342 
Reference  Table  of  Doses. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1888. 
Potassium  bromide  is  given  as  from  5  to  30  grains,  yet  it  ranges  as 
a  sedative,  from  10-20-30  grains  and,  as  a  hypnotic,  from  30  to  60 
grains  at  a  dose. 
Potassium  iodide  is  stated  to  be  from  2  to  20  grains,  while  we  use 
from  5-15-30  grains  as  an  alterative,  and  30-45-60  grains  as  an  antisy- 
philitic. 
Hydrobromic  acid  is  given  as  from  15-50  minims,  should  be  J  to  2 
fluid  drachms ;  maximum,  2  to  4  fluid  drachms. 
Hydrocyanic  acid  is  made  3-8  minims  (!)  The  range  is  1  to  3 
minims,  maximum  dose  3  to  5  minims. 
Benzoic  acid  10  to  15  grains.    Our  doses  10  to  15  to  30  grains. 
Bismuth  subnitrate  is  expressed  as  from  5-20  grains,  should  be 
from  10  to  30  to  60  grains. 
Caffeine  citrate  as  2  to  10  grains.  It  is  much  more  generally  given 
in  1  to  3  grain  doses,  maximum  3  to  5  grains. 
Cinchonine  and  Cinchonidine  salts  as  1  to  10  grains,  should  be  3  ta 
5-10  grains  as  tonic  doses,  and,  antipyretically  used,  as  10-20-30  grains. 
Lastly,  under  Donovan^ s  solution  we  find  the  dose  given  as  from 
10  to  30  minims,  which  is  equal  to  tV  to  J  of  a  grain,  each,  of  arsenic 
and  mercuric  iodides  (!) 
These  familiar  examples  amply  suffice  to  show  the  general  lack  of 
accuracy,  and  most  probably  explain  the  reason  of  the  British  Phar- 
macopoeia's failure  of  its  dosage  feature. 
The  German  Pharmacopoeia,  in  its  "  Table  of  Maximum  Doses,''  \ 
is  better,  in  some  respects,  than  the  British,  but  is  not  as  good  in 
others,  while  the  Belgian  Pharmacopoeia  seems  to  be  the  best  of  the 
three.  The  French  Codex,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  gives  no  doses. 
As  a  criticism  of  these  works  would  follow  largely  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, it  is  omitted. 
The  point  has  also  been  raised,  that  if  doses  are  inserted  in  the 
Pharmacopoeia,  that,  being  authoritative,  it  would  make  the  dose  of 
each  drug  so  fixed  and  absolute  that  physicians  could  not  venture  be- 
yond maximum  limits  without  laying  themselves  open  to  serious  ques- 
tioning and  criticisms,  and  possibly  lawsuits. 
Naturally,  with  this  aspect  of  the  case  kept  alone  in  view,  physi- 
cians would  most  justly  resent  any  limitation  whatever  in  doses,  whilst 
battling  oft-times  for  life  itself.  But  any  possible  contingency  of  thi& 
sort  could  readily  be  obviated  by  framing  the  dose  table  on  a  graded 
1  National  Dispensatory,  3rd  edit.,  p.  1643. 
