They're here from out the great Northwest,

From New York and Ohio.

Here's Charley Dohme, who just got home,

And Beal is here from Scio.

Friend Searby's here from Frisco's town,
And to be quite specific,

We're glad to greet you once again,
Old friend from the Pacific.

Whelpley and Good from St. Louis,

And Diehl, whom we've an eye on;
While Ebert with his war paint, was
At times a roaring lion.

And yet, in saying this, my friends,
It pleases me to tell you

That though his roar is sometimes loud,
His blow will never fell you.

But there are those we'll no more meet,
This grieves and makes us sadder:
It gives us Payne, who now has climbed
The top round of the ladder.
We've Prescott here and Lyons, too,

And Stevens from Ann Arbor;

While Halberg, Hopp and other friends

A regular percussion.

The cutters, they were clean cut up

And likewise were the scalpers;
The paper was discussed and cussed
Presented by Herr Alpers.

The Vet'rans Hancock, Gordon, Sloan
And Sanders from St. Louis.

John Uri Lloyd from Stringtown came,
Perhaps sometime he'll "do us."
There's Shinn and Jenks and Remington,
From this our Quaker City.

These are a host of veterans true,
Including Henry Whitney.

As they're come here from far and near,
What thought, Sirs, can be greater
That hundreds here again will greet

Their famous Alma Mater.

Oh, mother kind, extend your arms

And open wide your portals,

Give to each one a fond embrace,

For are not some immortals?

While the banquet was in progress, the ladies were treated to a theatre party at the Chestnut St. Theatre, where the play "The Defender," was given, and afterward came to Horticultural Hall, where an elaborate luncheon was served to them in the foyer of the hall.

On Friday morning a party under the leadership of Prof. H. Kraemer visited the German Hospital, the Mary Drexel Home and the Eastern Penitentiary.

In the afternoon nearly all the visitors present accepted the hospitalities of the Retail Druggists' Association of Philadelphia and enjoyed a most delightful excursion on the Delaware River, aboard the steamer "Columbia." Here again the excursionists were furnished with a printed itinerary of the trip, calling attention to Cramps' Ship Yards, the League Island Navy Yard, Penn Treaty Park, Fort Mifflin, Lincoln Park and other points of interest. A substantial luncheon and orchestral music added to the enjoyment of the trip.

On Saturday afternoon the delegates and their ladies were provided with railroad tickets to Atlantic City, where Sunday was spent at the Isleworth Hotel. A special entertainment at Young's pier on Saturday evening, followed by a smoker at the hotel, was provided by the local pharmacists headed by Wm. C. Westcott, Chairman.

An account of the entertainments would not be complete without mention of the exceedingly interesting historical exhibition arranged in Horticultural Hall by the special committee on semi-centennial celebration, of which Mr. Geo. M. Beringer was chairman. The exhibit was divided into three sections, as follows:

A. Relics, souvenirs, curios, antiques, old drugs, rare chemical and pharmaceutical preparations, apparatus and fixtures, comprising 184 items. B. Books illustrating the advance in the sciences relating to pharmacy, portraits of distinguished pharmacists, diplomas, certificates, medals, manuscripts, letters, tickets, etc., comprising 311 items.

C. Ye olde apothecary-portions of a Philadelphia drug store as it appeared in the early part of the nineteenth century, about the year 1812. A carefully arranged and well prepared catalogue of the exhibition added very much to the value of this remarkable collection.

For years to come the members of the American Pharmaceutical Association whose privilege it was to be present at the fiftieth annual meeting, will recall with grateful remembrance the bountiful hospitatity and kindness of the various committees in charge of the many entertainments.

C. C., JR.

REPORT

ON THE

PROGRESS OF PHARMACY.

From July 1, 1901, to June 30, 1902.

BY C. LEWIS DIEHL.

INTRODUCTORY.

AMONG the contributions to the literature of pharmacy that deal with subjects of a general character, one of the most interesting is that of our long-time associate and honorary member, Dr. Frederick Hoffmann, of Berlin (Amer. Journ. Pharm, July, Aug. and Sept., 1901), in which he reviews the work that has been accomplished-or, more accurately, the work that has been endeavored and failed of accomplishment-by the so-called "International Pharmaceutical Congresses" that have been held at different periods and in different countries since their inauguration during the year 1864. Though well known to those who have followed the transactions and deliberations of these congresses, it is questionable whether one pharmacist in a hundred understands that these had their origin in an endeavor to combat the disadvantages of the constantly increasing manufacture of, and trade in, secret remedies (nostrums), and the consequent dangerous evil in medication and pharmacy. At all events, this seems to have been the sole object and purport of a discussion at the annual meeting of a French pharmaceutical society held at Strassburg in August, 1864, the outcome of which was the adoption of a resolution for calling an international conference of delegates of the representative pharmaceutical associations for consideration and action in this matter.

