Selected Pharmaceutical Formulas. T FROM ALL SOURCES. (Continued from page 285.) Colored Fires. 18 3 2.. Ounces. 3.. 4.. 5.. 20 Nitrate of baryta.. 48 1 HE growing popularity of the custom of celebrating the Fourth of July by pyrotechnic displays gives room for some special activity on the part of retail druggists in the preparation and sale of colored fires. This business, however, must be carried on with the greatest possible attention to detail in the preparation and handling of the colored fires, since many frightful accidents have occurred during the course of their manufacture. The necessity of such a precaution can be very readily appreciated by the pharmacist who bears in mind the fact that the essential ingredients in a colored fire are a readily oxidizable substance, an agent rich in oxygen and some coloring agents. The most important fact to be borne in mind in the preparation of these powders is never to submit the mixed ingredients to pressure, as would be done in grinding or triturating them in a mortar. They should only 11.. be mixed by stirring with a spatula, great care being taken to avoid pressure. The second essential point is to dry each of the ingredients thoroughly before mixing them. When prepared the powder should, of course, be kept in a dry place, and protected from atmospheric moisture if possible by being kept in sealed packages. These precautions being duly borne in mind, there is no reason why the retail druggist should not be able to prepare colored fires sufficient to supply the local demand without having recourse to the dealer in fireworks. Below we present a number of formulas gathered from var ious sources which will be found to give very good satisfaction under ordinary conditions. Sergius Kern, of St. Petersburg, has prepared a series of formulas for colored fires which may be used in the manufacture of fireworks and we present below these formulas, together with his comments, as published in the "Chemical News." "In preparing colored fires for fireworks by means of the usual formula given in many manuals of pyrotechny, it is often very necesssary to know the quickness of burning of colored fires, as in some cases, as decorations and lances, they must burn slowly; in other cases, as wheels, stars for rockets, and Roman candles, they must burn quicker. Working for some months with many compositions of such kind, I prepared three tables of colored fires (red, green and violet), where every formula with a lower number burns quicker than a fire with a higher number. For instance, No. 5 burns quicker than No. 6 and slower than No. 4. These tables will, I think, be of much assistance in the preparation of fireworks": GREEN COLORED FIRES. Potassium Barium Chlorate. Nitrate. Sulphur. 0101010101010111 Potassium chlorate.... Potassium chlorate Cuproammonium sulphate.. Soda Water Syrups and Flavors. Continuing the series of soda syrups given in our last issue we print a number of formulas below which may offer suggestions of value to our readers. First we present a series of water ices or sherbets, a class of preparations which is most cooling and refreshing: STRAWBERRY WATER ICE. Simple syrup 21⁄2 pints. 31⁄2 pints. RASPBERRY WATER ICE. Ounces. 16 4 8 YELLOW FIRE. I. Ounces. Nitre 2 4 20 1 II. Parts. 3 1 1 Water Juice of 1 lemon. RED FIRE. I. Ounces. 5 6 Raspberry juice 20 Lemon juice 1 Simple syrup . Water II. Strontium nitrate Potassium chlorate... Shellac, in coarse powder.. Calcium carbonate Copper Sulphide... Potassium chlorate.. On account of the calomel, this must not be burned indoors. Common ammonia sulphate.... II. Parts. 3 1 Ounces. 8 Mix and freeze and serve as directed. PINEAPPLE WATER ICE. ORANGE WATER ICE. Mix and freeze hard. Serve in glace cups with small glace spoons. We have referred in an earlier number to the refreshing quality which resides in mint and we present below additional mint formulas. CREME DE MENTHE. Crush a small amount of fresh mint with some granulated sugar, then add a small quantity of ginger syrup, about two dashes of Jamaica ginger and an ounce of sweet cream. Fill the glass half full of shaved ice and shake thoroughly. While the drink is still in the shaker, add soda enough to nearly fill the glass, and then mix well with a fine stream. Pour into a glass, add a couple of cherries and serve with straws. It is a great mistake for those suffering from the heat to suppose that any benefit can be derived from alcoholic beverages, for the temporary stimulus afforded by the alcohol is more than offset by the reaction which follows, and the system is left in a condition less fitted to bear the discomfort and stress of the heat. Where the system feels very much enervated, however, and seems to demand some stimulus, resort can be had to tea and coffee, which, when properly made and iced are not only refreshing, but mildly stimulating