either in other countries, the source of drugs, or in this country where duties may or may not be imposed upon in-coming drugs. Competition between manufacturers and buyers, especially between foreign and home, will cause fluctuation of the market as well as an increase in the price of labor in some quarters. The above are just a few of the most important causes. One of the most important substances to vary in price during the past year is that of citric acid. During July, August, September and October of 1913, the price steadily advanced, then fell off for a month or two, then advanced again. At present there is very little or none upon the market, although the price is not extremely high with the manufacturer. Some buyers have secured quite a quantity and are holding it at from 16 to 19 cents above the manufacturer's price. The reason the price did not become exorbitant is because the manufacturer did not take advantage of the jobber and advance prices, preferring to take their orders, file them and supply when he could. It is interesting to note that a jobber can only buy where he has been in the habit of buying and that manufacturers, at present, will not open new accounts. The cause of this advance in price and scarcity of citric acid is the advance in the use of the fruit and in the shipping out of fruits rather than in making of calcium citrate from which the acid is prepared. Oftentimes when a crop of lemons is withheld on the trees expecting to ship and the market falls off for the fruit, it becomes damaged and is then picked and made into citrate for the production of acid. Iron scale salts and citrate salts also advanced in price corresponding to the price of citric acid. Another reason why the manufacturers did not advance the price of citric acid unduly was to prevent a wholesale substitution of tartaric acid for it. This latter named commodity has only slightly advanced in price. Cod Liver Oil advanced for a time and then declined, due to being placed on the free list and also due to the optimistic report for the in-coming supply. Last year it was up in price due to scarcity. The supply this year is about normal, but the price has slightly advanced. Caffeine has advanced slightly, due to higher import duty. Opium and its products are usually subject to much fluctuation as it is largely in the hands of speculators. During July and August it declined somewhat and there was not much sold as all were waiting to see the new import tax settled. In September it advanced some as the new import tax of $3.00 per pound was expected. In October and November the report of a large crop caused declination, as the prospect of a large crop off-set the new tax. In December it remained firm. In January, February and March it advanced a little due to speculation and in April and May there was no further change. In June there was no further change, but the probability of a good crop will, no doubt, cause the price to fall off. Gum Opium is now worth about $7.50 and the powdered is worth about $9.15. Sales of Morphine this year are about one-half that of previous years, due to legislation. Alcohol advanced in October and November, due to increase in the price of corn. For this reason the druggist is interested in the corn market. It declined during December, due to competition and again advanced during January, February and March, due to increase of price of raw materials and because of the destruction by fire of one of the large distilleries. Cocaine and its alkaloids advanced during October 25 cents per ounce. Sales have decreased due to legislation in other states. Laws have been passed requiring manufacturers to have jobbers sign a declaration that it is to be used for legal purposes, and he in turn the retailer. No provision has been made for enforcement of this law, so it has not been generally observed. Saccharin advanced 40 cents per pound in January, because the manufacturers claimed they had been selling it below cost of production. Boric Acid increased slightly in January, due to increase in price of labor. Cinchona and its alkaloids advanced during August, due to an agreement between growers and manufacturers not to continue the London auctions. The market has remained firm since then. One interesting feature in this commodity is the prediction in every market report for the whole past year that the price would advance, though the advance has not come. Thymol has fluctuated up and down, due to price cutting by Hamburg manufacturers. the past year, which latter substance seems to give entire satisfaction. Almond Oil, Sweet, pressed from almonds has been very high priced and scarce during the past two years, due to the failure of the 1912 and 1913 crops. Since the middle of February prices have lowered somewhat, due to expectation of a fair 1914 crop. Almond oil, so-called, made from peach and apricot kernels, has largely taken its place. Lemon Oil from foreign markets was expected to soar in price this past year, due to failure in crops in California by frost in January, 1913, and to reduction in tariff. It was also expected that many lemons would be shipped into this country, but drought spoiled much of the foreign crop and little was shipped to this country, and what was shipped was of such poor quality it found little market. The lemons were then used up for oil. Speculation then set in and the oil went down in price during October to February. It then remained fairly constant, but is now slightly advancing, being from $2.25 to $2.50 the last of June. Cassia Oil is lower than for years. This is probably due to the Chinese wanting to convert their product into cash and this makes a want of proportion between supply and demand. Schimmel & Co. report it hard to induce manufacturers to supply oil free from Colophony. Vanilla: The market for this product has been and is somewhat peculiar. It was thought that the Mexican war tax would raise the price quite materially, but the curers secured