cause * * PRACTICAL THE PROPRIETARY ASSOCIATION several other States, they had charge of the prove the book by special vote will probably entertainment features at the Springfield meet- no disturbance," continues Professor ing, and everything went off with a hum. The Remington. "In some States it may be necesbanquet at the St. Nicholas Hotel was largely sary; in others, the question has never been attended by druggists, travelers, and their raised. It is a precautionary measure by the wives, and a thoroughly good time was en- States to obviate the possibility of some one joved. There were many cabaret features, questioning the constitutionality of the Pharand the speeches were severely limited to five macopeia.” minutes. The new National Formulary will also be ready for distribution in July, with the followThe travelers made one con ing schedule of prices: Muslin, plain, $2.50; MEETINGS. structive suggestion to the buckram, plain, $2.75; buckram, interleaved, pharmaceutical association, $1.00. The book has been completely revised and that was that more attention be paid to and is larger than preceding editions. The subjects of work-a-day interest to druggists in Midland Publishing Co., Columbus, Ohio, has general. There should be papers and discus- been appointed general sales agent, and the sions on practical merchandising problems of following sub-agencies are announced: The financial importance to every druggist in the Baker-Taylor Company, New York City; the State. This, the travelers thought, would not Chicago Medical Book Company, Chicago; L. only assist in increasing the membership, but S. Mathews Company, St. Louis, Mo.; and the would bring out a larger attendance at the an- Pacific Drug Review, San Francisco and Portnual gatherings. land. The newspaper to be published during the coming year by the association will doubtless The manufacturers of proprove of great value in building up the organ prietary remedies, realizing ization, but the time will undoubtedly come that they are facing antagwhen every State association will have to em onism from several different quarters, have ploy a paid organizer. This has been done in been engaged for a number of months in what Iowa and perhaps certain other States as well. the Pharmaceutical Era designates as “getting If we mistake not, the membership of the their house in order." A year ago it was deIowa association was practically doubled the cided to exclude from membership in the nafirst year an organizer was employed, and a tional association manufacturers who did not live, virile society has been worked up that comply with the standard of ethics officially could be secured in no other manner. adopted; and at the annual convention, held in In order to give particular value to the pro- New York in May of this year, it was reported ceedings at the Springfield meeting this year, that 1078 preparations had been submitted for there were several addresses of a special type. examination. James H. Beal gave an address on anti-narcotic The committee has had time to act on 611 legislation in general and the Harrison law in of these, such matters as alcoholic and narcotic particular. Thomas H. Potts talked on “Price drug content, claims in advertising matter, and Maintenance." Harry B. Mason discussed the wording of circulars, labels, etc., being con“Modern Merchandising Methods.” Dr. H. sidered. In some cases manufacturers were M. Whelpley was also in attendance and ad reprimanded for making too extravagant dressed the convention on two or three occa claims for their preparations, and in 37 cases sions. the remedies themselves were only passed pro visionally. The ultimate aim is to rob outside Joseph P. Remington, chair- criticism of a part of its sting. man of the revision commit- At the annual convention the following oftee, states that the new C'. S. ficers were electeil: President, Frank A. P. has been declared official September 1, 1916, Blair, of Foley & Company, Chicago; first viceand that he sees no reason why the book should president, W. H. Gove, of the Lydia E. Pinknot be issued early in July. “The report that ham Company, Lynn, Mass.; second vicethe various State legislatures will have to ap- president, Allen F. Moore, of the Caldwell * BOTH BOOKS READY IN JULY. THE CANA * Pepsin Syrup Company, Monticello, N. Y.; ers, and letters and telegrams were read from secretary-treasurer, Charles P. Tyrrell, of the scores of absent well-wishers. Syracuse Medical Company, Syracuse, N. Y. “I enjoy good health, a wealth of friends, and a happy home—what can I want more?" demands Herr Bodemann. We learn from the national THE NATIONAL the problems faced in the Dominion seem to ASSOCIATION OF organ of the clerks' associabe of a different character. Much attention DRUG CLERKS. tion that 284 delegates were was given at the twentieth annual convention, registered at the sixth annual convention, held held in Montreal, to what the association con in Chicago in June. If this showing is indicasiders unfair methods adopted recently by cer- tive of membership in proportion to that tain wholesale druggists. It is