housing nearly 300 of these professional men. Mr. von Hermann, who has for years had a successful "office" pharmacy on the second floor, will be the manager of the drug and prescription departments of the new establishment. The owners are the Central Drug Co., who operate four stores in Detroit. and one in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. W. H. Burke, president of the company, and a well-known Michigan druggist, is of course the leading spirit in the enterprise. It is reported that the tremendous rent will be paid of $40,000 a year, and that the total expenses of the concern will foot up to the surprising figure of over $200 a day. In order to keep the expenses down to a basis of 20 per cent, it will thus be seen that a daily business will have to be done of over a thousand dollars. Truly, this is the day of large operations in the retail drug business!

THE A. PH. A. EXHIBIT.

Mr. Hynson is now getting things pretty well in readiness for the exhibit to be made at the Atlantic City meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association. The large café hall of "The Islesworth" has been secured for the purpose, and incidentally it is of interest to note that this is the headquarters hotel, and is situated at the corner of the Boardwalk and Virginia Avenue. The hall is about 75 by 150 feet, and is admirably adapted for exhibition purposes. While nothing will be excluded from the exhibit that is kept in the average drug store, excepting patent medicines, Mr. Hynson expects to place most emphasis upon educational features. He wants to make the display particularly instructive, and in conformance with this purpose several government departments will be asked to make contributions of material. The selection of Mr. Hynson as chairman of the Committee on Exhibition is a guarantee that the exhibit

tion, held last month at the summer resort of Pertle Springs, sixty-four members and fifty-two salesmen were present. If only twelve more Knights of the Grip had been on hand not a single guilty retailer would have escaped.

The Board of Pharmacy of New York State has decided that hereafter it will pay no attention to anonymous complaints of violations of the pharmacy law. It has been found that in most instances such

complaints are inspired by spite and are without any foundation in justice or truth.

*

It is gratifying to note that the Missouri Pharmaceutical Association has appointed a committee for the purpose of adapting the Beal model pharmacy law to Missouri conditions, this action being, of course, taken with a view to the introduction of the measure later on in the State legislature.

Last month the Western Pennsylvania Retail Druggists' Association gave its second annual boat excursion, and it was attended by an immense crowd of Pittsburg and Allegheny druggists. Such social features are altogether too infrequent in the drug business. Would that there were more of them.

Three druggists were each fined $25 and costs last month by a police judge in Cincinnati for the illegal sale of cocaine, while a druggist in South Haven, Michigan, was sent to the State's prison at

Ionia for a term of not less than ten months for the

illegitimate sale of liquor.

* * *

Max Morris, a well-known member of the

attended by the members of the association.

Lazell, Dalley & Co., whose act in supplying goods to a certain dealer in Rockford, Illinois, has displeased the N. A. R. D., are still on the rack; while the differences which Muth Bros. and Sharp & Dohme have had with the National Association have been arranged with entire satisfaction to everybody concerned.

*

It is rather interesting to know that at the annual meeting of the Missouri Pharmaceutical Associa

Max Morris Drug Company, retail pharmacists in Macon, was last month elected to the presidency of the State Pharmaceutical Association.

* * *

John Byrne, president of the Ohio Pharmaceutical Association, died last month at his home in Columbus. He was a well-known and highly respected member of the profession in Ohio.

* * *

Joseph Elliott Toms, of Indianapolis, secretary of the National Wholesale Druggists' Association, was married last month to Miss Clara Case.

Just Placed on the Market

1. INTRODUCTORY.

The Eighth Revision of the Pharmacopoeia of the United States, now ready for distribution,* becomes official on September 1. Quite a number of important changes have been made in the specifications of this book, which is already the legal standard in some States, or is liable to be regarded as such in case of legal procedure involving the dispensing of substances included in the Pharmacopoeia. It is our intention to acquaint readers of the BULLETIN with these changes, and in order to do this as quickly as possible our commentary must needs be as brief as may be compatible with clearness. In some instances it will be sufficient merely to quote the revised text, and in others we shall also append some brief comments or explanations.

Committee of Revision.-The work of revision has been done by the following committee: Joseph P. Remington, Ph.M., chairman; C. Lewis Diehl,

PROF. J. P. REMINGTON,

Chairman of the Committee of Revision of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia.

Ph.M., first vice-chairman; Reynold Webb Wilcox, M.D., second vice-chairman; Alfred R. L. Dohme, Ph.D., secretary; John J. Abel, M.D.; Charles Caspari, Jr., Ph.G., Phar.D.; Virgil Coblentz, Ph.D.;

*The book is published by P. Blakiston's Son & Co. of Philadelphia, contains 767 pages, and sells for $2.50 in cloth, $3.00 in sheep, $3.50 in flexible leather, $4.00 in sheep, interleaved, and $4.00 in sheep, printed on one side of the page.

N. S. Davis, Jr., M.D.; James M. Good, Ph.G.; Willis G. Gregory, M.D.; Walter S. Haines, M.D.; Carl S. N. Hallberg, Ph.G.; H. A. Hare, M.D.; Henry Kraemer, Ph.D.; Edward Kremers, Ph.D.; Oldberg, Phar.D.; George F. Payne, M.D.; Henry A. B. Lyons, M.D.; John Marshall, M.D.; Oscar H. Rusby, M.D.; Samuel P. Sadtler, Ph.D.; Lucius E.. Sayre, Ph.M.; Wilbur L. Scoville, Ph.G.; Edward H. Squibb, M.D.; Alviso B. Stevens, Ph.C.; H. C. Wood, M.D.

