428  Editorial.  { 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Aug.,  1879. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
The  twenty-seventh  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation will  be  held  in  Indianapolis  commencing  September  9th,  and  will  be  the  first 
meeting  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  since  1874,  when  the  Association  met  at 
Louisville,  Ky.  It  is  quite  natural,  therefore,  that  a  lively  interest  should  be  felt  in 
the  approaching  meeting,  more  particularly  among  the  druggists  and  pharmacists  of 
the  West,  and  from  the  accounts  thus  far  received,  there  is  a  fair  pros- 
pect of  a  large  gathering.  Since  questions  of  vital  importance  are  to  be 
discussed  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  as  many  of  the  members  as  can  make  it 
•convenient  will  endeavor  to  be  present,  and  in  the  meantime  familiarize 
themselves  with  the  subject  matter  of  the  questions  that  are  to  be  solved,  so 
that  the  unavoidable  discussions  thereon  may  not  be  unnecessarily  prolonged 
to  the  exclusion  of  other  matters.  The  more  important  subjects  claiming 
attention  have  been  specially  alluded  to  in  the  last  volume  of  Proceedings,  and 
there  is  none  perhaps  of  greater  importance  than  the  financial  question.  With  a 
membership  of  over  eleven  hundred  there  should  be  no  difficulty  of  meeting  the 
Tunning  expenses  of  the  Association,  which  amount  annually  to  about  $5,000.  A 
considerable  number  of  the  members,  however,  neglect  to  meet  their  obligations 
towards  the  Association,  and  as  a  consequence,  it  has  become  necessary  to  meet  the 
liabilities  of  one  year  in  part  with  the  income  from  the  next,  a  state  of  affairs  which 
would  not  exist  if  all  members  would  promptly  pay  their  dues,  and  to  remedy  which 
requires  the  calm  counsel  of  all  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  Association.  The 
•third  session  of  the  coming  meeting  has  been  designated  for  the  discussion  of  the 
plan  which  has  been  elaborated  by  the  committee,  appointed  in  1877,  and  reported 
last  year  at  Atlanta. 
Considering  the  large  number  of  those  who  are  eligible  to  membership  under  the 
constitution  and  by-laws,  there  is  undoubtedly  room  for  increasing  very  largely  the 
influence  and  usefulness  of  the  Association  by  inducing  those  who  have  not  con- 
nected themselves  with  it  to  become  members.  An  additional  advantage  would 
result  to  the  Association  in  the  removal  of  all  financial  difficulties,  and  in  the  pros- 
pect of  reducing,  in  a  short  time,  the  amount  of  the  annual  contribution.  An 
increase  of  membership  to  nearly  twice  the  present  number  would  double  the  annual 
income  of  the  Association,  while  at  the  same  time  the  current  expenses  would  not 
be  increased  to  beyond  twenty  per  cent,  of  the  present  amount,-  obviously  a  rev- 
enue would  be  attained  larger  than  necessary  to  meet  the  expenditures,  and  the  dues 
might  be  correspondingly  reduced. 
Another  important  measure  requiring  the  action  of  the  Association  is  the  securing 
of  the  Centennial  fund  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  original  investigations.  When  the 
presentation  was  made  at  Toronto,  coupled  with  the  condition  that  within  a  year 
the  members  of  the  Association  should  raise  a  like  amount  ($525),  those  present  at 
<the  time  made  their  contributions  towards  this  end,  and  were  sanguine  that  a  much 
