524 
Druggists  Associations. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   November,  1909. 
or  alteration  of  the  Constitution.  Article  VI  of  the  Constitution 
reads  as  follows: 
Every  proposition  to  alter  or  amend  this  Constitution  shall  be  sub- 
mitted in  writing  to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and,  having  received  the  votes 
of  at  least  five  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  shall  be  published  in  the 
medical  and  pharmaceutical  journals  at  least  three  months  before  the 
decennial  meeting  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopceial  Convention,  when, 
upon  receiving  the  votes  of  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  members  present 
and  voting,  it  shall  become  a  part  of  this  Constitution. 
It  is  therefore  important  that  the  various  pharmaceutical  bodies 
not  now  entitled  to  representation  take  up  this  question  at  once, 
as  no  amendments  to  the  Constitution  not  previously  proposed,  as 
provided  in  Article  VI,  can  be  voted  on  at  the  decennial  meeting. 
While  it  is  true  that  all  the  various  organizations  desiring  to 
participate  in  the  discussions  would  in  all  probability  be  given  the 
privileges  of  the  floor,  as  they  were  at  the  1900  meeting,  they  would 
not  be  eligible  to  full  membership  in  the  Convention.  That  this  is 
true  is  also  shown  by  a  ruling  of  the  President  of  the  Convention 
at  the  last  decennial  meeting,  who  in  a  similar  case,  "  pointed  out 
that  such  an  action  would  necessitate  a  change  in  the  Constitution." 
No  one  questions  the  wisdom  of  this  decision  or  the  provisions  of 
the  Constitution,  as  these  make  for  the  orderly  building  up  of  a 
sound,  permanent,  and  efficient  organization. 
There  is  one  other  provision  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  this  con- 
nection, namely,  that  the  association  applying  for  membership  must 
be  "  incorporated  and  have  been  in  continuous  operation  in  the 
United  States  for  at  least  five  years  before  the  time  fixed  for  the 
decennial  meeting." 
I  merely  call  attention  to  this  matter  at  this  time  that  those 
organizations  who  are  interested  in  pharmacopceial  revision  and 
who  in  some  cases  have  already  appointed  delegates  may  know 
what  is  required  and  the  manner  of  procedure,  the  Constitution 
not  being  published  in  full  in  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