without leaving any marked deleterious effect except where indulged in to a very great excess. Below we present a formula for a tea syrup which may be advantageously pushed as a hot-weather drink. TEA SYRUP. Pour 2 pints of boiling water over 4 ounces of the best green tea, and allow it to stand five minutes. Then strain and add 4 pints of simple syrup and ounce of liquid acid phosphates. A great many people suffer from hyperacidity of the stomach, particularly during the spring and summer, when considerable quantities of fruit and vegetables are eaten. The most agreeable form in which to give an antacid is in the shape of soda mint, dissolved in carbonated water, several formulas for which are given below: SODA MINT MIXTURE. Fill a glass full of shaved ice, put in the syrup and add milk until the glass is almost full. Shake well and serve without straining. Put whipped cream on top and serve with straws. CLAM JUICE AND VICHY. ....... 12 drams. 2 ounces. Draw the vichy in a separate glass and pour in. Season with salt and pepper. RASPBERRY WINE SYRUP. Coloring, q. s. Mix thoroughly. .8 ounces. .4 drams. ..4 drams. .8 pints. stances is sufficient to acquit the medical staff of any such institution. The house and visiting physicians have nothing to do with the drugs beyond prescribing Certain them and observing the effect. drugs and preparations are nominally in the dispensing department, and those drugs the physicians order. But how they get into the dispensing department in the first place and whether they are up to the pharmacopoeial standard is another matter, and one quite out of the province of the physicians. A natural tendency of even the best regulated hospital managements, which are necessarily administrative and executive rather than medical, is toward a policy to get the greatest amount for the money expended, and thus bulk is too often considered before quality. Under such a regime, that superintendent is the most highly valued who can keep his account for supplies down to the lowest figure. Therefore, the whole tendency in certain quarters is in the direction of keeping the bills small. Other things being hypothetically equal, that is an object worth considering. But other things are by no means equal. Quality should be set forth as first and foremost in the test of purchases, mere cheapness being unworthy of a place in such a matter. There is a certain margin in which prices may be scaled under the force of competition, but it is a narrow margin and it cannot safely be extended. Under competition, there may be several causes which will induce dealers to eliminate a portion of the profits in order to secure or to retain a considerable volume of business. But whatever the reason and whatever the extent of the cutting of profits, there yet remains a limit which cannot be passed. Among the manufacturers, this limit is practically constant, and is fixed at the cost of the raw material and the proportionate cost of manufacture. Below that limit no manufacturer can go. Those who do quote a price below this known and constant limit are open to two suspicions: one that they are conducting business at a loss, and this is absurd; the other, that cheap ingredients have been used and that therefore the apparent reduction of the price really stands for a considerable profit, and in the essence of things an improper profit made out of the suffering of the sick. The method of securing hospital supplies offers scope for just this sort of dealing. At periodic intervals tenders are invited for the supply of the large quantity of drugs needed. The bids in response to these tenders are opened, Quality of Hospital Drug Supplies. canvassed and to a certain extent dis (From the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter.) Attention has very properly been called to the quality of the drugs and other medicinal articles employed by hospitals, notably some of the New York city institutions, for their patients. It will not be denied that the need of a hospital is as great as that of a private patient to have only drugs and chemicals of known excellence. Yet it is said, and there seems to be good reason on which to base the statement, that in very many cases the quality of hospital supplies of remedial agents is quite inferior. It is clear that the responsibility for this condition of affairs rests solely with the hospitals, and that in each case some person cognizant of their needs is responsible for the purchase of the inferior articles. A very superficial examination of the circum cussed. In the main, the lowest lump bid secures the contract; and it is sometimes so low that in order that the successful bidder may carry out his contract without loss, it is necessary to supply products of an inferior grade-in fact, anything which can pass such inspection as is made in a perfunctory way. The remedy