462 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
}Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
October,  1913. 
I9I3>  v-  9°>  P-  831).  More  than  500  applications  for  membership 
have  already  bee  ti  received  for  the  nth  International  Pharma- 
ceutical Congress  to  be  held  at  The  Hague  from  September  21  to 
September  27.  The  proceedings  promise  to  be  interesting,  both 
from  the  social  and  business  points  of  view. 
The  preliminary  program  for  the  Congress  enumerates  a  large 
number  of  important  subjects  for  discussion  in  the  five  sections 
into  which  the  Congress  is  to  be  divided.  The  meetings  are  to  be 
held  under  the  august  patronage  of  His  Royal  Highness,  Prince 
Henry  of  the  Netherlands,  and  pharmacists  who  are  interested  may 
register  as  patrons  (25  florins)  or  as  ordinary  members  (10 
florins)  by  sending  the  required  amount  to  the  Secretary,  J.  J. 
Hofman,  Schenkweg  4,  The  Hague,  Holland. 
Hygienic  Laboratory  Bulletin  No.  88,  recently  published,  out- 
lines a  method  for  determining  the  toxicity  of  coal-tar  disinfectants 
together  with  a  report  on  the  relative  toxicity  of  some  commercial 
disinfectants.  The  author,  Wort!  Hale,  expresses  the  opinion  that 
from  a  physiological  point  of  view  it  follows  that  if  a  substance 
when  introduced  into  the  body,  and  acting  chemically,  injures  or 
interferes  in  any  degree  with  the  normal  physiological  processes  it 
should  be  classed  as  a  harmful  agent  and  hence  a  poison.  All 
poisonous  substances  should  be  classified  according  to  the  degree 
of  their  toxic  action  and  power  to  cause  either  late  or  immediate 
death.  The  Bulletin  reports  a  systematic  study  of  80  disinfectants 
23  of  which  were  labelled,  either  directly  or  by  inference,  as  being 
free  from  poisonous  properties.  All  of  the  preparations  were  found 
to  be  poisonous  to  guinea  pigs,  cats  and  mice,  though  the  degree 
of  relative  toxicity  varied  from  5  to  90  per  cent,  of  that  of  phenol. 
Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry. — Sollmann,  Torald.  (/. 
Am.  Med.  Assoc.,  1913,  v.  61,  p.  5-7).  Yesterday,  to-day  and  to- 
morrow, a  review  of  the  activities  of  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and 
Chemistry.  The  publication  of  New  and  Nonofrcial  Remedies  and 
the  production  of  an  authoritative  compend  of  therapeutically 
active  drugs. 
Local  Formularies. — Anon.  (Pharm.  J.,  1913,  v.  90,  p.  863). 
A  number  of  local  organizations  in  different  parts  of  Great  Britain 
have  issued  local  formularies  based  upon  the  B.  P.  Codex  to  cover 
the  preparations  largely  prescribed  in  the  particular  locality. 
Patent  Medicines. — Anon.  (Chem.  &  Drug.,  1913,  v.  82,  pp. 
943-944).  Members  of  the  Select  Committee  of  Parliament  on 