a suspension of this tax for a few months the early part of the year, but it will undoubtedly be returned on July 1st. This tax is about 40 cents per pound. There is also an American revenue of 30 cents per pound The principal fear, however, was not the increase in price due to tax, but that the curers would ship out much of their crop early before it was sufficiently cured in order to avoid the tax, and so buyers refused to place orders for shipment before late in the summer. One thing that has probably kept the price down is the use of the Bourbon bean which is now ranked in quality along with the Mexican one. The present price of the Mexican bean is from $5.00 to $6.50 and that of the Bourbon from $4.50 to $6.00. In April U. S. P. Ether advanced from 4 cents to 33 - 35 cents, due to the requirements for tin containers impervious to acid and other impurities. The U. S. P. 1880 Ether still remains the same price. This report does not completely cover the market, but as the time allotted for this report is small, it was thought that to mention a few of the things of greatest interest would be sufficient. Committee: EDWARD SPEASE, Chairman, CHAS. W. TOBEY, F. D. CHRISTAIN. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ADULTERATIONS AND SOPHISTICATIONS. Last February I received a communication from the original chairman of this Committee intimating that this year the Committee on Adulterations and Sophistications would have a report far superior to any of previous years. Sometime in May I received a letter from the Secretary stating that the Chairman of this committee had resigned and removed from the State and requested me to act as substitute. I have been unable to interest anyone enough to furnish items to this Committee, therefore this report is necessarily brief and includes a review of a few articles analyzed by the writer within the past year. GRANULAR EFFERVESCENT SODIUM PHOSPHATE. According to the U. S. P. this preparation should contain 20% anhydrous sodium phosphate. In the analysis of six samples I found the following: In talking with a manufacturer the point was made that the result would probably be too low if the sample was incinerated and residue dissolved in nitric acid and then precipitate the phosphate with ammonium molybdate solution and following out the usual method of precipitating with magnesia mixture; finally weighing as magnesium pyrophosphate. To settle this question, I made three determinations of sample No. 5. 1st. By incinerating as outlined above. 2nd. By dissolving in water and precipitating with ammonium molybdate solution and continuing the determination indicated above. 3rd. By destroying the organic acids by digesting with a mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. The analysis completed by precipitating with ammonium molybdate solution and finally weighing as magnesium pyrophosphate. The sodium phosphate would be as follows: No. 1..... No. 3.. .21.98 No. 2.... .21.70 .21.65 According to the above results it appears the difference in the amount is so small that any of the methods indicated will give satisfactory results. The constants used in calculating results of analysis are as follows: It appears that manufacturers do not always use proper precautions and use anhydrous sodium phosphate. If 20% crystalline sodium phosphate is used, containing 12 molecules of water, the finished product will assay less than 8 per cent anhydrous sodium phosphate. TINCTURE OF OPIUM. This is one of the U. S. P. preparations generally found below the required strength of not less than 1.2 nor more than 1.25 grammes of crystallized morphine in 100 cc. All being under standard except No. 4, which is slightly above standard. CAMPHOR LINIMENT. .1.349 The so-called U. S. P. preparations examined were found to vary from about 25 per cent below standard to 10 per cent above the U. S. P. requirements. Five samples were analyzed: The camphor was determined by the polariscopic and volatilization methods. LEMON JUICE. Of late years there has been placed upon the market a so-called Lemon Juice and the manufacturers claim a better article at a less price than can be obtained by using lemons. Our analyses showed the bottled preparations to be of inferior quality. Below I give the analysis of the bottled goods, also of pure lemon juice prepared by the writer. The U. S. P. requirement is as follows:at least 10 cc of normal potassium hydroxide to neutralize 10 cc Lemon juice, phenolphthalein being used as indicator. This indicates that the minimum amount of citric acid in the official preparation should be 6.95 per cent. CASTILE SOAP. This subject was almost over-worked last year by the writer and I have made but one examination of castile soap the past year and that was a sample of powdered soap imported by J. G. Halapleaus, Toledo, Ohio. It proved to be a pure olive oil soap and of exceptional deterrgent qualities. MISCELLANEOUS. A few samples of codeine and morphine tablets were examined, also samples of witch-hazel, spirit camphor, hydrogen dioxide and aspirin tablets, all of which were of fair quality. The Auditing Committee, P. J. Ackerman, Chairman, reported the Treasurer's books had been audited and found correct. REPORT OF THE HISTORIAN, JOSEPH FEIL. THE GROWTH OF THE IMPERSONAL PHARMACY. The word "Impersonal" signifies a lack of individuality, no variation, in other words it means dead. It may be taken without reserve that the moment a prescription pharmacy does not bear the name of its pharmacist owner, it has begun to enter or has actually entered the category of those parading before the public as Cut Rate Stores, that is, in the maelstrom of absolute commercialism. During the Middle Ages this method of distinguishing pharmacies was a necessity because the signs of the eagle, lion, star, etc., were familiar to a public almost illiterate. But as education became more universal and the people in general could read store signs, the pharmacist began to use his