496  International  Pharmacopocial  Bureau.  {^VemberfwiT' 
instance,  Dunstan  {Bull.  Imp.  Inst.,  1905,  222)  has  recorded  that 
Hyoscyamus  muticus  grown  in  Egypt  produces  0.6  to  1.2  per  cent, 
of  Hyoscyamine,  while  the  same  species  grown  in  India  produces 
only  0.3  to  0.4  per  cent.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  harvesting  of  the 
crops  is  done  with  less  care  in  one  country  than  in  another,  more 
decomposition  may  take  place  during  the  process  of  drying  and  so 
cause  the  observed  differences. 
In  whatever  latitude  belladonna  is  grown,  it  will  doubtless  be 
found  that  the  composition  of  the  soil,  the  use  of  fertilizers,  and 
seasonal  conditions  make  for  small  variations. 
Wellcome  Chemical  Works,  Dartford,  England, 
AN  INTERNATIONAL  PKARMACOPCEIAL  BUREAU.1 
By  Professor  Joseph  P.  Remington,  Ph.M.,  F.C.S. 
"  Peace  hath  her  victories  no  less  renowned  than  war "  is  a 
thought  associated  in  the  minds  of  most  Americans  when  the  beautiful 
city  of  "  The  Hague  "  and  her  Peace  Palace  are  mentioned,  and  it  is 
indeed  most  appropriate  that  the  Eleventh  International  Pharma- 
ceutical Congress  should  meet  here.  Pharmacy  is  a  peaceful  art  and 
science,  because  its  votaries  in  the  highest  sense  are  pledged  to  that 
glorious  work,  "  the  healing  of  the  Nations."  But  universal  peace, 
at  this  period  of  our  civilization,  is  by  no  means  assured,  as  the  ter- 
rible sacrifices  of  the  Balkan  War  are  very  fresh  in  our  memories. 
Nevertheless,  no  one  can  deny  that  the  great  powers  of  Europe 
united  in  an  effort,  futile  though  it  was,  to  prevent  the  awful  sacrifices 
of  lives  and  property.  Arbitration  as  a  means  of  settling  national 
disputes  is  gaining  in  strength.  War  is  expensive  and  it  rarely 
settles  anything  permanently.  Cooperation  and  amity  are  now  recog- 
nized as  more  effective  than  a  resort  to  arms,  and,  if  this  is  true  in 
the  affairs  of  nations,  how  much  more  valuable  are  these  attributes 
in  great  international  movements ! 
Professor  Tschirch  has' recently  contributed  to  the  world  a  paper 
on  "  The  Necessity  for  an  International  Pharmacopoeial  Bureau  " 
in  which  he  quotes  Professor  Ostwald  as  an  advocate  of  economizing 
energy  in  intellectual  life  and  the  author  presents  a  convincing  argu- 
ment in  favor  of  establishing  such  a  Bureau. 
1  Read  at  the  Eleventh  International  Pharmaceutical  Congress,  Sep- 
tember, 1913. 
