by a close majority; and exclusion was adopted after a hot debate, 26 to 24. Leonard Martin, of Boston, is reported by a Boston paper as making the following demand at a prohibition meeting July 11, 1915, on Boston Common: "One of the first things we must attack is the druggist's license. The alcohol privilege must be erased from the Pharmacopoeia." Mr. Martin deceives himself. The Pharamacopoeia grants no rights nor privileges. The principal guide of the druggist is the Dispensatory, a list of remedies quite independent of the Pharmacopoeía. Indeed the editors of the Dispensatory in times past have stated their refusal to follow the radical action of the committee in charge of the Pharmacopoeia. Finally, it is impossible to rule out the use of valuable remedies, whiskey and brandy, by an arbitrary list. The act of the committee will have no legal or other effect whatever except the disgust of the great mass of wise and liberal practitioners, who have been grossly misrepresented through the malign influence of the prohibition agencies.-[Henry C. Maine, Publicist, Rochester, N. Y., July 16, 1915. We give space to the above as the expression of a "publicist." This much ado about whiskey reminds us very much of "Much Ado About Nothing." We will, however, be pleased to hear from any of our readers who care to express views on this subject. We suggest that pharmacists be careful in dealing with the extreme prohibitionists and the vital liquor interests or they will be crushed between the upper and nether mill-stones.-[Editor. Drugs and Chemicals for Identification. On page 168 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for June, we published a communication from J. Roscoe O'Bannon, of Buffalo, Mo., submitting a list of specimens which he considered suitable for use on board of pharmacy examinations. Carl T. Buehler, Ph. G., St. Louis, has prepared the following list, which meets with his idea of what a board of pharmacy should use in examining candidates for registration. He believes that when speciments look, taste and smell very much alike a candidate should not be marked off because he is confused in distinguishing between two specimens that appeal in the same manner to his sight, taste and smell. Spirit of Nitrous Spirit of Camphor Spirit of Peppermint THE USEFULNESS OF DISCARDED THEORIES.-The advance of science is not comparable to the changes of a city where old edifices are pitilessly torn down to give place to new, but to the continuous evolution of zoologic types which develop ceaselessly and end by becoming unrecognizable to the common sight, but where an expert eye finds always traces of the prior work of the centuries past. One must not think then that the old-fashioned theories have been sterile and vain.-[Edmund B. Wilson (Science) The Harrison Anti-Narcotic Law is not a moneymaking scheme. You are mistaken in this supposition. It is intended to enable the government to keep a correct record of all transactions involving the proscribed drugs. U. S. P. IX.-It is impossible to fix the exact date on which the new Pharmacopoeia will be obtainable. It is not likely to be on sale before the end of the year. The new revision will not become official for some time after the date of its appearance. How to Secure Reciprocity. First of all, you must be registered by examination in some state in the list of those where reciprocity is possible. Next, correspond with the secretary of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, Henry C. Christensen, 452 Bowen avenue, Chicago, Ill. N. F. IV. The National Formulary is published by the American Pharmaceutical Association, which organization owns the copyright. It has no official relation to the Pharmacopoeia, but by common consent neither authority contains articles found in the other work. The fourth revision, now in hand, is not likely to be placed on the market before the U. S. P. IV is on sale, some time during the coming winter. College of Pharmacy Course is Two Years.— Many of the schools of pharmacy have a three years' and some a four years' course, but the more popular degree is based on a two years' course. The St. Louis College of Pharmacy, about which you inquire, has a four years' course leading to the degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist, but there is no prospect of the two-year course for the degree of Pharmaceutical Graduate being extended to three years. What the Deletion of Whiskey Means.-The sensational newspaper report to which you refer was based on fact, but conditions are distorted. The U. S. P. IX will not contain whiskey, as that is one of quite a long list of articles, now official, which will be dropped. This in no way affects the legal status of whiskey in the drug store. Pharmacists are amenable to the state and local laws regarding the sale of whiskey. Whether or not whiskey is official is immaterial. Mead Syrup.