Asovimberfi9o™*}     Richmond  Meeting  of  N.  W.D.A.  547 
expressed  the  opinion  of  many  thinking  men  in  the  trade,  and  that 
while  his  statement  was  not  acceptable  to  the  majority  of  his 
hearers,  the  truth  of  it  will  become  more  and  more  apparent  as 
time  rolls  on." 
The  committee,  in  that  portion  of  its  report  which  referred  to 
the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  called  the  attention,  of  the  association  to 
the  fact  that  the  delegates  were  to  be  chosen  during  the  ensuing 
year  for  the  next  Decennial  Convention,  which  in  turn  will  select 
the  Revision  Committee  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  The  committee 
recommended  to  the  association  that  they  interest  themselves  in 
having  appointed  by  other  associations,  at  least  -two  delegates 
familiar  with  the  manufacture  of  medicinal  chemicals  and  at  least 
two  familiar  with  the  drug  markets.  Such  men  would  be  of  great 
value  to  the  Revision  Committee  and  also  in  safeguarding  the 
interests  of  the  wholesalers  and  manufacturers.  In  discussing  prin- 
ciples which  should  govern  the  compilation  of  the  next  Pharmaco- 
poeia, the  committee  calls  to  the  attention  of  the  association  the 
fact  that  standards  for  medicinal  chemicals  should  be  used  on  their 
medicinal  rather  than  their  chemical  purity,  the  elimination  or 
reduction  to  the  lowest  possible  limit  of  all  harmful  impurities  being 
demanded,  but  the  presence  of  a  small  given  percentage  of  a  harm- 
less constituent  being  permitted  where  its  elimination  would  add 
unduly  to  the  cost  of  the  finished  product.  It  also  calls  the  atten- 
tion of  the  association  to  the  fact  that  formulas  for  preparations 
should  be  based  on  the  average  character  of  vegetable  drugs  rather 
than  on  selected  samples  of  exceptional  quality.  The  legal  char- 
acter of  the  U.S. P.  demands  the  most  rigid  scrutiny  of  the  lan- 
guage used  to  describe  the  quality,  standards,  and  tests,  which 
should  consist  of  simple,  definite  statements  that  will  not  admit 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  meaning,  while  the  most  careful 
consideration  and  verification  of  the  tests  proposed  are  absolutely 
necessary.  In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  this  point  is  of  great 
importance.  He  feels  convinced  that  many  prosecutions,  based  on 
definitions  and  standards  as  at  present  given,  would  fail,  because 
the  wording  is  so  loose  that  it  would  not  stand  when  subjected  to 
legal  tests. 
The  committee  makes  the  following  comment  in  the  matter  of 
compensation  for  the  work :  "  Heretofore  the  work  of  members 
of  the  Committee  on  Revision  of  the  U.S. P.  has  been  largely  a 
labor  of  love,  as  the  compensation  or  honorarium  received  by 
them  is  ridiculously  inadequate  to  the  importance  of  the  work.  In 
