Mr. Doerschuk:

The metric system was adopted by law in France in 1793, but was a very hazy and uncertain schedule until 1799, when the report on weights and measures of the Academy of Sciences was presented to and accepted by the two branches of the French national assembly, together with a definite meter of platina made by Lenoir, and a kilogramme of the same metal made by Fortin. A commission, meeting in Paris in 1872, decided upon the new prototypes of the new standards of metric weights and measures now generally accepted, and the entire metric scheme was then changed, and the original plan abandoned. Later a faction in the metric school became conscious of the somewhat singular fact that water has its point of greatest density at 4 degrees C., and insisted that the cubic centimeter be reestablished as the volume of a gramme of water at 4 degrees C., instead of the old standard of O degree C., and to satisfy this clamor the mil was created at 4 degrees C. The mil has, therefore, less volume than the cubic centimeter, despite the fact that this would seem to invert the natural law of expansion. A new standard of volume, that of a gramme of water at 40 degrees C., equivalent to 104 F., was recently announced in the press of Kansas City. This is called the mel, and is a radical departure involving many changes, and is a degree of heat uncomfortable to human beings.

Great simplicity is claimed for the metric system. Here is a short interdenominational calculation among friends, to demonstrate this quality:

A cubic centimeter equals 0.99984 plus, mil, and 1.00016 plus cubic centimeters equal 1 mil; the mel equals 1.00943 plus cubic centimeters, and also equals 1.0095915088 plus mils. All these complex equivalents end in vulgar fractions or else these metric comets go sky-rocketing on through space just as long and as far as the human mind will propel them. The difficulties between Troy and avoidupois weights are simple indeed when compared to those above.

In 1919

There is much discussion at this time as to whether the United States should by law compel the general use of the metric system to the exclusion of all other standards. A bill to this effect was strongly urged in the last congress, and was defeated with difficulty. similar bill was up and had immense financial support which has never been fully accounted for. From San Francisco alone mail matter went out costing over half a million dollars, urging the adoption of this bill. This was assumed to be foreign money seeking an advantage that would come with the crippling of American commerce which is certain to follow compulsory change to the metric system.

A conservative estimate of the cost of such a change to industry alone, is above two thousand million dollars, not counting the very large additional losses to society as a whole, nor the value of countless made parts on hand, cut on the old scales, and which would be total losses. The inconveniences entailed would be so great words could hardly describe them,

and would have a strongly retarding influence upon all productive processes.

Compulsion should not be necessary if the metric system possesses such superior advantages over the English system as has been claimed for it. The metric system is permitted now by law in England and the United States; if it had any real or marked advantages it would soon become universally used without compulsion.

It is said to have cost Henry Ford a hundred million dollars to change his machinery to produce the new model Fords; how much more would it have cost to have changed all his instruments of measure and weights at the same time? This is only a straw indicative of the incalculable cost to which industry would be put if compelled to change to the metric system.

As a basis for constructive sizes the decimal divisions are impractical, and the decimal dividing of the centimeter in the metric machine shops is unknown. The inch with its subdivisions and multiplications has come to be the international standard of construction measurements, exemplified in tires. shafts, wheels, doors, bolts, pipe, screws, etc.

The chief difficulty in the adoption of the metric system has been psychological; that is, learning to think or visualize values in strange units not related to the ordinary things of life. The inch, the foot, the pound have developed through a process of natural selection and not as the result of a rigid inflexible plan. The units of the English system can be multiplied and divided not only decimally but also binarily and duodecimally, and are in many respects easier to work with. The liability of error through misplacement of the decimal point in the metric system is avoided by the use of common fractions in the English system.

If one is told that an automobile tire is inflated to a pressure of 75 pounds per square inch, he has a definite idea of the pressure; how definite an impression does he get when told the pressure is 7 kilograms per square centimeter? If a field yields 20 bushels of wheat per acre, a definite meaning is attached to the words; how clear an idea does one get if told that the yield is, say, 50 decaliters per hectare? What does it mean when potatoes, apples, wheat or corn are quoted at 50 cents per decaliter; are they cheap or dear?

The tenacity with which people cling to old and established standards and values is illustrated in the fact that there is scarcely a piece of real estate in the vicinity of St. Louis that is not measured in arpents. and this measure of area lingers in daily transactions. with a tenacity that nothing appears to shake. If three-quarters of a century has done so little to obliterate the system of land measurement at St. Louis, what period would be required to change the present established standards of the entire country to the one proposed?

