AjanJuTLTfmT'}       Educational  Work  of  A.M.  A.  21 
with  patented  and  proprietary  remedies.  A  fourth  subcommittee, 
on  therapeutics,  was  organized,  and  the  advertising  pages  of  the 
Journal  were  given  a  second  overhauling,  resulting,  as  before,  in  a. 
considerable  loss  of  revenue  from  advertisers  of  a  pecuniarily  re^ 
liable  type,  but  resulting  also  in  a  corresponding  increase  of  ^re 
spectability  and  an  augmentation  in  the  number  of  subscribers 
showing  that  physicians  at  least  are  willing  to  learn  and  are  capable 
of  appreciating  sacrifices  for  an  evidently  just  cause. 
No  inconsiderable  amount  of  the  credit  for  the  final  success  of 
the  Council  is  due  to  the  activity  of  the  Chemical  laboratory  of  the 
American  Medical  Association  under  the  supervision  of  W.  A. 
Puckner,  the  present  secretary  of  the  Council. 
This  laboratory  was  organized  early  in  1906  and  the  annual 
reports  of  the  work  done,  while  largely  made  up  of  reprints  of 
articles  published  in  the  Journal  are  nevertheless  interesting  in 
that  they  present  for  ready  reference  the  unusual  and  in  many  re- 
spects original  chemical  data  involved  in  connection  with  the  work 
of  the  Council. 
These  reports,  with  the  "  Reports  of  the  Council  on  Pharmacy 
and  Chemistry  of  the  American  Medical  Association,"  now  also 
reprinted  annually,  the  "  Propaganda  for  Reform  in  Proprietary 
Medicines  "  and  the  current  number  of  "  New  and  Non-official 
Remedies  "  contain  a  rather  complete  reflection  of  the  various  ac- 
tivities of  the  Council  that  are  more  fully  recorded  in  the  8,000  or 
more  pages  of  the  weekly  "  Bulletins  "  circulated  up  to  the  present 
time. 
As  the  total  of  these  reports  comprises  upwards  of  1400  printed 
pages  it  would  be  futile  to  endeavor  to  reflect  the  various  accom- 
plishments of  the  Council  in  the  course  of  a  short  paper. 
It  may  be  permissible,  however,  to  recall  to  your  attention  the 
work  done  in  exposing  the  nature  of  the  acetanilid  mixtures,  the 
discussion  on  the  misuse  of  digestive  ferments  and  liquid  foods, 
and  last  but  by  no  means  least  the  exposition  of  the  misleading 
claims  that  were  made  in  connection  with  Arhovin,  Somnos,  Iso- 
pral,  Chinosol,  Probilin,  Collargol,  and  a  host  of  other  proprietary 
preparations,  now  living  or  dead,  which  were  being  marketed  by 
the  manufacturers  with  a  view  of  securing  prompt  returns  on 
money  invested  in  printers'  ink. 
Since  1908  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry  has  been 
increasingly  active  in  a  systematic  investigation  of  the  various 
problems  that  are  involved  in  present-day  therapeutic  practices 