-Eberle's Soda Water Formulary gives the following: A variety of mead syrup may be made by lessening the quantity of extract of mead and replacing the same by fruit juices or essences, designating the mead in accordance with the added flavor, for instance, apple mead, etc. Instead of using syrup, honey may be used in part or altogether. The original mead was the "meth" of the Germans, who prepared it from honey by a fermenting process. The mead dispensed at the soda fountain is a very dissimilar preparation. Where it is sold in quantity, one and a half gallons of the mead syrup is mixed with sufficient water to make ten gallons, and charged in the usual manner. New Orleans Mead Extract. Add the oils to the carbonate of magnesia, then the alcohol and finally add the water previously warmed and in which the caramel has been dissolved. Shake, allow to stand a few days and filter. Growing Tansy for the Market. A government report gives the following: "Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) is a European perennial plant, long cultivated in this country in gardens, from which it has escaped, and it now occurs as a weed along fence rows and roadsides. The leaves and flowering tops are in some demand for medicinal purposes. The herb also yields a volatile oil, for which there is a small market. "Tansy grows well on almost any good soil, but rich and rather heavy soils well supplied with moisture favor a heavy growth of herb. It may be propagated from seed, but is more readily propagated by division of the roots early in spring. The divisions are set 18 inches apart in rows 3 feet apart. Seed may be sown very early in the spring in the open or in seed beds, and the seedlings later transplanted to the field. Such cultivation as is usually given to garden crops will be sufficient. "The plants are cut late in the summer when in full flower, the leaves and tops being separated from the stems and dried without exposure to the sun, as the trade desires a bright-green color. For the volatile oil the plants are allowed to lie in the field after cutting until they have lost a considerable portion of their moisture. They are then brought to the still and the oil removed by the usual method of steam distillation. "A yield of about 2,000 pounds of dry leaves and flowering tops per acre may be obtained under good conditions. The yield of oil varies, but about 20 pounds per acre is a fair average. The price of the leaves and tops ranges from 3 to 5 cents a pound. The last census (1910) gave the production of tansy oil in 1909 as 2,598 pounds, valued at approximately $2.60 a pound. Michigan is the center of the production of Tansy in the United States." HARRISON ANTI-NARCOTIC LAW Learn This by Heart.-The Harrison Anti-Narcotic Law applies to all preparations, including prescriptions containing more than two grains of opium or more than one-quarter of a grain of morphine, or more than one-eighth of a grain of heroin, or more than one grain of codeine or any salt or derivative of any of them in one fluid ounce or, if a solid or semi-solid preparation, in one avoirdupois ounce, and other preparations which contain cocaine or any of its salts or alpha or beta eucaine or any of their salts or any synthetic substitute for them. Watch Your Narcotics.-L. W. Sinclair, of Columbus, Ohio, caught a thief stealing a bottle of morphine tablets. The party purchased a plaster and stepped behind the prescription case to place the plaster in position. Your Order Blanks May Be Stolen.-A Chicago pharmacist secured a new stock of official order blanks and the lot was stolen before he had the opportunity of using more than two or three of them. Such accidents are liable to cause trouble for Chicago druggists. Narcotic Drugs Coastwise Trade. The Treasury Department has decided that a commissioned medical officer of the Public Health Service must approve of all purchases of drugs coming within the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Law for stocking medicine chests on vessels in the coastwise trade of the United States. A Registered Pharmacist Must Be the Person Registered under the Harrison Act. The Treasury Department now rules that a person, even if a proprietor of a drug store, cannot register his drug store under the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Law unless legally entitled to practice pharmacy. A registered employe must take out the license. Watch Your Prescriptions.-According to a new ruling of the Treasury Department, prescriptions containing proscribed drugs come under the provisions of the Harrison Anti-Narcotic Law, even though the quantities are less than the exemption, in paragraph 6, unless the prescription is for U. S. P. or N. F. or a proprietary article. Just how long this ruling will remain in force, we are unable to say. PURELY PERSONAL F. W. Nitardy, of Denver, was a guest of the Nebraska Ph. A. during the June meeting. Dr. J. F. Leary, of Rock Hall, retiring president of the Maryland Ph. A., has attended each of the thirtythree annual conventions. gnis. 15.0 c. c. 2.0 c. c. 250.0 c. c. 40,0 gms. 60.0 Dr. H. P. Hynson, of Baltimore, spent several weeks on the Pacific Coast, visting a daughter in Alaska, prior to the A. Ph. A. convention. Henry D. Llewellyn, Ph. G., Mexico, Mo., has been elected as president of the Board of Visitors to inspect county, corrective and charitable institutions. Mr. Llewellyn is first vice-president of the Mo. Ph. A. M. Sig. Apply locally. Selected Formulas and Prescriptions, etc. J. Leiblinger, 121. U. S. Army. Chronic Eczema. ANNUAL MEETINGS Is Liquor a Necessary Feature of the Entertainment? The Meyer Brothers Druggist Editorial Will Bear Fruit. I have just read your editorial, "A Criticism of State Pharmaceutical Associations Conventions." Well, there is nothing to add to it or to take from it. It is just what I have wanted to say for a long time, but did not know how; I am