Editorial

Deaths from Poisoning in Great Britain.-The annual death roll from poisons in Great Britain shows no signs of abatement, notwithstanding the fact that somewhat severe restrictions are placed on their sale. In previous issues of Meyer Brothers Druggist attention has been drawn to this matter in connection with the annual reports of the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for England and Wales. Another of these reports has just been issued dealing with the year 1909, the delay in issuing the figures being due to the fact that minute information has to be collected from all the corners of the country and afterwards carefully sifted. The number of deaths caused by poison during the year under review was 1007 and these may be classified as follows:

Cases in which poison was taken by accident.

245

Phenol continues to be the poison most frequently resorted to for suicidal purposes. No less than 103 persons committed suicide by this means. The predilection for phenol is no doubt accounted for by the fact that it is nearest at hand. Oxalic acid is another toxic substance, which although it can only be purchased from a registered pharmacist, was taken by 98 suicides during the year in question. Hydrochloric Acid on the other hand can be sold at any store and notwithstanding the horrible agony that must accompany the act of swallowing it, this acid was self administered with fatal results in 85 cases. Potassium Cyanide, another poison used in the arts and industries and therefore readily available, was taken by 42 suicides of whom curiously enough 36 were males. Prussic Acid, which can only be purchased from registered pharmacists by persons known to the seller and under stringent conditions of sale, was nevertheless taken by 35 suicides. Here again it is worthy of note that in only two or three cases were the victims females. Opium and its poisonous principles were responsible for the death of forty people who took the poison intentionally. Among the other substances which were used by suicides were Ammonia (12 cases), Strychnine (8 cases), Chlorodyne (5 cases), and Arsenic (3 cases). It is recorded that one person, a female, put an end to her existence with whiskey, but the fatal dose is not stated. Nor do the records show how long she took the "poison."

In the category of accidents the poison which proved fatal in the greatest number of cases was opium and its preparations, which caused the death of fifty persons; most of whom swallowed the drug in mistake for medicine or some other harmless po

tion. Phenol was the cause of 18 fatal accidents, Hydrochloric Acid of 14, Chlorodyne of 10, Strychnine of 9, Potassium Cyanide of 6 and Belladonna of 9. The most noteworthy feature of the cases coming within the category of accidents is that Veronal caused the death of no less than eleven persons. It is significant to note that Veronal is not a legal poison, its sale is not restricted and the seller is not obliged to label it "Poison." Sulphonal on the other hand, which can only be sold by registered pharmacists who must label it "Poison," only caused three "accidental" deaths. The anaesthetic which caused the greatest number of deaths was Chloroform, which was used with fatal results in 88 cases, but it is safe to assume that Chloroform was the anaesthetic used in the bulk of 76 other cases in which the name of the anaesthetic is not stated. Cocaine used for the purpose of producing anaesthesia proved fatal in only two instances and in fact the total death-roll for this poison only numbers 3, Cocaine having been used in one case of suicide.

In the ten murder cases, an unusually large number by the way, the poisons were Phenol (2 cases); Opium (1 case), Hydrochloric (1 case); while Coal Gas, which is hardly a poison in the sense in which the term is used in this article, was used in three murder cases; in one case the name of the poison is not stated.

The physicians and pharmacists of England take more interest in statistics of this kind than is the case in the United States. We, however, have strict laws in most states governing the sale of poisons.

Physicians Should Take More Interest in the Pharmacopoeia. Of course, it is out of the question to expect the medical profession as a whole to be interested in the Pharmacopoeia as a book. The time may come when such an ideal condition will prevail, but it cannot be expected until great changes take place in the medical profession and also in the Pharmacopoeia. At the present time an effort is being made to interest physicians in the materia medica of the Pharmacopoeia. The greatest opportunity is presented in the education of medical students. It is difficult to make an appreciable impression upon the older practitioners, but physicians in the formative stage are susceptible. As far back as 1908 an informal conference of teachers in the medical schools of Philadelphia adopted the following:

"Resolved, that it is of the utmost importance for accuracy in prescriptions, and in the treatment of disease, that students of medicine be instructed fully as to those portions of the United States Pharmacopoeia which are of value to the practitioner"

At that time there was considerable evidence of an awakening in the medical profession to the opportunities for the medical profession to take a more prominent part in the work of revising the Pharmacopoeia. The attendance of physicians at the U. S. P. C. two years later was, however, dis

appointingly small. It was practically limited to teachers of medicine and the number of practitioners of medicine elected to the Committee of Revision is insignificant. The medical profession of the country, however, is taking an increased interest in the Pharmacopoeia and teachers in the medical colleges are giving greater attention to materia medica. As an example, the Association of American Medical Colleges, at its meeting held in February, 1911, urged the adoption not only by schools of medicine, but also by licensing boards, of a materia medica list, which will enable medical students and candidates for registration to concentrate their attention on medicines which are generally recognized as the most serviceable in the list of medicines now in use.

