66 
Correspondence. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharra. 
\    January,  1921. 
adopted  among  chemists  and  the  Bureau  of  Standards  had  recom- 
mended the  use  of  the  abbreviation  "cc"  as  the  standard  abbrevi- 
ation for  cubic  centimeters,  the  committee  has  voted  to  use  "cc"  in 
the  new  Pharmacopoeia.  The  French  spelling  of  the  word  "gramme" 
was  also  criticised  and  the  committee  decided  to  adopt  the  Ameri- 
can standard  spelling  "gram."  The  theoretical  argument  that  it 
might  be  mistaken  for  "grain"  in  prescription  writing  was  con- 
sidered unworthy  of  serious  consideration,  as  no  physician  writes 
the  word  "gram"  on  a  prescription. 
ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  CHAIRMAN'S  OFFICE. 
Soon  after  the  convention  the  chairman's  office  was  organized 
in  Philadelphia.  The  necessary  supplies,  consisting  of  stationery, 
envelopes,  binders  and  general  equipment,  were  provided,  and  in 
August,  1920,  the  Board  of  Trustees  authorized  a  rental  of  an  office 
for  the  work.  Here  are  concentrated  all  phases  of  revision  activity 
and  in  this  office  are  being  mimeographed  and  issued  the  "Circu- 
lars" of  the  General  Committee,  the  "Letters"  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  the  "Bulletins"  of  practically  all  of  the  sub-com- 
mittees. There  have  already  been  placed  before  the  various  com- 
mittees over  six  hundred  pages  of  circular  material. 
SUB-COMMITTEES. 
Every  sub-committee  is  organized  and  at  work.  First  reports 
on  texts  have  appeared  in  some  of  the  sub-committees  and  others 
are  about  ready  to  send  in  their  first  revised  texts. 
SPECIAL  SUB-COMMITTEES. 
The  convention  authorized  the  establishment  of  two  special 
sub-committees,  one  on  drug  markets  and  the  other  to  study  and 
establish  standards  for  permissible  quantities  of  gruffs  and  trailings, 
resulting  from  the  grinding  of  drugs.  These  two  special  sub-com- 
mittees have  been  made  subsidiary  committees  to  the  Sub-committee 
on  Botany  and  Pharmacognosy,  and  Dr.  Carl  L.  Alsberg  has  ac- 
cepted the  chairmanship  of  the  work  on  Drug  Markets  and  Pro- 
fessor E.  L.  Newcomb,  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Gruffs  and 
Tailings. 