for this condition lies with the hospital management in each case. If they will prescribe that the drugs supplied shall be standard, they can get absolutely reliable goods and the complaints will cease. They can always protect themselves by an assay of samples, and no reputable bidder would hesitate to assist in forwarding such a test. The bills would not be as low as at present: that is not to be avoided, for price is dependent on the elements which go to make up quality. Pharmaceutical Progress. New Remedies-Improved Processes-Modern Inventions-Wrinkles in Dispensing Tests and Reactions. Sudoral is recommended as a remedy for perspiring feet. It is said to be a solution of aluminum boro-benzo tartrate. Calcium-Casein Phosphate has been recommended under the German name of "Kalkcasein" as a blood and bone builder for adults. Cupriaseptol is the name which has been applied by Gawalowski to phenolsulphonate of copper (probably the cupric salt of meta-phenolsulphonic acid), which he recommends as a hemostatic. Antifermentin and Sulphurin are substances proposed for use as preservatives of wine, which are said by Postell to consist of mixtures of potassium sulphate, with potassium, ammonium and sodium fluoride and water. Artificial Jasmin.-A new method of producing artificial jasmin perfume has been patented in France. It consists in heating together in a water bath 50 grains of phenyl glycol, 30 grains of water, 125 grains of sulphuric acid and 100 grains of formaldehyde. The result is methylenacetalphenylglocol, having an odor identical with that of natural jasmin. The substance can be purified by distillation in vacuo at 101° C. and 12 Mm. pressure, when it is found to be a thick oil, which boils at 218° C., so that it should be a remarkably persistent perfume. Preparation of Diamonds by Means of Silicates.-J. Friedlander has made some experiments which lead him to conclude that diamonds may be made by dissolving carbon in molten silicates, and is of the opinion that this is the manner in which the Cape of Good Hope diamonds were probably formed. He found on melting olivin in the gas flame and adding a piece of carbon that the latter was dissolved in the silicate, leaving in the cooled mass octahedral crystals of a high coefficient of refraction and very hard. Moissan's method of isolating the diamond from the fused mass was utilized. Deodorization of Rubber Rings.At the meeting of the Verein der Min-eralwasser-Fabrikanten (Society of Manufacturers of Mineral Waters) the following methods of killing the smell of rubber rings were proposed, says the "Zeitschrit für die gesammte Kohlensäure Industrie": Treating the rubber with solutions of caustic potash, or caustic soda; treatment with potash or soda. since caustic potash and caustic soda injure the rubber: boiling with alkaline soaps; boiling with lescive phenix-calcined soda with water glass; and lastly, after treatment with soda, leaving the rubber for some time in a solution of cooking salt (10-15 per cent). Dormiol is the name which has been applied by a German manufacturer to dimethyl-ethyl-carbinol-chloral, or amylene chloral, which was described in this journal for October 25, 1898. Accord ing to Meltzer (Deutsch Med. Woch., 1899, 29) Dormiol is an excellent hypnotic resembling chloral hydrate in its action and acting very promptly in doses from 0.5 to 3 grams (7 to 45 grains) without any untoward effects. He administered the remedy in water or oil or in the following combination: Dormiol, mucilage of acacia, and syrup, of each, 10 parts. Mix and label, "to be shaken thoroughly before taken." The dose of this mixture is from 1 to 2 tablespoonfuls. Estimation of Bismuth as Oxalate.Duyk criticises the methods of estimating bismuth salts by incineration as not practicable for the reason that suboxide and metallic bismuth are formed and it is impossible to avoid loss. He advocates (Bull. Acad. Med. Belg.) that the bismuth compounds be converted into oxalates, oxalic acid possessing the property the mineral acids, in combining with bisof replacing all the other acids, including muth. Bismuth oxalate (BiC2O..OH) oxide, and as shown by numerous experitheoretically contains 72.06 per cent of ments with the subgallate, salicylate, iodogallate, and bromophenylate, it is of quite constant composition. Duyk advises the following method of procedure: Put into a flask 1 Gm. of the substance under examination in the form of a powder, add from 30 to 40 Cg. of oxalic acid and warm gently, then add about 100 Cc. of water, allow to boil a few minutes and set aside. Collect the precipitates on a weighed filter, wash with warm water to remove the acids, dry to 110° and weigh. The weight of the residue multiplied by 72.06 gives the percentage contents of the bismuth oxide contained in the substance under examination. The Red Coloration of Phenol. This, according to J. Walter (Chem.