said that job- usually enjoyed by organizations somewhat bers have been ignoring price lists supplied by similar in character, it may be deduced that the manufacturers, and that they have entered into clerks' association has attained a size that agreements to mark up prices on the one hand, warrants it some consideration. However, no and on the other to discourage the sale of statement was made as to what the membergoods that do not net them a satisfactory ship actually is. profit. The principal issues discussed were shorter The association decided to combat such hours, Sunday closing, “perpetual” registraaction by giving detailed consideration to the tion, the appointment of drug clerks on boards: idea of establishing depots, or selling agencies, of pharmacy, the abolition of the assistant throughout the Dominion. "Patent” medicine pharmacist title, price protection, and the Harsales constitute about 50 per cent of the volume rison law. of Canada's wholesale drug business, it is The officers elected for the coming year are: stated, and the issue involved is an important, President, P. F. Coffey, Chicago; first vicenot to say vital, one. It was pointed out president, Henry J. Steining, Lafayette, Ind. ; that the cost of distribution in the manner sug- second vice-president, Frederick J. Killabee, gested would not exceed 5 per cent. St. Louis, Mo.; third vice-president, J. A. Orr, A. Mandabach, Chicago; national organizer, J. F. Miser; and editor-director of publicity, Paul BODEMANN'S much or little. When J. Mandabach. man is 70 years old and the occasion represents a celebration arranged by friends who really want to pay a tribute of Two men, one about 25 and well-merited affection and respect, it means A NEW METHOD! the other about 35, walked much. into John G. Warczak's drug There can never be but one Wilhelm Bode store, in Chicago, stated that they were special mann, and Mr. Boclemann can never have but revenue officers, and had come to inspect Mr. one seventieth birthday-although his friends Warczak's stock of narcotics. One of them hopefully proclaim that they expect to help drew back his coat and permitted the druggist celebrate his hundredth; so on the evening of to get a fleeting glimpse of some sort of a the ninth of June the Sage of Hyde Park was badge. asked to lend his presence to the occasion, After checking up the supplies on hand, they which he did with appropriate modesty and informed Mr. Warczak that his stock exceeded appreciation. The Chicago Veteran Drug requirements and that they would have to take gists' Association took a leading part in the a part of it to the Federal building. They festivities, President Theophilus Schmid pre- wrapped up $16 worth of morphine and siding at the dinner, and 0. G. Hottinger act- codeine tablets and half an ounce of cocaine, ing as toastmaster. Mr. Bodemann was pre- shook hands with the druggist, and went out. sented with a solid gold fountain pen. I. V. "This," says the C. R. D. A. Neaus, "is the Light and Thos. Potts were among the speak- latest improved way of separating the drug * a BIRTHDAY. gist from his narcotics." The two men were not revenue officers, and they have not yet been apprehended. Watch out for them! THE SAUNTERER * * So strongly has the importance of service Theorizing, we are told, CIGAR PRICES been preached to the druggist by pharmaMAY ADVANCE. won't lower the price of leaf ceutical association speakers, trade journal tobacco, the increased charge writers, and lay publication contributors, for labor and service, the added cost of trans that he is occasionally obsessed by the idea portation, the price of boxes, or the disposi that he must do everything in his power to tion of the tobacco beetle to lay eggs! And be satisfy the wants of a patron. cause all these factors as well as a few others Not long ago I needed some blades for a are pressing themselves upon the attention of razor which is not commonly carried in this manufacturers, we are cautioned not to be sur section of the country. Happening into a prised if cigar values take unto themselves a drug store kept by an acquaintance of mine slight enhancement. I asked him casually if he had them, informAnd the manufacturer faces a hard problem. ing him at the same time that I knew of only Cigar prices have been somewhat rigidly “set” one store in town where they were sold. for years; and precedent is one of the hardest He replied that he did not have them, but things in the world to overcome. Some manu- would send his messenger boy to one of the facturers, doubtless, will reduce the quality of local wholesalers and procure them for me. I their goods rather than face the music. But told him not to bother as I was shortly going there are those who won't; those who will to be near the store where they were on sale maintain grade and charge for it. and would get a package myself. He insisted, however, so I told him to go ahead. That night he called me up to say that he The importance of glycerin to the nations had been unable to locate a supply, but that he at war in Europe is reflected by the regula- would surely have