glad that you said it. I do know that the "Liquid refreshments" are criticised by men over the state who are good men and good druggists. Mark what I tell you, your editorial will bear fruit that will be for the betterment of our conventions. [R. A. Doyle, Ph. G., Vice-President Missouri Board of Pharmacy, East Prairie. The Question of Intoxicating Liquors at Annual Meetings is of interest in many states. One of the well-known pharmaceutical workers in this country, located in the Middle West, writes the editor in a personal way, as follows: "I desire to heartily thank you for your editorial on page 194 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for July, criticising the manner in which intoxicating liquor plays an important part at some state pharmaceutical association conventions. At the same time, I must compliment you on the pleasant manner in which you have touched a most important point. Indeed, when we meet, I will explain to you, in greater detail, why I have for years refused to attend our State Association, which I helped organize but which became permeated with such influences as to really cast a reproach on the good influence of the earlier meetings of the associa tion, and it has had an adverse effect in our state politics until within the past few years, I am glad to say, we are beginning to get from under the cloud and such editorials as yours will help reinstate the high character of state associations." Expressions from Veteran Convention Workers.On page 194 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for July, we gave expression to various criticisms which have been made from time to time, for a number of years, regarding the entertainment feature of a number of state pharmaceutical association annual meetings. There has been no attempt at unification of this practice in different sections of the country or even at successive meetings in the same state. Sometimes the meetings have partaken of a nature which has brought out severe criticisms from local papers. On other occasions, the state pharmaceutical meetings have been as dry as exsiccated alum. We have invited expressions from those in a position to intelligently discuss the subject. It is not our intention to reproduce the prohibition or temperance question as such, but merely to consider from the standpoint of the members, as pharmacists, the propriety of state pharmaceutical association meetings with unlimited supplies of free beverages. We invite further com ments, provided they are broad-minded expressions of opinion. Favors a Properly Conducted Barber Shop.-Note BROTHERS editorial in July number of MEYER DRUGGIST with reference to form of entertainment at Pertle Springs meeting, especially mentioning the matter of "Barber Shop," Dutch Lunches, etc. From personal observation, I believe the methods employed this year were fairly satisfactory to all, or, at least, a large majority of those attending the meeting. Many like the barber shop arrangement, and all certainly seem to approve of and participate in the little "Lunches." The complaints about the Barber Shop nearly always come from people who do not attend druggist meetings. Same as churches: the most severe critics the churches have are those who never see inside the walls of a church-unless a funeral or wedding. I believe a large majority of members who attend druggists' meetings want this Barber Shop in a reasonable way, and feel sure it was handled very nicely this year in particular. That the lunches are enjoyed by all there is no doubt. Personally, I am for the Barber Shop and Lunches, but will be perfectly satisfied with the wishes of the majority of our good friends who attend the meetings. [D. Liddy, Kansas City, Mo. "No Drinking at the Convention."-I am a little unsettled just at the moment. Of course, I favor the above plan first, last and all the time. I consider a druggists' convention a dignified function, which should in every way be carried on in strict harmony with professional air "A little fun now and then is food for most men"-Yet this fun must not in our case be vulgar, or offersive. Clean enjoyment is always welcome and in order. Excessive drinking or boisterousness is entirely unbecoming a gentleman or a convention, and if such practices ever creep in they should relentlessly be weeded out and resisted. Is this true of us? No!!! The Committee on Grievance of the Missouri Pharmaceutical Association, with Mrs. Whitney chairman of the committee, stated in open convention that at the last meeting the committee had no work to do and was happy to report that everything was orderly, decent, and dignified all over the place, and during the entire convention. If no offense was given, and if everyone conducted himself as a respectable gentleman, why should we open any further discussion in this matter? Let us consider it a closed question and never resurrect it without a good reason. Missouri can be respectable, is respectable and in future will and must be respectable. [Francis Hemm, ex-President Mo. Ph. A., St. Louis, Mo. THROWING GOODS Down and leaving the customer to take them or leave them is about as apt to make sales as throwing the bare hook into the water is to catch fish. TIMELY TOPICS Meat Prices in June were about 5% lower than a year ago, but 22% higher than the average for the past five years. The Tobacco Situation promises about the usual crop this year. The only real shortage is in the Perique district of Louisiana. Sugar Beets will amount to about a 90% crop this year. The government figures that the output of beet sugar will reach almost seven million tons. Not Nest Eggs.