Am.  .lour.  Pliarm.  ) 
December,  1905.  J 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
585 
Even  the  most  casual  observer  must  note  the  similarity  between 
the  methods  adopted  by  the  manufacturer  of  patent  medicines  to 
muzzle  the  average  daily  paper  and  the  methods  that  are  so  effec- 
tively adopted  by  the  manufacturers  of  proprietary  remedies  to 
subdue  and  to  effectually  control  the  medical  journals  of  this  as  well 
as  other  countries.  After  all,  who  is  there  that  can  point  out  any 
real  difference  between  the  "  ethical "  nostrum  and  the  popular  nos- 
trum ?  Any  difference  that  is  at  all  evident  is  one  of  degree  rather 
than  principle. 
Druggists  as  Retail  Liquor  Dealers. — John  W.  Yerkes,  U.  S.  Com- 
missioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  has  recently  ruled  that  on  and  after 
December  I,  1905,  manufacturers  of  compounds  containing  distilled 
spirits,  and  in  which  the  presence  of  medicinal  drugs  is  not  readily 
discoverable  by  chemical  analysis,  will  be  obliged  to  take  out  a 
rectifier's  license,  and  that  all  dealers  who  handle  these  compounds 
will  be  required  to  pay  the  regular  fee  and  consequently  to  register 
as  retail  liquor  dealers.  Apart  from  this  there  will  no  doubt  be  a 
further  complication  for  the  retail  dealer  in  States  having  high-license 
laws  and  in  States  where  local  option  or  total  prohibition  prevails. 
Even  at  the  present  time  the  Excise  Commissioner  of  New  York 
State  has  several  suits  pending  to  recover  the  payment  of  the  State 
liquor  license  for  the  sale  of  widely  used  patent  medicines  contain- 
ing a  large  amount  of  distilled  spirit. 
N.  A.  R.  D.  Meeting. — The  seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  National 
Association  of  Retail  Druggists  was  held  in  Boston,  Mass.,  Septem- 
ber 18  to  22,  1905.  This  meeting  is  said  to  have  been  the  largest 
and  most  enthusiastic  assemblage  of  retail  druggists  ever  held  in 
this  country.  In  addition  to  the  usual  routine  business,  dealing 
largely  with  the  trade  relations  existing  between  the  retailer,  the 
wholesaler  and  the  manufacturer,  the  association  appears  to  have 
devoted  an  unusual  amount  of  attention  to  the  discussion  of  more 
or  less  strictly  pharmaceutical  subjects.  Among  other  highly  com- 
mendable principles,  the  association  adopted  a  resolution  heartily 
endorsing  the  work  that  has  been  undertaken  by  the  American 
Medical  Association  to  eliminate  secret,  fraudulent  and  fake  reme- 
dies, and  further  provided  for  the  appointment  of  a  Council  on 
Pharmacy  and  Chemistry  of  the  N.A.R.D.  to  assist  the  Council  of 
the  American  Medical  Association  in  the  proposed  work.  A  second 
resolution,  also  unanimously  adopted,  authorizes  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  association  to  create  and  to  maintain  a  Committee 