them for me the next day. tions adopted in England. It may be used in I was without a usable blade, but owing to his drug stores only in cases where it is essential evident anxiety to be of service I again told as a drug and for no other purpose whatever. him to go ahead. It cannot be employed in the manufacture of The next day it was the same story, and in toilet or cosmetic preparations, nor can it be order to get a shave I had to go to a barber sold over the counter. A number of manu- shop—a time-consuming procedure which is facturers of proprietary preparations have irksome to me. On the third day he got me found it necessary to employ a sticker setting the blades. forth the fact that some other ingredient has As a result of the transaction the druggist been substituted for glycerin. was out the time his messenger had spent in useless search, and I was inclined to be dis* satisfied because I had had to hang around a The Manufacturing Perfumers' Association barber shop an hour each of the three days is planning to have the week beginning July before the blades finally were delivered. 24 devoted to window and inside displays of Too much "service" was the cause of my toilet goods and to be known as “Summer near-dissatisfaction. The druggist in an honComfort Week.” Talcums, soaps, complexion est—and commendable-endeavor to save me creams, and allied products are to be pushed trouble had in reality put me to some little aggressively. inconvenience. It would, perhaps, have been better had he let the matter drop after I told him that I knew a place where the blades could The Board of Health of Fremont, Ohio, has be procured. I would have appreciated his decreed that ice-cream vending wagons and desire to help, and we both would have been push carts must desist from disposing of their saved considerable bother. wares as heretofore, and as a result all ped- It is as bad to overdo a thing as to underdo dlers of this class have gone out of business. it. a some radical change must be made in the law, EDITORIAL for as it stands now after being emasculated by the Supreme Court decision it is undeniably too weak to serve fully the purpose for which THE SUPREME COURT AND THE HARRISON it was intended. LAW. It is interesting to note that "Mr. Justice The Harrison antinarcotic law, in opera Hughes and Mr. Justice Pitney dissented." tion since a year ago last March, has met with This dissenting on the part of Justice Hughes what is considered in some quarters to be a must have been among the last of his judicial serious setback. In a decision handed down acts before he resigned from the bench to bein June, the Supreme Court of the United come a candidate for the highest office in the gift of the American people. States held that the “possession" clause applied only to those who might legally register under the act, and not to those who are not permitted to register. A producer, an im OUR REVISED STANDARDS. porter, a manufacturer, a physician, a druggist, a dentist, a veterinarian, and a few Druggists should take particular pride in others—these may register. Other people may the fact that the two books on which their pro fessionalism is based are standards in every not, and it is not unlawful for these “other sense of the word and invested with the aupeople” to have narcotic drugs in their posses thority of law. Nothing could more firmly sion. fix the status of pharmacy. An addict may have morphine or cocaine The revision of these two books, therefore, in his possession; there is no law preventing becomes a matter of some importance of it or making it a crime. It is held by well more importance now than ever before, for informed attorneys that State laws which the present editions are the first to appear cover this point are swept aside and nullified since the Food and Drugs act came into effect. by the Supreme Court decision. This fact was fully appreciated by the revision Is the point a vital one? It would seem committees of both the Pharmacopæia and the that it is. Moreover it would seem that this National Formulary. same principle might be applied to the posses There have been many changes made in sion of alcoholic liquors in States with air both the U. S. P. and the N. F. With refertight prohibition laws. Possession may no ence to the Pharmacopæia, two of these have longer be taken as presumptive evidence of received quite a degree of publicity: the subguilt. stitution of the term milliliter for cubic centiIt is said that the present session of Con meter, and the deletion of whisky and brandy. gress will be asked to repair the breach caused “Mil” is a more accurate term than “Cc.,” by this decision, although how this may be although as far as the actual practice of phardone is not yet known, a number of schemes macy is concerned the discrepancy is trifling: having been suggested. less than half a drop in a quart of water. But, The first draft of the Harrison bill, we are as Professor Scoville says in an article elsetold, was a stamp-tax proposition; stamps where in this issue of the BULLETIN, a rewere to be placed on the proscribed drugs vision of the