-During 1914, over 31⁄2 million dozen eggs were shipped from China to the Pacific Coast. This does not refer to China nest eggs, but the regulation hen's egg. Hope You Do Not Have Hay Fever. Hay fever is quite common when the pollen's in the breeze, And everybody's catching that everlasting sneeze! A rank accumulation seems to crowd the upper nose, And about a minute afterwards ker-choo, ker-choo it goes. Our eyes become suffused, any object we will seize, Until this expulsive effort's over, we sneeze, sneeze, sneeze. Will the Supply of Alcohol be Decreased?—The United States imported 91⁄2 million bushels of corn and exported over 41 million bushels during ten months. This condition of affairs has some influence on the foreign whiskey industry. Mosquitoes Do Not Like Phenol.-The Pharmaceutical Journal states that the continued use of phenol soap for toilet purposes so impregnates the outer cuticle with phenol that mosquitoes are driven to seek fresh fields and pastures new. Add one part of this mixture to ten parts of water, and use as a spray in the room infested by flies. The Mexican Vanilla Crop has good prospects of being properly gathered, carefully cured and safely delivered in the United States. This will continue Mexican vanilla beans in direct competition with the Bourbon beans produced by islands belonging to France. It has been feared that France would realize the advantage of imposing an export duty on vanilla beans from her possessions. It is estimated that the Mexican vanilla crop is in the neighborhood of 120,000 pounds. The Mexican beans are considered preferable to the Bourbon. But He Continues to Be a Pharmacist.-Harry Sinclair, the multimillionaire owner of the Newark Federal League baseball franchise, is a druggist, and admits it. He spent two years in a college of pharmacy, that he might continue the business of his father at Independence, Kan. The death of his father left him an estate which increased for a time, but was lost in speculation. After a year on the road for a drug company, he forsook the hard routine for a more adventurous occupation. In those days, rural Kansas yearned for the thrills of high finance. They could not support a brokerage establishment, but they could support its vulgar diminutive, a "Bucket Shop," which Sinclair chose to supply. A year and a half on the ragged edge of finance added a few dollars to his slender hoard. But the magic word of oil was a natural magnet to his adventurous spirit. One lucky shoestring lease gave him his start in the firm of White & Sinclair, which controls $12,000,000 of oil property in Oklahoma alone. But he continues to be a pharmacist. Formaldehyde Disinfection. The scarcity of potassium permanganate at the present time increases the demand for formaldehyde as a disinfectant. The Perth Amboy Chemical Works recommend the following method of liberating formaldehyde for disinfecting purposes: "Into a dry 12-quart iron pail, or similar container, put 1 b of Sodium dichromate crystals, preferably crushed to the size of rice; to this add 2 fluid ounces of concentrated sulphuric acid (Commercial Quality), then add quickly 11⁄2 pints of Formaldehyde U. S. P. and leave the room quickly. This formula is good for 1000 cubic feet of air space." The Value and Dangers of Sea-Bathing.-There is a danger that the therapeutic value of sea-bathing may be overlooked now that it is apt to be regarded as a pastime only. Sea-bathing is generally bereficial in muscular rheumatism, functional nervous complaints, nervous dyspepsia, hypochrondriasis. some forms of hysteria, and mild forms of diphtheritic paralysis. Certain skin diseases, such as psoriasis and excessive activity of the sudorific glands, are often ameliorated. It should not be indulged in by elderly people with high blood pressures and arterio-sclerosis. The best time to bathe is about two hours after breakfast, which is the period of greatest vital activity, but many people appear to be able to bathe at almost any hour of the day. During the process of digestion the vessels of the internal organs are already engorged with blood, and the shock of the cold water is apt to produce a very dangerous condition of congestion. The length of time during which the bather may remain in the water depends on his constitution, the state of his health, the temperature of the water, and the force Gf the waves. If the preliminary chill which is felt on entering the water is not at once followed by a healthy reaction, the bather should leave the water at once. Five minutes for non-swimmers and fifteen minutes for swimmers are probably quite long enough for even those in the most perfect health to be in the water. Those with feeble circulations should bathe only when the weather is very warm and the sea calm, and only the very robust should bathe more than once a day. It is a common error to suppose that if the bather arrives at the waterside heated by exercise he should wait until he is ccoled down before entering the water; and, on the contrary, it is most unwise to bathe when the body is already chilled, the circulation should first be restored by some gentle exercise.-[A. H. Copeman, M. D. (Practitioner). |