KARL L. KREIZINGER.

Karl L. Kreizinger of Fremont, president of the Nebraska Ph. A., was represented on the cover of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for March. He again reminds our readers of the annual meeting at Hastings, June 15-16.

Carefully Study the Market Review in the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST.

Illinois pharmacists convene in annual session at Springfield, June 8-10.

The Price List of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST is useful every day in the week.

The N. A. B. P. and the A. C. P. F. will meet in Philadelphia August 31 and September 1 and 2. The A. Ph. A. convenes at Atlantic City, September 5.

Index to Advertisements, Page 64.

Want Advertisement Department, Page 63.

Board of Pharmacy Examination Questions, Page 114.
Market Review, Page 126.

Books for Pharmacists, Page 62.

Proprietory Medicines Price List, Page 3.

Editorial

Do Not Be Afraid to Ask Advanced Prices for Paper. The United States is facing a new condition such as never existed before in the paper market. Old policies and methods of handling the paper trade no longer prevail at this unusual time. The scarcity of paper is such that the United States Government has issued an order requiring employes to save all paper and rags waste. This will be sold to good financial advantage and also help the supply of material for the manufacture of more paper. The most disturbing feature of present conditions is the uncertainty of the future. Scarcity of supplies and the increased demand may bring about a condition whereby it will be a problem to obtain paper supplies at any price. The fact that the war is on is sufficient explanation for the average consumer of an advance in the price of goods but it will not satisfy those who are unable to obtain paper at any price.

The United States has been rather independent of other countries on account of its large paper manufacturing industries. The war, however, has created artificial conditions which are far-reaching and the United States is now in an embarrassing position with an uncertain future for the paper market.

Pharmacists can readily understand how the cost of crude material for paper-making has advanced when reminded that soda, alum, rosin, bleaching powder and the sulphites enter largely into the manufacture of paper. Soda ash has already advanced 300 per cent. Casein is another important article for paper manufacturers and has advanced 250 per cent. The foreign supply of chlorine has been entirely cut off and domestic manufacturers find a ready market in spite of advanced prices. When it comes to colors the drug trade is fully posted for the advance of 2500 per cent is still looking upward. Cotton rags are being consumed by ammunition manufacturers whose ravenous appetite disposes of the output. Rags are no longer imported from Europe. At one time Russia supplied an immense quantity of linen rags, for linen is used in that country as we wear cotton in America.

The scarcity of goods, the diminished supply of paper from foreign countries and the high price of crude material are sufficient explanation for present conditions but the story is then only half told. We are now experiencing in this country a tremendous increase in business with both England and South America. These countries have created an enormous and unheard of demand for paper. Asia, Australia and some of the European countries are buying all the paper they can from America. If the paper mills in the United States had unlimited supplies of crude material they would even then be unable to meet the demand of customers. While the advance

in the price of paper is startling, it is not unreasonable in the light of present conditions. Just what the future will bring forth is more than we dare predict, for the paper mills are backing orders for future delivery at an indefinite time and at prices to be controlled by future conditions. One manufacturer has expressed the situation by saying: "There does not seem to be any top to the market and prices continue to soar."

It is difficult for the retail trade to fully realize how desperate the paper situation is today. It calls for the closest watchfulness and liberal cooperation with the jobber and manufacturer. The retailer does not quickly understand the wisdom of advancing prices, for the consumer must meet the burdens in order that the dealer may at least come out even in transactions. The fact that a retailer has in stock goods which were purchased at lower prices is no excuse for selling at a lower figure than stock can be replenished. Remember that the retail trade is fortunate in securing paper goods at any price.

When it comes to quoting prices the same uncertainty with a liberal supply of "ifs" and "ands" prevails here as has for some time in the drug market.

Vanilla Beans and the Mexican War.-The vanilla beans found in the trade in the United States come principally from Mexico and are more highly prized than any other vanilla bean. The next grade in importance is known as the Bourbon vanilla. This is obtained from the Reunion Islands which constitute a French colony in the Indian Ocean, four hundred miles east of Madagascar. These beans command a price of something more than one-half the figure for Mexican vanilla. Vanilla beans are native of the West Indies, Mexico and South America but have been very extensively cultivated elsewhere. The Island of Java supplies the vanilla consumed in Holland. The United States in 1904 made use of more than 550,000 pounds of vanilla. Vanilla beans come into the market whole, which form constitutes the highest grade. More inferior beans have been cut up into small pieces and are known as "cuts."

