AseptJembef,hi9or-}         Pharmaceutical  Associations.  463 
"A  Few  Facts  About  Vaccine  and  Vaccination."  By  Frederic  P.  Tuthill. 
(See  Bull.  Pharm.,  p.  334). 
"  The  Advertising  Druggist."    By  Judson  B.  Todd. 
"  Should  the  Pharmacy  Law  be  Amended  ?"  By  Edward  S.  Dawson.  (See 
Amer.  Drug.,  p.  15). 
The  Committee  on  New  Remedies  presented  a  valuable  report 
[Amer.  Drug.t  355)  through  the  Chairman,  A.  L.  Gold  water. 
The  following  are  the  officers  for  1901-1902  :  President,  Thomas 
Stoddart ;  First  Vice-President,  J.  F.  Van  Nort ;  Second  Vice-Pres- 
ident, Geo.  H.  Hitchcock;  Third  Vice-President,  A.  S.  Van  Winkle  • 
Secretary,  Judson  B.  Todd  ;  Treasurer,  Thomas  W.  Dalton. 
The  preliminary  report  of  the  President,  Robert  K.  Smither,  of 
the  New  York  State  Pharmacy  Board,  is  interesting,  particularly 
that  relating  to  the  adulteration  and  substitution  of  drugs. 
The  Board  of  Pharmacy  being  required  by  the  new  law  to  see  that  all  phar- 
maceutical preparations  sold  in  pharmacies  and  drug  stores  of  New  York  con- 
form to  the  standard  and  tests  prescribed  in  the  U.S. P. 
"The  Board  has  started  out  with  the  assumption  that  the  average  druggist 
or  pharmacist  is  desirous  of  having  his  drugs  and  galenical  preparations  fully 
up  to  the  standard,  and  that  whenever  it  is  demonstrated  that  he  is  handling 
an  inferior  quality  he  will  gladly  remedy  the  defect ;  and  further,  that  among 
those  who  have  knowingly  handled  an  inferior  article  are  not  a  few  who, 
weakly  surrendering  to  a  spirit  of  commercialism,  have  felt  constrained  to 
depreciate  the  quality  of  their  goods  in  order  to  meet  competition,  and  who 
would  be  more  than  willing  to  elevate  their  standard  to  that  required  by  the 
Pharmacopoeia  if  satisfied  that  their  competitors  would  be  compelled  to  do 
likewise. 
"We  have  begun  the  systematic  collection  and  assaying  of  samples  in  a 
friendly  spirit,  our  inspectors  on  their  first  tour  making  no  secret  of  the  fact 
that  the  samples  purchased  are  for  examination,  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the 
Board  to  warn  the  dealer  in  cases  where  the  samples  prove  to  be  below  the 
standard,  but  not  to  prosecute  upon  the  evidence  thus  obtained. 
"If,  however,  a  subsequent  inspection  should  reveal  an  intentional  and  per- 
sistent disregard  of  the  standard  the  Board  will  consider  it  its  duty  to  prosecute 
the  offender. 
"  An  illustration  of  the  necessity  for  official  supervision  over  the  standard  of 
pharmacopceial  preparations  sold,  is  furnished  by  a  review  of  a  report  received 
within  the  past  week  from  a  professional  chemist,  giving  the  result  of  his 
assay  of  a  batch  of  samples  submitted  to  him. 
"Forty-three  samples  of  the  tincture  of  iodine  were  assayed,  the  U.S. P. 
standard  for  which  requires  approximately  7  per  cent,  of  free  iodine.  They 
showed  a  strength  varying  from  1*42  to  7*28  ;  forty-one  were  below  the  U.S. P. 
standard.  The  lowest  in  the  scale,  a  little  more  than  one  fifth  pharmacopceial 
strength,  was  made  of  wood  alcohol  as  a  solvent.  Whatever  may  be  said  of 
some  of  the  other  samples,  the  most  charitable  comment,  upon  the  vendor  of 