-Ztg., 1899) is often caused by the action of hydrogen peroxide, this being formed during the slow oxidation of metals in the presence of moisture. He found that in many instances the iron found in green glass containers was the primary cause of the red color. Chemically pure phenol, when stored in green glass containers, very soon shows a reaction for iron. This establishes the fact that phenol dissolves the iron contained in such glass. Experiments were made with green glass containers, the interiors of which were coated with a layer of paraffin. Phenol stored in this manner remained unchanged after three months. The introduction of a small crystal of ferrous sulphate caused a reddening to take place in three days, while the addition of hydrogen peroxide caused the red color to appear in two days. Pure phenol stored in non-paraffined green glass containers took on a red color in ten days. This would seem to prove that chemically pure phenol dissolves the iron present in green glass, which iron in the presence of air and moisture is slowly oxidized with the formation of hydrogen peroxide and the red color referred to. Iodothyrin and Fowler's Solution.Of the many new preparations which have latterly been introduced into organo-therapy, only a limited number have found any extended application. Among these iodothyrin has given uniformly good results in adults as well as children. Lancereaux and Paulesco have employed this preparation in the treatment of rheumatism and arterio-sclerosis with excellent resuts. Its use is uniformly followed by a reduction in weight, and this led to its application in cases where such a result is desired. The loss of weight is caused by an increased elimination of water and increased oxidation of fats and proteids. The continued use of the preparation is, however, in many cases accompanied by undesirable side effects, such as fainting, tremor. rapid heart action, etc. To avoid such effects Dr. Léon Mabille has em ployed a preparation of arsenic in conjunction with the treatment, especially Fowler's solution. This can be exhibited together with iodothyrin without diminishing the value of the latter in any way, while undesirable effects are obviated. Detection of Arsenic in Hangings.— Dr. Jehn recommends (Apoth. Zeit.) the following practical method of applying the test for arsenic to tapestry, carpet. hangings, etc., for which he is indebted to his teacher. The substance under examination is cut up into small pieces and warmed with pure diluted hydrochloric acid in a test tube, until the coloring bright copper is put into it. agent appears to be dissolved. The liquid is then poured off and a strip of If arsenic be present a greenish black deposit of copper arsenite is thrown down upon the strip of copper. In order to identify this, the strip of copper, after being dried by means of filter paper, is put into a test tube and heated over a bunsen burner. In the cooler part of the cylinder a sublimate of arsenic oxide will be deposited. Moisten this sublimate with hydrochloric acid and allow a little hydrogen sulphide to pass into the tube, when yellow sulphide of arsenic will be formed. It is pointed out that this test may be so modified as to include Roessler's test by moistening the sublimate with a solution of silver nitrate and allowing ammonia gas to pass over it, which results in the formation of yellow arseniate of silver, which can readily be dissolved in ammonia. Phenegol. The nitrated derivatives of para-phenolsulphonic acid combines readily with mercury. These combinations have been given the generic name of Egols, and the base from which it is derived is indicated by the_prefix as phenegol cres-egol thymegol. Egols are stable compounds which are not readily decomposed into their original components. According to Gautretlet, phenegol is the potassio-mercuric salt of nitro paraosulphonic acid. The substance occurs as a reddish brown odorless and tasteless powder soluble in cold water in all proportions and containing about 33 per cent of mercury and is neither irritating nor caustic in its action. It does not coagulate albumen, but precipitates toxins. It is not decomposed by organic substances and is rapidly eliminated from the body. While the bactericidal strength of this preparation is fairly great (it sterilizes all bacteria cultures in 0.4 per cent solution) it is practically non-toxic, not exercising any toxic effect until a dose of 2 grams per kilo is reached. Since the solution of phenegol does not affect metals it may be used for sterilizing instruments. It is recommended (La Presse Medical, 1899, 34) as a disinfectant, though its disinfecting qualities by no means depend upon its contents of mercury. On frac Lampujang Pahit is the Malay name for a drug which is claimed to be a specific for whooping cough. J. M. H. van Dorssen