The U. S. Pharmacopœia

Abstract

Thefirst United States Pharmacopœia appeared in 1820, and up to 1936 revisions appeared at intervals of about ten years. This interval has now been reduced to five years, owing to the rapid advance of therapeutics. The thirteenth revision (1947) is an impressive book containing more than a thousand pages, and much work has been put into its preparation. It is controlled by the U.S. Pharmacopœial Convention, which meets “upon the second Tuesday in May in the first year in each decade ending in zero”. The number of delegates attending the convention in 1940 was 487, not counting guests from various neighbouring countries, of which Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama and Uruguay have given official status to this Pharmacopœia. This convention elects a president, five vice-presidents, a secretary, an assistant secretary, a treasurer, a board of trustees and a general committee of revision consisting of sixty members. The board of trustees elects a director of pharmacopoeial revision, and the general committee provides ten sub-committees, the chairmen of which constitute the executive committee of revision. These details and many more are given in the introductory pages of the Pharmacopœia.

The Pharmacopœia of the United States of America (the United States Pharmacopœia) Thirteenth revision.

By Authority of the United States Pharmacopœial Convention. Pp. cvii + 957. (Easton, Pa.: Mack Publishing Co., 1947.)