The Mexican vanilla beans are harvested during February, March and April and the new crop has for some time been finding its way into the United States. The troubles in Mexico have interferred with the exportation of vanilla but not to a very serious extent. It is feared, however, that the complications brought about by the presence of United States troops are likely to cause the destruction of vanilla beans. There is already a difficulty in securing shipments. At the same time the over-seas troubles have added to the stringency of the Bourbon vanilla market. The question of transportation is always an important one. If the European war soon closes and the Mexican trouble continues to develop, it is not unlikely that in the United States we will use Bourbon vanilla in place of Mexican vanilla. The subject of vanilla culture and the marketing of the goods is interesting. The American Journal of Phar

macy for 1893, page 576, has an interesting article on this subject.

Pharmaceutical Publicity in Pennsylvania.-On page 9 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for January, 1915, we published a communication from Charles H. LaWall, chairman of the Committee on Publicity of the Pa. Ph. A. This committee has instituted a State-wide campaign of publicity which is attracting attention the country over, and should be studied by the officers of each State pharmaceutical association. The letter to which we refer discusses the high cost of drugs. It was copied in about a hundred newspapers of Pennsylvania, representing five different languages. Every big daily in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh gave the communication space without raising any question about it.

The committee has changed the subject for the present month and we give space to Bulletin No. 2 in the March issue of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST.

Only one criticism of Bulletin No. 1 reached Chairman LaWall. A timid druggist feared that the public would stop buying on account of the announcement calling attention to the high cost of drugs and the necessity of making a living profit on present cost prices.

Our Mexican Drugs are by no means all important but have a rather prominent place in the drug trade of the United States. Jalap is perhaps the most important of the Mexican products consumed in medicine in this country. Sarsaparilla is popular in name but not so essential in use. Saffron has a place, particularly at this season of the year, in our materia medica. It is something of a spring medicine and used extensively by the laity in the treatment of measles and scarlet fever. Vanilla beans, on account of their importance as a flavor, are of particular interest to the drug trade but cannot be classed as a medicine with such substances as jalap. The extent to which chewing gum is handled in the drug trade causes gum chicle to be an article of concern. It comes from Mexico and is the base of our chewing gums. Pharmacists will look with interest on the progress of the war in Mexico, but need not have great concern even though the supply of Mexican drugs should be largely diminished.

Pharmacy in Prohibition Territory.-Arizona is a prohibition section of this country and the Attorney General has decided that pharmacists are in no way privileged regarding the purchase or possession of alcohol, even though it is required in the manufacture of preparations which should be freshly made before dispensing. It may cost the Arizona pharmacist more to purchase alcoholic pharmaceuticals ready made than it does to manufacture his own but the law is the law and he must not have alcohol for any purpose whatsoever. Perhaps the time will come when the entire United States will be equally dry and arid as far as alcohol is concerned. If so, national preparedness of a pharmaceutical nature should be studied out so that pharmaceutical preparations of therapeutic value and keeping qualities

can be made without the use of alcohol. Arizona is far from the center of population of this country but a good place to start investigations along the line of this national preparedness.

Mil Fakoj Atestas La Meriton Praktikan de la Nomita Lingvo. Some years ago the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST and other pharmaceutical journals gave some little attention to Esperanto. Efforts were made to introduce this language in international pharmacy. The war in Europe seems to be reviving the interest in Esperanto. There is an Esperanto Bureau maintained in Geneva, Switzerland, through which disrupted families are brought together, correspondence forwarded and much other good of a like nature accomplished. It is claimed that Germany issued official bulletins in Esperanto for international distribution. First Lieutenant, M. R. C., U. S. Army, Ft. Warren, Boston, calls attention to Esperanto in a recent issue of the Journal of the A. M. A. Readers of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST who desire further information should correspond with Dr. Yemans.

More Recognition for Government Pharmacists. The committees on military affairs of both the Senate and House of Representatives have reported the annual appropriation bill for the army. After the reorganization and increase in the size of the army, the Hospital Corps will be reorganized and given more just recognition. Provision is being made for two higher grades and the members of the corps will be in better shape. This is just what the A. Ph. A. has been striving for during several years past. Mr. Samuel L. Hilton, representing that organization, is looking after the interests of the pharmacists.