describes this (Genedskondigen Tijdschrift voor Nederlandische Indie) as occurring in very hard, irregularly fusiform, more or less flattened pieces of about 5 Cm. in length and from 1 to 1 Cm. in breadth. The bark varies in color from a bright to a brownish yellow and has angular corrugations. ture it shows long fibres in contrast to the short-fibred fracture of the zingiber officinalis, the fracture being white or yellowish in color. The bark is about onefifth to one-sixth the thickness of the root proper. Both the bast and the woody portion contain many vascular bundles and oil cells. The drug has an aromatic and very bitter, but not sharp taste. Under this same name, the Malays recognize three varieties of zingiber, namely Z. amaricans. Z. casusumar and Z. marginatum, though the first of these is the one commonly referred to. The natives use the drug as follows: They mix 16 Gm. of the rhisome of the Z. amaricans and an equal quantity of the bulb of allium ascalonicum with 8 parts of liquorice root, beat into a pulp, add 20 parts of water, express and strain. Half of this is given in the evening and the other half in the morning for infants. For children above two years 1 times the quantities here used, and for children above three years, the dose is doubled. Simplified Form of the Phenylhydrazin Test.-Dr. A. Kowarsky (Ber. Klin. Woch. 1899, 412) recommends the following modification of the phenylhydrazin test which was first devised by E. Fischer (Berichte d.d. Chem. Ges. 1881. xvii., 579), and applied by von Jaksch in his clinic. The modified test is applied as follows: 5 drops of pure phenylhydrazin are poured into a test tube, 10 drops of glacial acetic acid added, the mixture shaken and 1 drop of a saturated solution of sodium chloride added. The resulting mixture of phenylhydrazin hydrochloride and sodium acetate presents the appearance of a white, cheeselike mass. Now add 3 Cc.-not more-of the urine under examination and hold the test tube for two minutes over the flame of a bunsen burner or spirit lamp; allow the mixture to cool slowly, not cooling by plunging in water. A precipitate forms with greater or less rapidity according to the quantity of sugar present. Where more than 0.5 per cent of sugar is present a characteristic golden yellow crystalline precipitate is thrown down after a lapse of two minutes; if a smaller quantity of sugar be present the precipitate should be examined microscopically some ten to fifteen minutes after the solution has been heated. In case the typical glycosazone crystals do not appear, one may rest assured that not more than the merest trace-less than 0.1 per cent of sugar is present. The presence of small traces of albumen do not disturb this reaction but larger quantities must be eliminated by boiling before applying the test. Send specimens of your advertising matter to us for criticism. It costs nothing and will help you. Under most favorable conditions this Sodii salicylat. (natural). 2 drs. .4 drs. .2 drs. .1 dr. .6 ozs. In a few hours this mixture becomes colorless, and throws down a considerable brown precipitate. If the bromide be omitted the same change takes place, but the brown compound remains in solution instead of being precipitated. The change is due to the action of the ammonium/carbonate on the cochineal-coloring of the tincture chloroform compound. This may be observed by tinting some water with tincture cocci, and adding either ammonium carbonate or liquid ammonia. Bismuth Subnitrate and a Bicarbonate. In mixing these there is no immediate effervescence; the reaction takes place slowly, more so with some samples of subnitrate than with others. Bicarbonate of potash acts more rapidly than bicarbonate of soda. Combinations of this kind occasionally burst the bottle. It is a question of time, temperature, quantity of ingredients, and strength of bottle as to whether an explosion will result. and agitated at intervals in expectation of an explosion. The result was disappointing, for after twenty-four hours had elapsed it was still intact, and the internal pressure was not sufficient to blow the cork out even when partially released. house, for several days, agitating occasIt was treated as it might be at a patient's ionally, and removing the cork, but the effervescence was not enough to cause inconvenience. In dispensing such prescriptions the possibility of an explosion must, however, be taken into consideration. Some dispensers always substitute subcarbonate for subnitrate; others object on principle to "substitution," so mix the subnitrate and bicarbonate with boiling water to hasten the decomposition. The latter method may satisfy a peculiarly delicate conscience, but the result is practically the same, for the finished mixture in either case contains subcarbonate of bismuth. It is more logical to be guided by the following