BRITISH AND UNITED STATES PHARMACOPOEIAS. 195 
maceutical nomenclature. We are willing for the moment to 
admit these positions, and to judge the labours of the College 
by the manner in which they have carried out their own pe- 
culiar opinions. 
The views, then, of the Edinburgh College are that changes 
of nomenclature are to be avoided, and that a chemical no- 
menclature is not a good one, because it is liable to frequent 
changes. With these views, the College had to decide, 1st 
What should be done with the chemical names heretofore 
adopted? 2d. What names should be given to chemical sub- 
stances newly introduced? The natural decision under the 
first question was to leave the existing chemical names un- 
changed; or, if they had become absurd, or inadmissible from 
whatever cause, to fall back upon non-chemical names, but 
never to substitute one chemical name for another. The 
College have left very few of their old chemical names un- 
changed, even if we consider the titles of the salts to have un- 
dergone no essential change by having the base in Latin ex- 
pressed first instead of last. In a few cases, the changes have 
been from chemical to non-chemical names, of which the fol- 
lowing are examplesi^-Arsenicum album, Aerugo, Borax, 
Calamina praeparata, Calomelas, Cinnabaris, Creta, Lithargy- 
rum, Sublimatus corrosivus; but in the majority of instances, 
where changes have been made, a new chemical name has 
been substituted for the old one, contrary to the principles 
which appear to have guided the College. Thus they have 
substituted Ammoniae carbonas for Sub-Carbonas Ammo- 
nias; Potassae bicarbonas for Carbonas Potassae; Potassae 
bitartras for Super-Tartras Potassae; Potassae carbonas 
for Sub-Carbonas Potassae; Sodae bicarbonas for Car- 
bonas Sodas; Sodae carbonas for Sub-Carbonas Sodss; 
Spiritus aetheris nitrici for Spiritus JEtheris Nitrosi, &c. 
We approve of these changes; but are they consistent with 
the objections of the College to chemical nomenclature, founded 
on its instability? The old names might have been retained, 
or, if inadmissible, names inexpressive of composition might 
vol. vm. — no. in. 25 
