JOHN C. WALLACE

excellent executive officer.

drug trade is John C. Wallace, New Castle, Pa., president of the National Drug Trade Conference which represents every interest connected with pharmacy. The first meeting was arranged by the A. Ph. A. and held at Washington, in January, 1913. The conference modified the original Harrison bill and made it more practical. Mr. Wallace is well experienced in legislative affairs and a most

WILLIAM BROOKLEY

William Brookley, of Edgar, president of the Nebraska Pharmaceutical Association, was represented on the cover of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for February.

Bind the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for 1914. Index for the volume appeared in January, 1915, issue. San Francisco will be visited by many this year on account of the exposition. The A. Ph. A. will meet there, August 9-14.

A Diploma is not a certificate of registration although in some states certain diplomas may be recognized in place of examination for registration.

Market Review, Page 90

Index to Advertisements, Page 32
Want Advertisement Department, Page 31

It must be clearly understood that the "doses" mentioned in the Pharmacopoeia are not authoritatively enjoined by the Council as binding upon prescribers. They are intended merely for general guidance, and represent, in each instance, the average range of the quantities which, in ordinary cases, are usually prescribed for adults. The medical practitioner will exercise his own judgment and act on his own responsibility in respect of the amount of any therapeutic agent he may prescribe or administer. Where, however, an unusually large dose appears to be prescribed, it is the duty of the pharmacist or dispenser to satisfy himself that the prescriber's intention has been correctly interpreted.

The British pharmacists are very anxious that physicians understand the situation and co-operate with them in reducing the dangers of excessive doses to a minimum. Human nature is pretty much the same, the world over, and the physicians of England are just as likely as those in this country to take offense when pharmacists innocently inquire about the size of doses called for in a prescription. It does not seem to be a very general practice anywhere to indicate by some sign or word that an excessive dose is deliberately prescribed and so intended.

The United States Pharmacopoeia has Average Doses. The introduction was opposed by many pharmacists and some physicians but the practice has not caused any serious disturbance and we hope that our English cousins will find that the greater part of their difficulties on account of average doses in the Pharmacopoeia are greatly those of anticipation.

Will the United States Produce Potash ?-The German government has prohibited the export of potassium and its salts from that country. The entire world has been depending on Germany for its potassium supply. The United States has been producing about one-half of one per cent of the potassium which it has used. The substitute of sodium salts for potassium salts in medicine answers very well, but the amount of potassium salts used in the practice of medicine is insignificant compared with the demand in agricultural fields.

The saline deposits on the Pacific Coast and the kelp fields have the raw material for the production of potassium salts. It is reasonable to conclude that immediate and extensive preparations will be made for the production of potassium salts in this country. The stringency in the potassium market brings out some interesting facts about the uses of this element and its chemical compounds. It seems that the greater proportion goes into the manufacture of fer

tilizers for the soil. That is one reason why Germany is anxious to keep the potassium at home. It is also used in making explosives, which is another excuse for the action of the German government. Potassium is necessary in the manufacture of dye compounds, also in textile factories, in the making of soap, in the tanning of leather and in the manufacture of matches. It enters into the production of American oxalic acid and to some extent is used by the paper mills. Our fireworks as well as explosives of a more businesslike nature call for potassium. The same is true of glass factories. In pharmacy, the greater amount of potassium is found as permanganate, cyanide, iodide and as the citrate.

Associate Alumni Members. A graduate of a college of pharmacy never forgets his school days and has a fraternal feeling for graduates of other institutions as well as for his own classmates. It is the graduates of schools who most fully appreciate the value of such training and are likely to take an interest in college work, no matter where they are found. The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy Alumni Association has established a precedent which should be followed by other similar organizations throughout the world. This Alumni organization has decided to admit to associate membership the alumni of other reputable colleges of pharmacy. If it becomes possible for alumni of colleges, no matter in what part of the world they may be to become affiliated with the alumni of the local college of pharmacy, it will help along organization work and college education.

The War Stamp Tax is causing all kinds of trouble for the government as well as those who are expected to pay the revenue. It is referred to as an emergency measure and it certainly causes as much confusion as usually occurs during an emergency. Many vexing questions are continually arising which are being submitted through local revenue officials or directly to the commissioner of internal revenue at Washington. The rulings in turn occasionally require interpretation. The taxpayers are sending in protests and calling for modifications and relief. Of course, it is to be expected that confusion will ensue when the administration of a law is left so largely to the interpretation of a commissioner. best advice we can give our readers is to keep in close touch and frequent consultation with the local revenue officials.

