Am.  Jour.  Pharrn.  1 
October,  1913.  j 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
463 
patent  medicines  are  credited  with  having  conducted  the  patent 
medicine  inquiry  with  great  thoroughness.  One  thing  which  appears 
tolerably  certain  is  that  the  Committee  will  recommend  the  pro- 
hibition of  advertisements  of  "cures  "  for  cancer  ^nd  consumption. 
They  will  also  advocate  a  much  stricter  control  over  the  sale  of 
remedies  for  female  ailments  and  the  total  suppression  of  the  public 
supply  of  abortefacients. 
Patent  Medicine  Revenue. — Anon.  (Chem.  &  Drug.,  1913,  v. 
83,  p.  45).  The  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  is  quoted  as  stating 
that  the  amount  of  the  loss  in  the  estimated  revenue  from  patent 
medicines  this  year,  compared  with  the  actual  revenue  last  year, 
is  about  £50,000. 
Hypnotic  Drugs  Classed  as  Poisons. — Anon.  (Pharm.  J.,  191 3, 
v.  90,  p.  772).  Various  hypnotic  drugs  are  now  included  in  part 
2  of  the  British  Schedule  of  Poisons.  The  words  actually  added 
to  the  Schedule  are  as  follows:  "  Diethyi-barbituric  acid  and  other 
alkyl,  aryl,  or  metallic  derivatives  of  barbituric  acid,  whether  de- 
scribed as  Veronal,  Proponal,- Medinal,  or  by  any  other  trade  name, 
mark,  or  designation ;  and  all  poisonous  Urethanes  or  Ureides." 
Veronal  as  a  Poison. — Bennett,  Ernest  H.  G.  (Chem.  &  Drug., 
1913,  v.  83,  p.  66).  Veronal  promises  to  be  a  fashionable  poison 
for  would  be  suicides.  Recently  observed  cases  suggest  the  de- 
sirability of  transferring  this  substance  from  part  2  of  the  poison 
schedule  to  part  1  and  thus  render  it  more  difficult  to  purchase 
except  with  a  prescription. 
Improper  Containers. — Murray,  B.  L.  (/.  Am.  Pharm.  Assoc.. 
1913,  v.  2,  p.  446).  Many  chemicals  deteriorate  rapidly  for  lack 
of  proper  containers,  and  greater  care  should  be  exercised  in  in- 
sisting that  chemicals,  particularly  chemicals  for  pharmaceutical 
and  analytical  purposes,  be  properly  packed. 
The  Interpretation  of  U.  S.  P.  Assay  Processes. — Taylor,  Frank 
O.  (/.  Ind.  &  Eng.  Chem.,  1913,  v.  5,  pp.  601-604).  Conditions 
surrounding  the  assay  drugs  and  preparations,  by  different  men, 
cannot  always  be  the  same  and  variation  may  occur  for  a  number 
of  reasons.  The  carrying  out  of  the  assay  processes  of  the  U.  S.  P. 
must  be  done  with  a  clear  vision  of  the  end  to  be  attained  and  a 
thorough  understanding  of  the  many  pitfalls  in  the  way  of  the 
chemist. 
Glass  Stoppers,  Loosening. — Steensma,  F.  A.  (Chem.  Week- 
Mad,  19 1 2,  v.  9,  pp.  894-896) .   When  the  usual  methods  of  loosening 