It is interesting to note that at the same time France is promoting pharmacists and giving them a military grade corresponding to their scientific rank. This will maintain at least for the duration of the war and should be continued indefinitely.

False, Fraudulent and Misleading. Such was the claim of the Government regarding a medicine which was accompanied by the statement, "We know that it has cured and that it has and will cure tuberculosis." This contention was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States, January 10, 1916. The decision decides that the Sherley Amendment to the Federal Food and Drugs Law is valid. Retail pharmacists who place on the market, either for general sale or as a local medicine of the patent medicine type, should be exceedingly careful not to accompany the same with statements either on the label or in circulars that are likely to get the manufacturer into trouble with the Government.

Heed the President.-President Wilson is saying many things and has said many in the past. An expression which is particularly timely for pharmacists at the present time is an assertion regarding competition. Woodrow Wilson said "Safeguard American men against unfair competition and they will take care of themselves." Now is the time to support the Stevens Bill, which means fair competition.

STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS

Of Course, You Sell Perfumery.-If you will study each month the Perfumery Department of MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST, it will enable you to increase your profits and extend your trade in perfumery.

The Golf Ball was for centuries made of feathers compressed within a leather case. More recently,

a gutta-percha ball was the favorite. Then came the stretched rubber threads as a filling for the ball. It is estimated that this country uses or loses about fourteen million golf balls per year.

The Kansas City Pharmacists are well known for their practical way of handling organization work and can be depended upon for a very active part in the Mo. Ph. A. convention at Excelsior Springs the week of June 13. The Elms Hotel, which is headquarters, is easily reached by trolley from Kansas City.

A Drug Store Monopoly which would seem impossible to the generation of pharmacists of yesterday now owns one hundred and fifty retail drug stores. It is known as Liggett's Riker-Hegeman stores and Liggett's Riker-Jaynes stores. The main headquarters are on West Fourth street, New York City. Five district managers are in immediate control of the stores.

"The Community of Interest of the Drug Trades in Food and Drug Legislation," is the very expressive title of an address by Dr. J. H. Beal, of Urbana, Ill., to the National Association of Manufacturers of Medicinal Products. The address is not only timely but very lucid and should be read by everyone in any way interested in the welfare of pharmacy and its broader relations.

The Consumer Must Pay the Price. The high price of drugs caused by the war need not fall entirely on the drug trade. The consumer should pay the advanced price. S. S. Wolf, of Montgomery City, Mo., in an article contributed to a local paper says, "The public should understand that the increased cost of drugs is no fault of the pharmacist. Present conditions are as great an inconvenience to the pharmacist as they are to the public."

Ground Glass as a Remedy.-J. H. Mackay, M. D., of Houston, Texas, in the Journal of the A. M. A., is authority for the statement that ground glass is not an uncommon remedy among the peasants of eastern Europe. Dr. Mackay himself has had two cases, both of foreigners, one a Slovak. Have any

of the readers of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST knowledge of ground glass being used as a remedy? One case cited was where the glass was used as a remedy for diarrhoea.

The Procter Monument, prepared under the direction of the A. Ph. A. Committee on Procter Memorial, is intended to be a testimonial to professional pharmacy in the United States. Procter is the recognized father of pharmacy in America. Congress is now asked to appropriate $2000.00 to cover the

expense of a pedestal and base for the monument. H. R. 11076 is the bill now before congress. Write to your representatives at once and request support for this movement.

Sixteen Hundred Tons of Cherry Pits now a source of annoyance and expense to canneries, can be made to yield two valuable oils and also a meal for feeding cattle, according to specialists of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. In addition 105,000 gallons of cherry juice now wasted in seeding cherries can be turned into desirable jelly and sirup, or even into alcohol. A saving of these valuable by-products from cherry canning may make possible the domestic manufacture of substitutes for almond oil and bitter almond oil, now imported, and at the same time establish a new industry in the cherry packing districts of the North Atlantic, North Central and Western States.

A Sample of Benzoin Two Hundred Years Old.— The New York College of Pharmacy museum contains a specimen of benzoin which was found imbedded under sand and sea on the shore of Table Bay, where it had lain for nearly two centuries. The specimen belonged to a shipment being carried by the Dutch East India Co. from the East to European markets. The lids of two cases were found, bearing not only the date, 1691, but on one lid was given the following: