574  Pharmacopoeia!  Revision  Problems.  {A5;eiX*im' 
"  Additions  and  Corrections  "  issued  by  the  Committee  of  Revision. 
There  are  a  number  of  changes  which  should  be  made  in  the 
method  of  revising  the  Pharmacopoeia.  Of  far  more  importance  is 
the  method  of  conducting  the  revision  solely  or  almost  solely  by 
correspondence  through  the  mails.  There  should  be  at  least  financial 
means  provided  for  holding  meetings  in  which  the  members  can 
come  together  at  least  three  or  four  times  in  a  year  to  discuss  the 
important  subjects  which  have  to  be  adjudicated.  With  a  committee 
of  twenty-six  scattered  all  over  the  country  in  order  to  satisfy 
geographical  considerations  it  may  not  surprise  many  to  know  that 
travelling  and  hotel  expenses  for  this  large  committee  mean  an 
expenditure  of  over  $1000  per  meeting.  The  present  Committee  of 
Revision  was  compelled  to  take  advantage  of  the  annual  gatherings 
of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  to  hold  such  meetings 
as  were  held,  in  order  to  save  expenses. 
Now  that  the  next  Pharmacopoeia  will  be  a  legal  book  of  stand- 
ards some  provision  will  have  to  be  made  to  supply  the  necessary 
funds,  and  either  through  reducing  the  number  on  the  Revision 
Committee  to  one-half  the  present  number  or  through  some  other 
plan  even  more  satisfactory  can  the  method  be  improved. 
This,  also,  has  a  bearing  upon  the  much  talked  of  cry  for 
publicity.  If,  as  some  writers  demand,  complete  publicity  is  given  of 
all  of  the  acts  of  the  Committee  and  Board,  then  necessarily  will 
there  be  such  an  expenditure  of  time  before  reaching  a  decision  that 
one  revision  cannot  be  completed  before  another  one  will  be  required. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  that  important  changes  recom- 
mended by  subcommittees  could  be  sent  to  pharmaceutical  and 
medical  journals  before  final  publication  of  the  book  which  would 
give,  within  reasonable  limits,  information  which  would  prevent  any 
great  errors  from  creeping  into  the  book;  but  to  expect  the  whole 
text  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  in  all  its  detail,  to  be  published  in 
advance,  is  impracticable  when  one  thinks  of  the  time  given  for  the 
consideration  of  all  objections  from  critics  throughout  the  country 
(critics  do  not  agree  among  themselves)  and  far  worse  conditions 
would  obtain  than  exist  at  present.  There  would  have  to  be  a  "  time 
limit  test  "  here,  but  even  then,  who  is  to  regulate  the  indefinite  time 
when  the  last  man  sends  in  his  last  criticisms?  If  publicity  of  this 
sort  is  demanded  and  a  criticism  should  not  be  accepted  by  the 
other  critics  nor  by  the  Committee  of  Revision  or  its  subcommittees, 
who  is  to  decide  or  guess  which  of  the  two  views  is  going  to  be 