Much is made by metric advocates of the fact that

Book Reviews

Of Unusual Value

The reviewer now has open before him one of the most valuable medical books it has ever been his pleasure to appraise. The title is "Pharmacothereapeutics" with a subtitle of "Materia Medica and Drug Action." The authors are Solomon SolisCohen, M. D., and Thomas Statesbury Githens, M. D. The publisher is D. Appleton & Company, New York and London.

In the medical profession the names of the authors is enough to stamp the book as unusual and no doubt well-informed druggists will experience the same reaction.

On one of the pages preceding the preface is this quotation: "God bringeth out medicines from the earth; let the prudent man not spurn them."

Here are four paragraphs from the introduction which give an idea of the scope of the book and of its purpose:

"It has been deemed wise to preface the detailed study of individual drugs and classes of drugs by the discussion of certain general principles, chiefly biologic, which may serve to guide the use of drugs not only, but of all classes of remedial agents. In this discussion are included certain spects of the newer developments in physics and chemistry; and stress is laid not only upon the adjustive and adaptive powers constituting the selfdefense of the organism, but also upon the monodynamic conception of disease-recovery; that is to say, the view that disease and recovery are not separate states or opposing forces, but one continuous, albeit complex process, in which derangement and restoration are from the first associated.

"Necessarily, these subjects could not be treated exhaustively or prophetically. What has been said, however, may serve to direct the attention of the reader, and especially of the student of medicine, to the necessary coordination of physiology and pathology with therapeutics, and to the intimate relation borne by physioAdvances in chemistry to all of these. the scientific aspects of medicine must, for the immediate future, come largely from a more intimate correlation of its fundamental studies with the fundamental data of universal science. This, the present work could not hope to do; it can only point to the necessity of such correlation, and illustrate by pertinent examples the usefulness of the method.

"Pharmacy is too much neglected by

been thought well to include in Part I of this book certain pharmaceutic material, the basis of which was kindly prepared by Dr. Joseph W. England, to whom the authors are indebted not for this alone, but for many useful suggestions, especially as concerns materia medica and methods of administration.

"The authors acknowledge, further, the kind assistance of Professor John Uri Lloyd, of Professor E. Fullerton Cook, of of Dr. Wilson G. Wood, of Dr. R. Max Goepp, of Dr. Alfred Heineberg, of Dr. Howard F. Hansell, of Dr. A. Strauss, of Dr. Thomas C. Stellwagen, of Dr. Harold L. Goldburgh, of Dr. Myer Solis-Cohen, and of other friends who have been consulted on special points in pharmacy or therapeutics, or who have assisted in the collection of data of various kinds."

It will be seen that the book is primarily intended for physicians, but there isn't a druggist in the country who shouldn't have it in his library. So far as we know, there is nothing so good or so comprehensive in print. Approximately 2000 pages. Write to D. Appleton & Company for the price.

"Drug Store Business Methods"

"Drug Store Business Methods" is the tilte of a 295-page book published by Lea & Febieger, 600 S. Washington Square, Philadelphia. The author is Charles W. Pearson, A. B., M. B. A., associate professor of commercial pharmacy at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy.

It is pointed out that courses in commercial pharmacy have been handicapped by the lack of a suitable text and it is hoped that a book by an experienced teacher will meet this need. The author's five years' experience teaching this subject, following eight years' public school commercial teaching, has been drawn upon in preparing the book.

Big Value for Little Money Ruddiman's "Whys in Pharmacy" has an established standing, so the publisher's work is to get out succeeding editions.

It is a peculiar book, "Whys in Pharmacy" is. It is a bringing together of just what the title indicates. Why is purified talc used in making aromatic elixir? Why does the color of calomel vary, even when pure? Why is quinine tannate nearly tasteless? Why-why, why all the way through; a whole bookful of whys, and of

answers.

A novel way of imparting information, but it has proved to be a good way. The preface to the first edition is interesting:

"In the publication of these questions and answers the writer claims no originality. The only reason he has for putting them into book form is because he has had numerous requests for them from his students and the readers of the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY, in which much of the matter has been printed.

"Early in the course of the author's teaching he came to the conclusion that the teaching of the reasons for the use of certain ingredients and for mixing these in certain orders is one of the most important parts of the work-more essential than the memorizing of formulas. The book is not intended as a quiz compend, but as an aid to those who wish to get at the principles underlying the subject. At first only the questions were written, leaving the student to look up the answers for himself. Mr. Joseph Helfman, editor of the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY, Suggested that more good would be done the readers by giving the answers as well, and the writer came to the same conclusion."

Two hundred pages, good binding, and a very useful book. Young men particularly can get a world of good out of it. John Wiley, Sons, Inc., New York. The price is $2.00.

