On the eve of the appearance of the Ninth Decennial Revision of the United States Pharmacopceia, it is very appropriate that the changes made in this legal authority for drugs should be discussed by pharmacists. The present revisions of the Pharmacopceia and of the National Formulary are the first editions of these books to appear since they were specifically named in the Food and Drugs Act as the standards for the identity and quality of drugs. To revise the Pharmacopceia so that its standards

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... shall properly fulfil this added responsibility has been the paramount thought of the revisers. Hence it may be observed that the Ninth Revision will be noteworthy for this purpose and its consequent aim at scientific accuracy, and this purpose has been the primary cause for many of the changes that will appear in this revision. From a therapeutic standpoint, the changes made in the strength of the galenical preparations are, as a rule, negligible. For the most part, they have been minor and not sufficient to affect either the action or dosage of the preparations. As most of the potent remedies were brought into harmony with the Brussels International Protocol by the Eighth Decennial Revision, radical changes, such as were then made in the strengths of Tincture of Aconite and Tincture of Veratrum, are not now necessary. It was to be expected that the advances and the changes occurring in medical practice, and likewise the progress of our knowledge of the composition of drugs and their therapeutic actions, would demonstrate that the requirements of that Protocol must be revised. Absolute compliance with all of its provisions is already no longer possible. In the two revisions of the Pharmacopa$a that have been made since the promulgation of the International Protocol, we have given ample evidence of our good faith and adherence to the principles to which our nation as a participant in the Brussels Conference and as a signator to the Protocol committed us.