The annual meeting of the General German Apothecaries Association being held (Sept. 14-16, 1864, at Wiesbaden) within a month after the meeting of the French association, the resolution of the French pharmacists was taken into consideration, and a committee consisting of delegates from German, Austrian and Russian pharmaceutical societies, present at the meeting, was appointed to further consider and report a plan for proper and rigid restriction or suppression of the prevailing nostrum evil through inter

national conference. It appears to have been quite incidental that this committee in their report favorable to arranging an international conference, suggested as a further topic for consideration to come, if possible, to an agreement on a uniform strength of the pharmacopoeial formulæ for commonly used galenical preparations of patent drugs, and to units of weights and measures. It will suffice here to say that in accordance and in consequence of the resolution passed at this meeting, the General German Apothecaries Asssociation, and of the North German and the South German Apothecaries Association in 1865, the first International Pharmaceutical Congress was held in Brunswick in 1865, Germany, Austria, Russia, France and Sweden being represented. The second congress was held in Paris, in 1867, and here the United States were represented for the first time. The third Congress was held in Vienna, in 1869; the fourth (delayed by political complications) in St. Petersburg, in 1874; the fifth in London, in 1881; the sixth in Brussels, in 1885; the seventh in Chicago, in 1893; the eighth in Brussels, in 1897, and the ninth in Paris, in 1900. Dr. Hoffmann's admirable retrospect of the transactions at these several Congresses will prove interesting reading and justify his conclusion that they have been characterized by an utter want of success. Quoting freely from his concluding remarks, "In a candid retrospect of these so-called international pharmaceutical congresses, commencing at Brunswick in 1865 and, as it is to be hoped, adjourned ad infinitum at Paris in 1900, it cannot but be conceded that they have failed to realize the anticipations once attributed to them and to bring about some practical or tangible results for the consolidation and advantage of pharmacy in the various countries in the course of the evolution through which it has been passing in the ways and byways of medical, sanitary and industrial progress. These congresses have never been international, except in name, either in representation or in numbers, and have more and more departed from their primary and essential aims and objects. Beyond the constantly recurring series of stereotyped questions and futile resolutions, they have accomplished nothing of productive and enduring consequence.” Bearing in mind the fact that the initial motive to the creation of these congresses was the "protest of French and German pharmacists against the growing nostrum evil, and the initial stage of the modern industry of pharmaceutical specialties and proprietaries, it may not be amiss to point out the striking fact that the ninth congress, in 1900, after a lapse of thirtyfive years, presented the aspect of still indulging in unavailing deliberations, or rather effete and doctrinal problems, while at the same time and place it was confronted by a kindred well attended congress of pharmaceutical manufacturers from twenty-six European, American and North African countries, convened for the purpose of securing for their calling and products (pharmaceutical specialties and proprietaries) a greater legal recognition as one of the substantial and important factors in the industrial, commercial and economic concerns of the world."

The remarkable transition in the domain and functions of pharmacy and medication to less orthodox modern methods is exemplified by the fact that at the International Exposition in Paris in 1855, ten years before the first International Pharmaceutical Congress took place, only five exhibitors of pharmaceutieal specialties figured in the catalogue of the exhibition, whilst they numbered about 400 at the exhibition in 1900. At the same time it is significant that the other primary motive for calling these congresses, the desire for the creation of an international pharmacopoeia, has met with no encouragement whatever. Every effort made for the realization of this desideratum has so far failed.

The work of revision of the Pharmacopoeia of the United States has naturally elicited numerous papers on a variety of topics. Those of a special character, pertaining to individual instances or classes of substances, have been abstracted as far as possible, and will be found in the body of this report. A number of contributions of a more general character have, however, been published, which deserve attention, and among these the following may here be considered. Thus Mr. M. I. Wilbert (Amer. Journ. Pharm., June, 1902), very interestingly describes

"The Evolution of the United States Pharmacopeia," in its passage throngh the seven revisions that have so far been made, computing and arranging a considerable amount of information into tables that, in a general way, show the contents and scope of the book at the different decennial periods. These tables and the author's comments will be found useful for reference, and must be consulted in the original. His concluding remarks, which concern the forthcoming revision, may however, be with advantage quoted here, as follows:

"That the coming book will prove to be equal if not superior to any of the recent editions of the several European Pharmacopoeias, is assured by the scientific character and attainments of the various members of the Pharmacopoeial Revision Committee. That the new book will have exceptional merits is doubly assured by the established standards that it must at least equal, if not excel.

"Whether or not it will become a popular book, will depend largely on the action of the Committee on Publication, and mainly on the price at which it is to be sold. Let us hope that, for the sake of advancing the interests of scientific pharmacy in these United States, this committee may see its way clear to publish not only a scientific book, one that the present and future generations of pharmacists may point to with pardonable pride, as depicting the sum total of our present knowledge, but what is also to be desired, let us hope that the Committee on Publication sees its way clear to have the book issued in such shape that it will find its way into every shop where drugs and medicines are either sold or prepared. Let us hope that they will issue a book that will always lie open before the working pharmacist, and be to him a guide and a reference in his daily work;