The

The Dog Days Are Here. We do not refer to what is popularly known as "dog days," for that term belongs to the time of the year when the dog star is in the ascendant. It is the summer season which by some strange transition has become popularly known as the days for mad dogs. Medical observation, however, shows that rabies is more severe and is spread more rapidly during the cold, wet months of the winter season. Local ordinances providing for the muzzling of dogs are usually brought to light in the summer time, but there is really more danger from unmuzzled dogs in the winter than there is in

the summer. The dog days are here and now is the time to take special precautions in order to avoid hydrophobia.

Dumping of Chemicals.-The war has brought about many new terms or old ones only recently used in new places. We read even in the daily press about the dumping of goods. By this is meant the selling in the United States of goods at a lower price than they are sold in the country of production. This has been done in order to compete with manufacturers in the United States and meet the tariff tax. The war and the conditions which have resulted in the commercial world of this country causes many to feel justified in urging the United States government to incorporate in the tariff a “dumping clause." Such a provision will make it illegal to sell in this country any products at prices less than they are sold in the country of origin.

Do You Have a Medicinal Herb Garden?-The time is not so very far distant in the past when pharmacists raised certain medicinal plants and gathered from the woods and fields their drugs. The interest in medicinal herb gardens has received a re-awakening of late. Many pharmacists are growing indigenous plants as a matter of interest and a pastime. It is well to begin with only a few plants and give them careful attention. Your interest will develop as the plants grow and you will be surprised to find so much pleasure in studying the medicinal plants of your vicinity. We will be pleased to publish in the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST the experience of some of our readers who have drug gardens.

Chicago Has a Bichloride Ordinance. It provides for the sale of mercuric chloride in the dry form. The poison must be sold in colored tablets enclosed in a solid container of glass. The container must be conspicuously labeled with the word, "Poison," in red letters. What is more, each individual tablet must be wrapped and the wrapper bear the word, "Poison," in plain letters. This ordinance, however, does not apply to tablets containing only one-tenth of a grain or less of bichloride of mercury. The ordinance will go into effect, March 1, 1915. It is probable that the ordinance will be copied in other states.

Work for the N. A. B. P.-It will be a few months before the U. S. P. IX. is on the market and probably ninety days later before it becomes the legal standard. Boards of pharmacy will very naturally take cognizance of the new Pharmacopoeia soon after its appearance. It will be well for the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy to decide when the examiners should begin basing their questions on the Ninth Revision. The date should be sufficiently far beyond the appearance of the Pharmacopoeia so that candidates for registration will have ample opportunity of studying the new authority and becoming prepared for the examinations.

The X-ray Treatment of Disease is attracting the attention of some of the best workers in the world

of science. The X-rays destroy tissue, but do not affect all tissues alike. What are known as juvenile tissues are most readily affected, while the older tissues of the adult type withstand the action of the X-rays to a greater extent. Tumors are all made up of juvenile cells and consequently can be acted upon by X-rays of a strength which does not destroy the adult cells. Very elaborate and expensive instruments have recently been made for use in applying X-rays.

Association Dues.-Ohio has changed the annual dues for membership in the pharmaceutical association from $2.00 to $5.00 per year. The officers anticipate considerable decrease in membership, which is now about 2,000. It is the general feeling that the association will be stronger and more useful with a smaller membership confined to those who are sufficiently interested in the welfare of pharmacy to contribute $5.00 per year. Other organizations of a similar nature having annual dues at one or two dollars will watch with interest the outcome of the experiment being made in Ohio.

Trading With the Enemy. The English publications of a commercial nature have much to say about trading with the enemy, which means particularly Germany. It is not lawful in the British Empire to trade with Germany. It is perfectly legal, however, for England to purchase in the United States German made goods. This legal aspect seems to be fully understood in Germany, the United States and England and, as a consequence, German made chemicals find their way to the United States, where dealers sell them to British buyers.

Alcohol in Maine.—According to an ex-president of the state association, a pharmacist cannot buy alcohol in Maine. He must either smuggle it or get it through the courtesy of some sheriff. If this is the general condition throughout the length and breadth of the state, pharmacists must either be in close touch with the sheriffs or adepts at smug gling. At the recent state meeting, a candidate for election as state collector asked the question: "Are you honest? Do you want the law or not? Or, do you want to get along by favoritism?"

Military Pharmacists of England have long clamored for recognition. British pharmaceutical journals are now pointing out that in every European army save the British the pharmacist is a commissioned officer. In England, the veterinarians are commissioned officers, but the pharmacists lack such recognition. The British Pharmaceutical Society proposes to take up the subject again as soon as peace is concluded and demand a thorough revision of military and naval pharmacy.

Pharmacists in the Government Employ are having their condition improved through the efforts made by the A. Ph. A. The president of the United States has just approved the decision of the comptroller in regard to the legality of the proposed increase in the commutation of the pharmacists of the U. S. Public Health Service.