192 
Editorial. 
(  Am,  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       April,  1875. 
avoided  and  the  ether  may  be  recovered.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  milk  Is  taken 
before  the  process  is  commenced,  and  if  there  is  any  doubt  as  to  the  milk  being  gen- 
uine the  ash  is  determined  by  transferring  the  non- fatty  solid  residue  Into  a  platinum 
dish,  calcining  and  weighing  5  the  ash  is  then  treated  with  distilled  water  and  the 
amount  of  chlorine  dissolved  therein  determined. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
The  Stamp  Tax  on  Medicines. — On  page  137  of  our  March  number  we  have 
printed  the  twenty-second  section  of  the  so-called  "Little  Tariff  Bill,"  which  relates 
to  the  stamping  of  medicines,  and  explained  our  views  regarding  the  intention  of  the 
law,  which  we  are  pleased  to  observe  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the  Phila- 
delphia Drug  Exchange,  published  on  page  7  of  their  Circular  No.  26.  On  a  care- 
ful perusal  of  that  section,  it  is  quite  evident  that  the  law  never  contemplated  that 
the  formulas  which  have  been  published  In  any  standard  Dispensatory  or  Pharmaco- 
poeia In  common  use,  or  in  any  pharmaceutical  journal  published  by  any  incorpo- 
rated college  of  pharmacy,  should  be  reproduced  upon  the  label.  All  that  is  neces- 
sary, according  to  the  law,  is  that  the  formula  thus  published  shall  be  distinctly 
referred  to,  as  regards  the  precise  place  where  it  is  to  be  found.  The  Internal  Rev- 
enue Commissioner,  however,  has  seen  fit  to  interpret  it  in  an  entirely  different  man- 
ner, which  we  believe  is  neither  warranted  by  the  wording  or  by  the  intention  of  the 
law,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following,  which  we  find  in  the  Circular  above  refer- 
red to : 
"The  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  has. decided,  with  reference  to  the  tax  upon  medicines  under 
the  law  of  February  8,  1875,  that  two  classes  heretofore  held  to  be  liable  to  stamp  tax  are  conditionally 
exempted  : 
"  ist.  Officinal  medicines,  or  medicines  made  and  compounded  according  to  formulas  published  in  author- 
ized standard  medical  authorities,  but  which  have  been  heretofore  put  up  in  a  style  or  manner  similar  to 
that  of  patent  or  proprietary  medicines  in  general. 
■'2d.  Medicines  unofficinal,  or  made  and  compounded  according  to  unpublished  formulas.  In  the  first 
of  these  cases  the  condition  on  which  the  exemption  is  made  to  depend  is  that  the  forimtla  shall  be  pub- 
lished oil  the  label,  and  the  Dispensatory,  Pharmacopoeia,  or  pharmaceutical  journal,  or  other  standard 
medical  authority  where  such  formula  is  published,  shall  be  distinctly  referred  to  on  the  label.  In  the 
second  case,  no  proprietorship  shall  be  claimed,  and  to  remove  all  semblance  of  any  claim  to  proprietor- 
ship, or  claim  to  have  any  private  formula,  or  occult  secret  or  art  of  making  and  preparing  the  same,  the 
maker  or  compounder  must  publish  on  his  label  the  exact  formula  which  he  uses,  so  that  the  medicinal 
article  may  be  free  and  open  to  the  trade,  if  they  see  fit  to  make  or  compound  the  same  article.  The  for- 
mulas, in  all  cases,  must  be  published  in  form  and  manner,  and  indicated  by  such  weights  and  measures 
as  are  generally  adopted  in  the  standard  medical  authorities." 
The  Commissioner  is  correct  In  regard  to  the  two  classes  of  medicines  which  are 
exempt  from  the  stamp  tax;  but  he  has  erred  in  the  few  words  which  we  have  ital- 
icized. The  law  states,  very  distinctly,  that  when  a  formula  has  been  published  in 
certain  works,  it  shall  be  accurately  referred  to.  It  is  not  necessary,  according  to 
the  law,  to  print  upon  the  label  the  entire  formula  by  which  "  Seidlltz  Powders  "  are 
made  5  a  reference  to  the  place,  however,  where  the  formula  may  be  found  Is  neces- 
sary, and  the  label  should  therefore  read  :  "  Seidlltz  Powders.  '  U.  S.  Pharmaco- 
poeia,' 1873,  P-  ^59-    Directions:"  &c. 
It  is  very  probable  that  the  Internal  Revenue  Commissioner  will  modify  his  ruling 
as  soon  as  his  attention  is  drawn  to  the  subject,  and  we  are  glad  to  state  that  the 
Philadelphia  Drug  Exchange  will  address  this  officer  in  relation  to  his  peculiar  mod- 
ification of  the  law.  It  would,  however,  be  well  If  other  pharmaceutical  bodies 
would  take  the  same  steps,  so  as  to  convince  the  Commissioner  that  pharmacists  are 
quite  willing  to  comply  with  this  law  in  letter  and  in  spirit. 
In  this  connection  we  deem  it  proper  to  state  that  we  have  received  several  com- 
munications requesting  us  to  publish  certain  formulas.  While  we  invite  contribu- 
tions of  this  kind,  as  well  as  others  of  Interest  to  the  profession,  it  is  but  proper  that 
we  should  reserve  to  us  the  right  to  judge  of  their  admissibility  into  this  "Journal." 
We  cannot  undertake  to  publish  formulas  merely  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  those 
dealing  in  medicines  from  stamping  them  5  every  apothecary  and  druggist  can  accom 
pllsh  the  same  object  by  having  the  correct  formula  printed  upon  the  label. 