considerations: When, as frequently happens, sal volatile is also an ingredient in the prescription, subnitrate may be dispensed, because the ammonium hydrate will either convert the subnitrate into hydrate of bismuth, or else will absorb any CO2 that may be produced. When the amount ordered of each in gredient does not exceed 7 or 8 grains to the ounce (5 grains in the case of potash bicarbonate) there is practically no chance of explosion. If these quantities are largely exceeded, add the bicarbonate to most of the water, and shake until no more will dissolve; then add the subnitrate rubbed down with the remainder of the water, shake up, and loosen the cork occasionally. Then send out with the message, "This bottle must not be laid on its side; loosen the cork immediately it is received." Lastly, when no sal volatile is ordered, and the ingredients are present in large proportion (over 10 grains of each to the ounce) and the medicine has to be packed up at once, so that the cork cannot be loosened for a long time, then it is wiser to use subcarbonate than to incur any risk of an explosion. 1 Correspondence. The Standard of the New York Board as Compared with Other Boards of Pharmacy. To the Editor. The editorial in to-day's issue Sir: (May 25) of The American Druggist, entitled, "The Standard of the New York Board," will be read with deep interest and the sentiments expressed therein will find a responsive echo in the hearts of those earnest, thinking and progressive pharmacists who are really and truly concerned in the advancement of American pharmacy, and who have come from their acquaintance and experience with hundreds of licensed pharmacists to regard the Board of Pharmacy examinations (and also some college examinations) as little short of a farce. What views I personally hold regarding Board examinations will be clearly seen from a paper of mine, entitled, "Board Examinations: Their Defects and Shortcomings," which will appear in the June issue of the "Druggists' Circular." But there occur some statements in the above referred to editorial to which I wish to take exception, and, knowing your love for fair play, I have no doubt that you will gladly give space to the comments and corrections I am about to make. From the general tone of the editorial it would appear that the average standard of the New York City Board is inferior to that of other boards. This is certainly not the case. I have every examination of the city Board from February, '98, until now, and I have hundreds of examinations from the various boards throughout the United States, which I collected during the last twelve years. On comparing the New York City examinations with those of a majority of the States, the decision is decidedly in favor of the former. Useless, inappropriate, equivocal questions, questions entirely outside of the province of a retail pharmacist, do occur in them occasionally, I admit; but they do so with much less frequency than in other examinations which I had occasion to analyze. Out of sixty questions which are given at every examination, there are no more than three or four which I would condemn absolutely, and those usually occur in the paper on toxicology. It is perfectly true that it is harder to pass the examination of some other States, such as New Jersey and Massachusetts, for instance, than it is that of New York City. But is it because the examination is really better and of a higher standard, and is therefore the possession of a diploma from those boards a proof of better qualification? Most emphatically no! It is harder to pass those boards just because they contain a large percentage of silly, small, unimportant, unscientific, non-pharmaceutical questions, questions which you can see at a glance emanate from very small men, possessing small crania with small, stunted cerebra. A candidate may be an educated, intelligent man and a splendid pharmacist and not be able to answer satisfactorily any of the following questions: 1. Name the official pills in which syrup is used as an excipient? 2. Give the official spirits in which water enters as an ingredient? 3. Mention all the official spirits, with their ingredients. 4. Give the table of all the elements with their symbols. 5. Give the official name for elixir Pro. (Elixir Proprietatis Paracelsi is meant, but the question was given as I reproduce it here: elixir Pro.). 6. Give the botanical names of: life everlasting, hemlock, spruce, mountain elder, water pepper, gold thread, etc. (all laurel, maiden hair, liverwort, dwarf of them unofficial drugs and apparently picked by the examiner from the back part of a price list of some manufacturing house). acid is used. (There is only one such 7. Mention a tincture in which acetic tincture-Tr. sanguinariae, which is selof acetic acid, and the examiner expects dom or never made, containing 2 per cent details in his head). the candidate to keep such unimportant 8. What is the difference between Tr. Ferrichloride, U.S.P. '80, and U.S.P. '90? (There is practically no difference; so it is dishonest to ask such questions; and, besides, the candidate might have started to make galenical preparations in '93 or in '94, so he must not be expected to know the differences between the two pharmacopoeias.) valerian, physostigma, picrotostin. 