Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  > 
Feb.,  1880.  j 
Editorial. 
tion  was  discussed  ;  some  remarks  were  made  on  description  of  drugs,  and  the 
nature  of  homoeopathic  preparations  and  medicines  was  alluded  to.  A  preparation 
for  disguising  the  taste  of  quinia,  made  by  Mr.  Pennypacker,  was  exhibited.  It  con- 
sists of  equal  parts  of  fluid  extract  of  taraxacum,  fluid  extract  of  liquorice-root, 
and  simple  elixir. 
Boston  Druggists'  Association. — At  the  annual  meeting,  held  January  27,  the 
following  officers  were  elected  :  President,  Joseph  Burnett ;  Vice  Presidents — A. 
Sigourney  Bird,  Thomas  Doliberj  Secretary,  Henry  Canning;  Treasurer,  Charles 
C.  Goodwin.  Executive  Committee — E.  Waldo  Cutler,  G.  F  H.  Markoe,  J.  S. 
Melvin,  E.  H.  Doolittle,  J.  S.  Orne,  I.  B.  Patten,  A.  G.  Weeks.  Committee  on 
Membership— Solomon  Carter,  D.  G.  Wilkins,  R.  R.  Kent,  A.  R.  Bayley,  B.  O. 
Wilson. 
The  preparation  of  a  pharmacy  law  and  its  presentation  to  the  legislature  for 
adoption  was  discussed  at  some  length,  and  then  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee. 
At  5  o'clock  the  members  and  invited  guests  sat  down  to  their  fifth  annual  din- 
ner, and  after  justice  was  done  to  thtmenu  provided  by  Parker's,  speeches  were  made 
by  many  of  those  present. 
Pharmaceutical  Association  of  Iowa. — A  call,  signed  by  a  large  number  of 
pharmacists  and  druggists  of  Iowa,  has  been  issued  by  Messrs.  Geo.  H.  Schafer  & 
Co.,  of  Fort  Madison.  The  convention  will  meet  in  the  Academy  of  Music  in  the 
city  of  Des  Moines,  February  10  and  11,  with  the  view  of  organizing  a  State 
Pharmaceutical  Association.  A  bill  for  the  regulation  of  the  practice  of  pharmacy 
has  been  introduced  into  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  it  is  expected  that  after 
the  same  shall  have  been  discussed  by  the  convention  it  will  be  passed  by  the  legis- 
lature.   We  wish  the  proposed  Association  good  success. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
••The  Relation  of  Drug  Manufacturers  to  the  Progress  of  Therapeutics'" 
is  the  title  of  a  lengthy  paper  which  was  read  before  a  medical  society  in  Boston, 
by  Dr.  Robert  T.  Edes,  professor  of  materia  medica  in  Harvard  University,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  "Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  "  of  January  15th.  The  paper 
seems  to  be  aimed  on  the  one  hand  against  the  introduction  of  new  remedies  with- 
out careful  chemical  and  physiological  study,  and  on  the  other  hand  against  the 
multiplication  of  compound  medicines,  frequently  containing  ingredients  which  no 
intelligent  physician  would  prescribe  together,  or  which  may  suit  a  particular  case 
without  being  adapted  to  general  application.  Dr.  Edes  says  ;  When  the  phar- 
macist informs  us  of  active  principles,  or  gives  us  preparations  honestly  representing 
a  drug,  he  docs  good  service  ,  but  when  he  tells  us  why  they  act  or  when  they  should 
