194  Pharmacy  Hundred  Years  Ago.       {A  MarTh,"  1921™' 
John  Gorham,  professor  of  chemistry  at  Harvard,  on  the  constitu- 
ents of  maize. 
There  are  some  unusual  items,  including  a  complaint  concern- 
ing a  blind  prescription  written  by  a  Parisian  oculist  which  could 
be  compounded  at  only  one  pharmacy.  The  prescription  called  for 
6  grains  of  "purified  salt  of  cadium"  in  6  ounces  of  orange  flower 
water.  Because  of  the  extreme  rarity  of  the  cadmium  compound, 
the  pharmacist  charged  4  francs  50  and  then,  alas,  dispensed  6 
grains  of  zinc  sulphate.  So  some  of.  our  pharmaceutical  predeces- 
sors were  not  so  guileless,  after  all.  Another  writer  rails  against 
factory-made  pharmaceuticals,  pointing  out  that  one  firm  sold 
Baume  Tranquille  (infused  oil  of  hyocyamus)  for  1  franc  20  a 
pound,  whereas  the  oil  of  which  it  was  made,  when  of  proper 
quality  cost  1  franc  60.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  while  the 
metric  system  was  supposedly  adopted  in  France  in  1793,  thirty 
years  later  (1821),  practically  all  matters  concerning  weight  were 
expressed  in  pounds,  ounces  and  grains.  This  should  show  us 
metric  advocates  that  it  takes  a  long  time  to  teach  a  people  new 
ways  •  it  should  also  show  us  that  patient  and  persistent  effort 
finally  brings  a  people  to  the  new  and  better  way. 
There  are  two  interesting  papers  which  discuss  the  pharmacists 
of  the  past.  One  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  fern  genus 
Darea  is  named  after  the  English  pharmacist  Dare;  in  the  other 
mention  is  made  of  Apothecary  Rouvier  as  author  of  a  book  of 
voyages ;  of  Apothecary  DeMach,  as  a  poet ;  of  Apothecary  Guairet 
as  a  Latin  versifier,  and  of  Apothecary  Baume  as  the  author  of  a 
grammar.  All  of  these  worthies  (all  forgotten  except  Baume)  are 
discussed  in  a  review  of  a  book  on  metaphysics  published  in  182 1 
by  Apothecary  Opoix.  Here  is  a  goord  lead  for  the  pharmaceutical 
historian. 
In  another  paper  we  find  a  complaint  that  works  on  pharmacy 
are  being  written  in  the  vernacular  Kather  than  in  Latin,  a  really 
valid  reason  for  the  objection  being  that  when  written  in!  the 
vernacular  any  charlatan  can  read  the  various  recipes  and  thus 
become  druggists,  whereas  when  in  Latin,  only  the  truly  educated 
can  become  apothecaries. 
As  to  books,  the  first  national  pharmacopoeia,  the  French  Codex, 
had  appeared  in  1818,  followed  toward  the  end  of  1820  by  the 
first  United  States  Pharmacopoeia.  The  great  book  on  pharmacy 
of  the  day  was  by  the  French  pharmacist,  Virey,  who  interestingly 