Unfortunately, the pharmacist cannot confine his studies in this manner. He is called upon to dispense anything and everything which is used in medicine. In fact, it is even more important for him to be familiar with the medicines used by the laity and prescribed by the uneducated practitioners of medicine than it is to safeguard the prescriptions of the educated physician. The entire material world, both organic and inorganic, contributes to the materia medica of today, and the safe pharmacist must be sufficiently familiar with the multitude of medicines to dispense them, either over the counter or on prescriptions. When the public at large depends upon educated physicians for medical advice and the physicians themselves agree upon a limited materia medica, we will have a new condition of affairs. Not only will the public consume less medicine, as far as quantity is concerned, but physicians will depend upon a selected list of medicines and the pharmacist have the compounding of the prescriptions.

What

Constitutes Unnecessary Secrecy? The members of the Committee of Revision of the U. S. P. are agreed that there should be no unnecessary secrecy about the work in hand. There is, however, a vast difference of opinion as to what constitutes unnecessary secrecy. Some believe that the transactions should be as open and above board as the proceedings at an annual meeting of the A. Ph. A. or the A. M. A., while others are inclined to limit publicity to official statements made at irregular periods and giving information which the pharmacists atlarge may or may not consider interesting. The members of the U. S. P. Convention indulged in considerable discussion before the meeting of May, 1910, but when it came to the test a very innocent resolution was adopted. It reads as follows:

"It is recommended that the general Committee of Revision make public for comment and criticism an abstract of new descriptions and standards and of changes in descriptions and standards proposed, before final adoption."

It is merely a recommendation and not an instruction. It, however, leaves the Committee of Revision perfectly free and unless the committee itself decides upon secrecy, the members are at liberty to comment on the work of revision, as they would upon

papers read and discussed at a pharmaceutical or medical convention.

Perhaps the most practical way of determining just what is meant by "unnecessary secrecy" is to ask a member of the Committee of Revision with whom you are personally acquainted what is being done in revision work by the committee and then analyze his answer.

Pink Colored Quinine.-The demand for quinine in India is astonishingly great. In addition to the consumption of the alkaloid manufactured in India, the records show that for twelve months, ending March 31, 1910, there were imported into India, 120,112 pounds of quinine. The government controls the factories in India and has adopted a novel means of competing with the imported alkaloid. The director general of stores at the India office announces that the government will color pink all of the quinine manufactured by the government in order to distinguish it from quinine of uncertain purity. Of course, foreign manufacturers will not relish this announcement but it is difficult to see what they can do to prevent this slur on the quality of quinine manufactured by other than government factories in India. In the early eighties, Dr. John B. Bond, of Little Rock, Ark., suggested coloring morphine in order to prevent its being mistaken for quinine. His suggestion received considerable attention but was not put into practical use. His idea was to guard human lives. If his plan would have operated to increase business and make money for some individual or corporation, as is the case in coloring quinine pink, it would, no doubt, have been promptly placed in service.

Manufacturers and the Pharmacopoeia.-Pharmacopoeial standards are the legal standards, but manufacturers are anxious to raise these standards wherever possible. At the recent meeting of the Northern Ohio Branch of the A. Ph. A., J. F. Woolsey said, "The manufacturer not only desires to equal pharmacopoeial standards, but is desirous of establishing higher standards when possible." Since the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act, the interest in standards has increased and retail pharmacists as well as jobbers and manufacturers are united in an effort to bring the quality of medicines up to the highest possible standard.

New York City Pharmacists are greatly perturbed over the attack made upon them by a daily newspaper, which has, with startling headlines and telling cartoons, given the impression that a patient might just as well run the risk of dying from sickness as to take his chance with a prescription compounded by a retail pharmacist. As far as we know, pharmacists are the only class of professional or business men who are held responsible and blamed as whole for the shortcomings of individuals in their calling. Sensational newspapers always delight in casting reflections upon the retail drug trade.

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