9. Give symptoms of poisoning with (Did the examiner ever see a case of poisoning with one of those drugs, and if he happened to see one, could be diagnose it?) 10. Give antidotes and treatment for poisoning with the above substances? It is this kind of questions that makes it hard for some very capable pharmacists to pass the boards of some States, and not the solid, honest, broad-minded. well-thought-out and well-formulated questions in chemistry, pharmacy, dispensing and in compatibilities, which alone can form a true criterion of a man's competence. Such questions are always more noticeable by their absence than by their presence. Nor is it a fact, that for some reason or other the New York City Board has a reputation for leniency in the "character of its examinations which attracts to it a queer assortment of candidates." On the contrary, this unenviable distinction of being the easiest to pass was until lately held by our State Board of Pharmacy, and most of the New York City drug clerks who wanted to become licentiates rushed to Yonkers. Yonkers was the Mecca of all ignoramuses, incompetents and crammers; that was the place where the so-called "instructors" sent their misguided pupils to pass the examination. The New York City Board they shunned as a certain person, who shall here be unnamed, shuns holy water, and there is no doubt that this state of affairs would still continue to exist if Sidney Faber, who, in my opinion, is by all odds the best secretary New York or Brooklyn ever had, did not put a stop to it, by enforcing the rule requiring all drug clerks residing or working in New York City to appear before the City Board. I repeat: there is considerable room for improvement in the City Board examination; but when compared with other boards-well, it rather gains than loses by such comparison. Any journal that will criticise our boards of pharmacy in a fearless, competent and unbiased manner, offering at the same time sug gestions for improvement, will have my hearty support and sympathy. Such criticism is a healthy sign and is an absolute necessity if we ever expect pharmacy in this country to rise to a higher intellectual, moral and professional plane. But to pick out a single board for attack is neither just, nor will it in my opinion accomplish much good. WILLIAM J. ROBINSON, PH.G., M.D. 119 East 128th st., New York, May 26, 1899. To the Editor. Sir: I desire to notify you officially amination questions criticised in the curthat your information regarding the exrent issue of The American Druggist was not correct. I therefore request you to correct your mistake in the next number of your paper. You can readily ascertain which of questions by consulting the author of the the questions were Board of Pharmacy paper, as you should have done before making any criticism. SIDNEY FABER, Secretary. Bibliography. Hager's Handbuch der Pharmaceutischen Praxis fur Apotheker, Aertze, Drogisten und Medicinalbeamte. Unter Mitwirkung von Max Arnold, Chemnitz; G. Christ, Berlin; K. Dieterich, Helfenberg; Ed. Gildemeister, Leipzig; P. Janzen, Perleberg; C. Scriba, Darmstadt; Vollstandig Neu Bearbeitet und Herausge ben von B. Fischer, Breslau, und C. Hartwich, Zurich; Mit Zahlreichen in den Text Gedruck. ten Holzschnitten; Dritte Liefferung, Berlin; Verlag von Julius Springer, 1899. Ammonium Nitricum to Arsenum. The general character of this work was commented upon at length in our issue for March 10, in connection with a review of the first fascicle. The third part, which has just come to hand, maintains the admirable standard of excellence set by part one and brings the matter down to 'Arsenum." One of the most interesting articles in the part now before us has do with waters, a very full table of mineral waters and their composition being given. Merck's 1899 Manual of the Materia Medica. Together with a Summary of Therapeutic Indications and a Classification of Medicaments. A Ready-Reference Pocket-Book for the Practicing Physician. Containing Names and Chief Form Synonyms, Physical and Appearance, Solubilities, Percentage Strengths and Physiological effects, Therapeutic Uses, Modes of Administration and Application. Regular and Maximum Dosage, Incompatibles, Antidotes, Precautionary Requirements, etc., etc., of the Chemicals and Drugs Usual in Modern Practice. Compiled from the Most Recent Authoritative Sources and Published by Merck & Co., New York. Price, $1. |