NATIONAL MEDICAL CONVENTION,
For Revising the Pharmacopoeia of the United States,
The fourth decennial convention for revising the Pharmacopoeia of the
United States, met at Washington on Monday, the 6th inst. The following
delegates were present in the Convention :
From the Rhode Island Medical Society, Dr. Joseph Mauran.
From the Geneva Medical College, Dr. James Bryan.
From the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York, Messrs. John
Milhau and George D. Coggeshall.
From the Medical Society of New Jersey, Drs. Lewis Condict and
Wm. A. Newell.
From the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, Drs. Joseph Carson,
Henry Bond, and Francis West.
From the University of Pennsylvania, Drs. George B. Wood, and James
B. Rogers.
From the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia. Dr. Franklin Bache.
From the Medical Faculty of the Pennsylvania College, Dr. H. S. Pat-
terson.
From the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, Dr. Clinton G.
Stees.
From the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, Messrs. D. B. Smith, Chas.
Ellis, and Wm. Procter, Jr.
From the Medical Society of Delaware, Drs. Isaac Jump and J. W.
Thomson.
From the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, Drs. David
Steward and Joshua I. Cohen.
From the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, Drs. J. C. Hall
and Harvey Lindsly.
From the National Medical College of the District of Columbia, Drs
Joshua Riley, Thomas Miller, and Edward Foreman.
From the Medical Department of the National Institute, D. C., Drs. Jas.
Wynne and S. D. Gale.
From the Georgetown Medical College, Dr. F. Howard.
And from the Rush Medical College, Illinois, Dr. G. N. Fitch.
The credentials of delegates from the New Hampshire Medical Institu-
tion, the University of Buffalo, the Medical Department of Hampden .Sidney
College, the Medical Society of South Carolina, the Medical College of
Ohio, the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy, the Missouri Medical Society,
and the Medical Faculty of the University of Iowa, were presented by the
Vice President of the Convention of 1840 ; but these delegates did not make
their appearance during the session of the convention.
A temporary organization was effected by calling Dr. Lewis Condict,
President of the Convention of 1840, to the chair, and appointing Dr.
Haryey Lindsly, Secretary. A committee of five was then appointed,
consisting of Dr. Bache, Dr. Mauran, Dr. Thomson, Dr. Miller, and Mr.
Coggeshall, to nominate the permanent officers of the convention, with in-
structions to name two Vice Presidents, instead of one, as had been the
custom on former occasions. This committee retired, and, after a short
consultation, reported the names of the following delegates, viz:
For President, Dr. George B. Wood, of Pennsylvania.
For Vice Presidents, Dr. Joseph Mauran, of Rhode Island, and Dr. D. Y.
Simons, of South Carolina.
For Secretary, Dr. Harvey Undsly, of the District of Columbia; and
for Assistant Secretary, Dr. Edward Foreman, of the same place.
The nominations were confirmed by the convention, and the President
took the chair.
[On motion, it was Resolved, that the Surgeon General of the Army, and
the Chief of the Naval Bureau of Medicine and Surgery be invited to take
seats in the Convention, with all the privileges of members.
On motion, it was Resolved, that such members of the two Houses of
Congress as might be medical graduates, be invited to attend the
meetings of the Convention, and to participate in its deliberations.]
In conformity with the directions of the preceding convention, the Com-
mittee of Revision and Publication appointed by that body, presented a
report of their proceedings, which was accepted.
[From this Report, it appeared that the proceeds of sale of the copy-right
of the last Pharmacopoeia had been expended in the purchase of a number
of copies of the work, for presentation to the different bodies which had
been represented in the Convention, and that they had been distributed
accordingly.]
The delegates of the several medical bodies represented in the Con-
vention were then called on for contributions towards the revision of the
Pharmacopoeia; when reports were handed in from the delegates of the
Rhode Island Medical Society, from the College of Pharmacy of the City
of New York, from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, from the
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and from the Medical and Chirurgical
Faculty of Maryland. These reports were referred to a committee, con-
sisting of Dr. Bond, Dr. Mauran, Dr. Cohen, Dr. Miller and Mr. Milhau,
with directions to report a plan for the revision and publication of the
I’harmacopceia; after which the convention adjourned to the following day.
At the next meeting, on Tuesday morning, a committee was appointed
to examine the accounts and vouchers presented by the Committee of Re-
vision and Publication of the preceding convention, and reported that they
had found them correct.
Dr. Bond, from the committee to which had been referred the reports
from various medical bodies represented in the convention, reported the
following resolutions:
1.	That a Committee of Revision and Publication, consisting of nine
members, be appointed, to which shall be referred all communications
offered to the convention in relation to the revision of the Pharmacopoeia,
and that three of this committee shall form a quorum.
2.	That the committee shall meet in the city of Philadelphia, and be
convened as soon as practicable by the chairman.
3.	That said committee shall be authorized to publish the work after its
revision, and to take all other measures which may be necessary to carry
out the views and intentions of the convention.
4.	That the committee shall have power to fill its own vacancies.
5.	That, after the completion of its labors, the committee shall submit a
report of its proceedings to the Secretary of this convention, to be laid be-
fore the next convention.
These resolutions were adopted, and the following delegates appointed
on the committee, viz: Dr. Franklin Bache, Dr. Joseph Carson and Mr.
William Procter, Jr. of Philadelphia; Dr. Joseph Mauran, of Providence,
Rhode Island; Mr. John Milhau, of the City of New York; Dr. J. W.
Thompson, of Wilmington, Delaware; Dr. David Stewart, of Baltimore;
Dr. Joshua Riley, of the District of Columbia; and Dr. G. N. Fitch, of Lo-
gansport, Indiana.
It was resolved that the President of the convention be added to the
above committee, and serve as its chairman.
[A communication from New York was received, recommending the
restoration of the Latin page to the Pharmacopoeia, as it stood previously to
the revision in 1840. After a full and spirited discussion of the point of
expediency in resard to publishing the formulae, processes, &c., in Latin,
the recommendation was unanimously negatived.]
In reference to the manner of calling and the mode of constituting the
next decennial convention, to meet in the year 1860, it was
Resolved^ That the regulations in reference to the present convention,
-adopted by that of the year 1840, and published in the last edition of the
Pharmacopoeia, should be adopted, with the necessary modifications in re-
lation to the dates ; the day of meeting being changed from the first Mon-
day to the first Wednesday in May.
A letter was read inviting the members of the convention to a dinner, to
be given at the National Hotel, by the medical gentlemen of Washington
and Georgetown. The invitation was accepted, and the thanks of the con-
vention voted to the gentlemen referred to for their hospitality.
The thanks of the convention were also unanimously voted to Dr. Lewis
Condict, President of the last convention, for valuable services; and to the
Board of Aidermen, of the city of Washington, for their courtesy in offer-
ing their hall for the sittings of the convention.
The convention then adjourned.
After its adjournment, Dr. William B. Chapman, one of the delegates
from the Cincinnati College of Pharmacy, arriving in Washington, stated
to the Secretary his concurrence in the proceedings of the convention.
Harvey Lindsley, M. D., Secretary of the Convention.
The portions of the above report, enclosed in brackets, have been added
by a friend, who was a member of the Convention. The remainder was
reported for the National Intelligencer, Washington.—[Ed. Med. Ex.