"Troubles We Don't Talk
About"

This unusual title appears on the cover of an attractive book written by J. F. Montague, M. D., a volume intended for lay consumption. People suffer in silence, linger in doubt and carry on in despair, it is said; thousands of people do this. A false sense of modesty prevents them from consulting a doctor and obtaining a permanent and often painless cure.

In this book the reader is properly informed as to what to do and what not to do. Dr. Montague is a specialist in rectal diseases. He tells the truth without fear

or favor. He shows why an examination properly made should cause no pain or embarrassment, points out the dangers of certain home remedies, including "the little pills" which in the long run do more damage than good, and tells how that most dreaded affliction, cancer, can result from improper treatment. "Troubles We Don't Talk About" is written primarily for the average man and woman in understandable, non-technical language. The price is $2.00, the publisher J. B. Lippincott Company, Washington Square, Philadelphia.

Schulte Move Criticized

On all sales of the products of the American Druggists' Syndicate, and Vivaudou, Djer Kiss and Melba, made by members of the Associated Druggists of New Jersey a bonus of 10 per cent will be set aside as a gift to the association. August Schulte, owner of a chain of retail cigar stores and of the four businesses already mentioned, is making this gift to the association, according to an article which appears in the February issue of the official organ of the association. On past sales records such an arrangment should give this retail association a fund of $20,000 a year. The writer of the article, however, ventures the opinion that because of the stimulating effect of this Schulte offer, annual sales on his products will probably mount to a point sufficient to give the association an income of $100,000.

This discount for the association, the article plainly indicates, in no way changes the discount on the products in question to the individual members. It appears to be a gift, pure and simple, from Mr. Schulte's regular profits.

No one can quarrel with Mr. Schulte over this arrangement. If he chooses to give away 10 per cent or 100 per cent of his profits that is his business.

On the proposed use of that fund, however, it would seem that the entire drug trade could pick a justifiable quarrel.

Concerning the disposition of the fund the writer of the article in question, who, by the way, prefaces the article with a statement that he "desires to take full responsibility for every statement made as an individual and not as a representative to the association of which he is an officer," offers the following:

"This income I would like to see utilized principally as follows: to hire detail men who will call on every physician in this ritory and try to get them to prescribe S. P. and N. F. preparations instead of expensive proprietaries which so many

of them are now doing. In addition to this detail work, letters should be sent once a month to the physicians explaining how they as well as the public will profit by their so doing. This is only one of the many big things which we can do to make our business what it should be."

Mr. Schulte's money, in other words, is to be used to push proprietaries out of the New Jersey market insofar as these particular retail stores constitute that market.

If such disposition is made of this money, then in our opinion, Mr. Schulte has made an unwise move. He has opened the way for reprisals in other quarters on his own products. Owners of proprietaries, no doubt, will take the attitude of "What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander." This means that they will supply some other retail druggist association with sufficient money to enable its members to push private brands of, say, cosmetics and perfumes, that compete with Vivaudou, Melba, and Djer Kiss, or private-brand drug articles that compete with products of the American Druggists' Syndicate. What Mr. Schulte gains in sales by this stimulant in New Jersey he is bound to lose elsewhere when the many owners of proprietaries are aroused to action. Both, in our opinion, will be spending money futilely that might go into better upbuilding of their business.

The entire proposition from a merchandising standpoint appears to be unsound. -Printer's Ink.

Epigrams

The generous man who is willing to divide all he has with the rest of the world is usually dead broke.

They tell us the average man lugs around twenty-four pounds of carbon in his body. No wonder a few of them always have a "knock””

to a window full of products that provide "that-reminds-me" hinges to an advertis ing campaign.

Uncle Sam's Congressional guardians of the Postal Service, who found the best way to cut down revenue was by increas ing postage, are now converts to the old declaration: "You can't sometimes most always tell!"

"Tell 'em enthusiastically what you think they'll need, and they'll want it," is the philosophy of Little Johnny Advertising.

Little things in life? There are none. A frown of an impatient salesman may make a non-buyer out of a satisfied customer. Keep cheeful!

Ren Mulford, Jr.

How to Use Major's Cement

Place the bottle in a cup of hot water until the cement becomes the consistency of cream. Spread a little of the cement with a splinter on both pieces that require to be joined, having previously made them warm, then press them firmly together for a few seconds, and dry twenty-four hours. When dry, scrape the cement off both sides. By placing the bottle in hot water the cork will soften and can be taken out without breaking it.

The article to be repaired should be only warm, not hot. It should not be left in a damp, close room to dry. Meerschaum and wood should be bound together with a cord while drying. To repair broken articles, put the pieces together and press the joints as firmly as if you intended to squeeze all the cement out; for the less cement you have between the joint the stronger the job will be.