U. S. P. is now almost as much when they were sold, and only original pack- of an international as a national affair. The ages could be disposed of. This idea was British Pharmacopæia uses the term “mil” exabandoned because of the inconvenience it clusively. Moreover, in this country the U. S. would cause, but it may be deemed advisable Bureau of Standards adopted it, abolishing the to return to it, particularly in view of the fact old term; and its use has been approved by the that the drug trade has been so patient, not International Committee on Weights and to say pliable. It is thought that after the past Measures. The revision committee, therefore, year's experience with the Harrison law, as had little choice, and it must be conceded that interpreted by the Revenue Department, drug- it acted wisely. gists, at least, will stand for almost anything. The deletion of whisky and brandy was At any rate, it is the general opinion that wholly due, we are told, to a failure to agree , a on standards. “Straight" or "blended”- copæia and the new N. F. will be found very which should be set up as the standard? The satisfactory. They mark a distinct advance in problem is an intricate one, and one which is the progress of our calling. sure to come up again when the Pharmacopeia undergoes the next revision. READ THEM! A little surprise was experienced in some quarters when it was learned the old, familiar One of the features of the BULLETIN this Elix. I. Q. & S. had been deleted. This is due, month is a group of papers under the general it has been stated, to the fact that it was found title of “Salesmanship,” and we feel fortunate impracticable to adopt a satisfactory formula. in being able to present three papers on this In the early stages of revision a formula was subject which contain so little sawdust. sanctioned, but before the work was completed Read the articles-all three of them! They this proved objectionable. So elixir of phos- will prove helpful. phates of iron, quinine and strychnine was left Salesmanship is a big word—and it covers out of the book-a fact, however, which will much more than a circus tent does; almost as in no sense decrease the use of this valuable much as the blue dome itself does. Do not preparation by the medical profession. expect ever to find a suitable definition of it, or The ninth revision of the Pharmacopeia to master fully all its branches; that, possibly. contains what may be termed “official abbrevia- would be to attain the ultimate. tions." There is now a certain way in which But there is no reason in the world why each title ought to be contracted—which im the merest tyro should not attempt to master poses, among other things, just that much a few fundamental principles and to base on more of a burden on students. But all this them a few primary practices. There is nothimust be expected. Pharmacy is becoming ing difficult about this. more scientific each year, and must therefore There is no set system. become more definite. This spirit is reflected There is a science of music, but there are a in the new Pharmacopæia in many ways. million “tunes!" Coming now to the National Formulary, it is noted that the metric system is used exclusively throughout, as it is in the Pharma WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY? copeia; and the term “mils,” of course, super- Mr. Leo. A. Kane, 42 Triangle, Buffalo, sedes the discarded “cubic centimeters." N. Y., says he would like to see the following The alcoholic strength of many preparations theme discussed in the BULLETIN: "Advocathas been reduced, the aim being to have justing the use of telephones and delivery service." enough alcohol in the formula to serve the What have our readers got to say on this subpurpose for which it is intended. With the ject? Let us hear from you. Harrison law in mind, the narcotic content of a number of preparations has been reduced, also. Again the enforcement of the Goldwater Morphine has been omitted entirely from ordinance, New York, has been held in abeythe formula of Syrup White Pine Compound. ance, the court granting a further extension However, another syrup has been added to the of time for the filing of briefs. It is stated list-Syrup of White Pine with Morphine. that a decision will not be handed down by In keeping with the restrictions imposed by the Appellate Court until fall or early winter, the Pure Food and Drugs act, saccharin has and that meanwhile, by virtue of an attorbeen eliminated. ney's agreement, no attempt will be made by There are more fluidextracts in the new the Health Board to put the measure in opbook than there were in the old, and a new eration. class, "Puidglycerites," has been added. Assay processes have been incorporated when prac- At Bluffton, Indiana, the drug stores are ticable. Other features of the new N. F. are not open Sundays from 12 to 2 in the aftermentioned in an article by Mr. Hilton else- noon, and close on that day at 7 in the evening. where in this issue of the BULLETIN. Bluffton, Indiana, is the home of President Taken altogether, both the new Pharma- Stout of the N. A. R. D. |