498  International  Pharmacopoeia]  Bureau.  {aJJ4bSwI?S5* 
stitute  for  quinine  sulphate  presents  adulteration  in  one  of  its  worst 
forms — the  cheating  of  the  sick,  helpless,  and  dying. 
A  large  portion  of  the  text  of  a  pharmacopoeia  consists  in  provid- 
ing tests  for  the  exclusion  of  foreign  substances  which  are  intended 
by  manufacturers  to  reduce  the  cost  of  a  medicine.  If  an  Inter- 
national Bureau  is  established,  one  of  the  principal  objects  should 
be  a  subdivision  or  department  for  publishing  to  the  world  all  new 
tests  which  are  proposed  from  time  to  time  for  detecting  fraud. 
A  Department  of  Pharmacognosy  is  just  as  important  as  a  De- 
partment of  Analytical  Chemistry.  Drug  collectors  gather  plants 
which  are  used  to  mix  with  genuine  drugs ;  these  are  either  inert 
or  do  not  represent  the  full  activity  of  the  drug.  Occasionally  this 
admixture  may  be  due  to  carelessness  or  ignorance,  but  far  more 
frequently  it  is  due  to  intention.  If  the  text  referring  to  official  crude 
drugs  is  to  serve  the  highest  purpose,  substances  should  be  described, 
so  as  to  exclude  not  only  foreign  admixtures,  but  the  inert  portions 
of  that  drug,  for  these  would  lower  the  medicinal  activity. 
In  America,  owing  to  the  passage  of  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  in 
1906,  more  stringent  regulations  have  been  made  for  the  exclusion 
of  drugs  in  our  ports  of  entry  and  their  quality  has  been  greatly 
improved.  For  years  it  had  been  the  custom  of  the  exporters  in 
foreign  countries  to  regard  America  as  the  dumping  ground  for 
drugs  which  were  not  salable  in  European  marts.  This  condition 
no  longer  exists,  although  the  habit  of  sending  bad  drugs  to  America 
has  not  been  entirely  abandoned,  but  the  penalty  of  the  loss  by 
transportation  and  the  expense  caused  by  reshipment  is  a  great 
deterrent,  and,  as  time  goes  on,  conditions  will  be  reversed  and 
America  will  be  regarded  as  the  poorest  market  in  the  world  for 
inferior  or  worthless  drugs.  The  microscope  and  its  revelations  have 
been  an  immediate  cause  of  the  improvement  in  the  quality  of 
Pharmacopceial  drugs. 
These  suggestions  are  intended  solely  to  aid  and  further  the 
proposition  of  Professor  Tschirch.  The  Central  Bureau  should, 
of  course,  be  established  in  Europe :  the  exact  locality  should  depend 
upon  circumstances,  of  which  the  writer  is  not  sufficiently  informed. 
These  are  the  days  of  concentration  and  centralization  ;  conservation 
of  forces  and  the  necessity  for  economizing  energy  in  intellectual  life 
should  be  dominating  factors.  National  pride  and  jealousy  should 
be  eliminated ;  cooperation  should  be  the  watchword.  Success  will 
largely  depend  upon  the  ability  of  the  Director  of  such  a  Bureau. 
