antiseptics  or  preservatives  and  coloring  matters  in 
foods  and  drugs.  Manufacturers  on  the  one  side  and  chemists 
on  the  other  are  fiercely  debating  the  subje:t,and  we  are  apparently 