own name to designate his pride in the professional purview of his calling. In the earlier days of pharmacy in Ohio up to and including the "eighties," the pharmacist took great pride, not only in his work, but also in the fact that his name stood for efficiency and knowledge. Thus in 1880 we find in Cleveland seventy-seven (77) drug stores, all named with the proper .cognomens and given name of the owner; two of the proprietors had two stores each, namely: G. P. Churchill, now deceased, and A. F. May, now retired; not a single establishment was called by an impersonal name. In that year the stores averaged about one to 2,100 inhabitants. Ten (10) years later we find 147 drug stores averaging about the same number to the population, but here we begin to find the modern tendencies of impersonality arise—such names as the following appear: Bond St., Florence, Arcade, Columbia, Gem, Park, Standard, etc. In 1900 the number of stores has increased to 167 and the people now number 2,400 to each pharmacy. Names now become less personal and several firms own three (3) places each. Among other appellations we find Ideal, Ivy, Gem, Home, etc., but we notice that the full name of the owner and manager is usually added-thus it is Wentworth, G. Marshall, not Marshall's, it is C. E. Roseman, Manager-not The Standard. At present, 1914, there are about 300 pharmacies in Cleveland and the proportion of places to the population has altered so that about 2,300 inhabitants have one store, instead of 2,100 in 1880 and 1890 and 2,400 in 1900. The impersonal ownership has made great strides and apparently it is not a question of personal pride, but one of commercialism in naming the place, and also the ownership of many places by one corporation or individual is on the increase as noted below. A curious condition that one would expect to find in a saloon, cafe, or similar place is the retention of the names of prominent druggists of the past, in some cases the name of a man dead more than twenty years being used to hold up the reputation of the present proprietor, and in one case the dead and the living are in the same firm name. The impersonals may be divided into two classes, one still holding on to the shadow of a name by using the surname, that is, instead of John Henry Smith, simply Smith's Cut-Rate Drug Store, and the second class when a name bearing some relation to a street, avenue, square or quality, like Peerless, etc., is utilized without a particle of relationship to genuine pharmaceutical culture. Of the first kind there are 86 and the second 60, thus about one-half of the 300 have reached either the beginning or real Impersonalism. The names of the second division noted above are worthy of record as indicating the trend of the times: Alpha, Archwood, Arlington, Brooklyn, Brookside, Carnegie, Central, Cleveland, Crystal, Opera House, Eagle, Eastern, Elite, Erie, Euclid, Fairmount, Fulton, Garfield, Gem, Genesee, Glenville, Gordon Square, Home, Italian, Kinsman, Lakewood, Logan, Madison, Market, Marvin, National, Owl, Peerless, People's, Prospect, Pure, Purity, Quincy, Red Cross, Roadside, St. Elizabeth, Standard, Union, Vassar, Warsaw, Wade Park. As to ownership of more than one store by an individual or firm, the statistics are as follows: ten own 2 stores each; two 3; two 4; two 5; one 11, and one 15, and the end is not yet in sight. In passing, it may be noted that the Canadian Highest Judicial Authorities of Quebec Province have declared that chain drug stores are illegal and each pharmacy must be operated in the name of a registered pharmacist. Now what is the moral of the above facts? The question is still in the stage of those committees who report "progress," but do nothing, yet one thing is easily apparent, the impersonal pharmacy has not advanced, but has rather been a cause for regression in Professional Pharmacy. Mr. Freericks called attention to the Pomerene amendment to the Harrison Bill and moved the appointment of a Committee of five to consider the matter and report to the Convention. Carried. The Chair appointed Freericks, Hower, Ashbrook, Harding and Kauffman. COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY THE PRESIDENT. COMMITTEE ON NOMINATIONS-Azor Thurston, W. S. Bannister, A. Reigelhaupt, A. B. Price, Edgar Thompson, Ralph Johnston, C. L. Furney, Ray Barthalow, W. H. Tope. COMMITTEE ON BOARD OF PHARMACY VACANCY-B. S. Rust, Chas. Arnold, John Fallon, B. G. Ridgway. COMMITTEE ON TIME AND PLACE-The Council of O. S. P. A.; the Council of Travelers organization. SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE TRAVELERS AUXILIAKY WHO PUT ON THE BIG ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE Reading from left to right, top row: EDWARD P. AUSTIN, GEO. M. SCHAMBS, VAN V. DORR, A. J. SCHWARTZ, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON SESSION. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON PHARMACY LAWS. Regarding National legislation, the bills of most concern to us as pharmacists are the Harrison Bill and the Stevens Bill. The Harrison Anti-Narcotic Bill, with its amendments and changes as finally endorsed by the National Trades Conference, the N. A. R. D. and other kindred organizations, has at last come to the Senate for action. The first move of the opposition in this case came from the doctor in the form of a proposed amendment by Senator Pomerene, in which he advocates the exemption of the Nurse, the Doctor and the Surgeon from the registration provisions of the bill. The bill, as it now stands before the Senate, provides among other things, the registration by the wholesaler, the retailer, the doctor, the dentist and the veterinarian, of all narcotics bought or sold. The Pomerene amendment endorsed last week by the American Medical Association and other leading medical societies, simply exempts the nurse and the doctor, the very ones whom statistics show to be the cause for the majority of the narcotic habituals. This amendment, |