Our Pharmacopoeia is worthy of pages of commendation, but we would call especial attention to one feature in which it is truly remarkable, viz., its comprehensiveness. The accuracy of detail leaves nothing essential in doubt, and it is not even necessary for the pharmacist to consult other authorities; the book is in fact almost a compendium of pharmacy, chemistry, and posology. While we congratulate ourselves on the great convenience of this arrangement, it behooves us also to bear in mind constantly that this very thoroughness will also prove equally effective in closing every loophole of escape in case of dereliction.

Purity Rubric.-The strength or degree of purity required for each substance is (when possible) definitely stated in bold type immediately above the detailed tests and specifications. This concise declaration, called the Purity Rubric, usually takes the form of a minimum requirement and enables one at a glance to ascertain the quality demanded. in each specific case. After perusing a few of those clear-cut declarations, one cannot but be struck by the thought, "What an instrument this will be in the hands of the prosecution!" In justice to the Committee, however, it must be stated that in each instance the market has been thoroughly canvassed in order to determine what quality is commercially available, and due allowance is made for the presence of small proportions of innocuous impurities. In this way, while still enforcing a high degree of excellence, they have avoided the mistake of the previous revision, where in many instances the authority of the Pharmacopoeia was invalidated by unattainable standards of purity. Would it not be

wise to overhaul your stock, or at least those items which are notably "uncertain quantities?" To illustrate this scheme of the Purity Rubric we append an example:

SODII CHLORIDUM Sodium Chloride NaCl=58.06

Should contain when dried not less than 99 per cent of pure Sodium Chloride.

Medicinal vs. Technical Quality.-Some confusion and perhaps injustice has resulted from legal authorities applying pharmacopoeial limitations or specifications to substances sold for technical purposes. To obviate this in future the Eighth Revision bears the following declaration: "The standards of purity and strength prescribed in the text of this Pharmacopoeia are intended to apply to substances which are solely used for medicinal purposes and when professedly bought, sold and dispensed as such."

Drug Assays. In no feature has the progress of pharmacy in the United States become so apparent as in the matter of assay of drugs and adjustment of extracts, fluid extracts, and tinctures by content of active principles. Within the memory of many who are still active in the trade, the proposal to standardize drug extracts by assay was bitterly attacked by both invective and ridicule, and not the least prominent in this rôle were some pharmaceutical manufacturers and others whose dicta carried great weight. While the assay processes are not by any means all that could be desired, still the principle is correct, and standardized galenicals are now generally recognized as a great improvement over those which partake of the natural variability of the crude drugs from which they are derived. In the Eighth Revision the following assays appear:

Aconite. Drug 0.5 per cent; fluid extract 0.4 per cent; tincture 0.045 per cent aconitine.

Belladonna Leaves.-Drug 0.35 per cent; extract 1.4 per cent; tincture 0.035 per cent mydriatic alkaloids.

Colchicum Corm.-Drug 0.35 per cent; extract 1.4 per cent colchicine.

Colchicum Seed.-Drug 0.55 per cent; fluid extract 0.5 per cent; tincture 0.05 per cent colchicine. Conium.-Drug 0.5 per cent; fluid extract 0.45 per cent coniine.

Guarana.-Drug 3.5 per cent; fluid extract 3.5 per cent alkaloids.

Hydrastis.-Drug 2.5 per cent; fluid extract 2 per cent; tincture 0.4 per cent hydrastine.

Hyoscyamus.-Drug 0.08 per cent; extract 0.3 per cent; fluid extract 0.075 per cent; tincture 0.007 per cent mydriatic alkaloids.

Ipecac.-Drug 2 per cent; fluid extract 1.75 per cent alkaloids.

Jalap.-Drug 8 per cent total resin, and not more than 1.5 per cent ether-soluble resin.

Nux Vomica.-Drug 1.25 per cent; extract 5 per cent; fluid extract 1 per cent; tincture 0.1 per cent strychnine.

Opium.-Drug 9 per cent; extract 20 per cent; tincture and deodorized tincture 1.2 to 1.25 per cent crystal morphine.

Opium, Deodorized.-Drug 12 to 12.5 per cent crystal morphine.

Physostigma. Drug 0.15 per cent; extract 2 per cent; tincture 0.014 per cent ether-soluble alkaloids.

Pilocarpus.-Drug 0.5 per cent; fluid extract 0.4 per cent alkaloids.

Scopola. Drug 0.5 per cent; extract 2 per cent; fluid extract 0.5 per cent mydriatic alkaloids.

Stramonium.-Drug 0.35 per cent; extract 1.4 per cent; fluid extract 0.35 per cent; tincture 0.03 per cent mydriatic alkaloids.

It is understood, of course, that the standards for drugs are minimum figures only and intended to protect the purchaser. Theoretically it makes little difference what quality of drug may be used, as the activity of the derived extract or fluid is assured by assay and adjustment, but in practice it is found that an excessive amount of low-grade drug produces a

Cinchona.-Drug 4 per cent; fluid extract 4 per cent; tincture 0.75 per cent anhydrous ether-soluble alkaloids.

Cinchona, Red.-Drug 5 per cent anhydrous alka

loids.

Coca.-Drug 0.5 per cent; fluid extract 0.5 per cent ether-soluble alkaloids.

with extractive. Pancreatin and pepsin may logically be included in the above list as both these agents are subjected to assay. Before concluding these comments on assayed products it may be pertinent to remind readers that belladonna plasters must now assay not less than 0.38 per cent nor more than 0.42 per cent of mydriatic alkaloids. Are you carrying a heavy stock of these plasters of unknown