THE U.S.P. A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION
--6th Edition (pg-v)IN January, 1817, Dr. Lyman Spalding -submitted to the Medical Society of the County of New York a project for the formation of a .National Pharmacopoeia.*
Dr. Spalding's plan was as follows: The United States were to be divided into four districts---Northern, Middle, Southern, and Western; the New England States to form the Northern District; New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, the Middle District; and the States south and west of these borders to constitute the other two districts.
The plan provided that a Convention should be called in each of these districts, to be composed of delegates from all the medical societies and schools situated within each of them. Each District Convention was to form a Pharmacopoeia, and appoint delegates to a General Convention, to be held in Washington. To this General Convention the four District Pharmacopoeias should be taken, and from the material thus brought together a National Pharmacopoeia should be compiled. Dr. Spalding's plan was approved by the committee to which it was referred, and subsequently, through the agency of the Medical Society of the State of New York, was carried into effect. This society issued circulars requesting the co-operation of the several incorporated State Medical. Societies, the several incorporated Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, or Medical Schools, of such medical bodies as constituted a faculty in any incorporated university or college in the United States; and, in any State or Territory in which there was no incorporated medical society, college or school, voluntary associations of physicians and surgeons were invited to assist in the undertaking.
The following organizations approved the plan of forming a National Pharmacopoeia and appointed delegates to district conventions: Massachusetts Medical Society, June 2, 1818; College of Physicians and Surgeons in the City of New York, June 25, 1818; Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, June, 1818; Rhode Island Medical Society, September 1, 1818; Medical Society of South Carolina, September, 1818 ; Medical- Society of the District of Columbia, October 5, 1818 ; Connecticut Medical Society, October 15, 1818; Medical Institution of Yale College, October 28, 1818,; Vermont Medical Society, October, 1818; Board of Physicians and Surgeons of the First Medical District of the State of Indiana, November 3, 1818; College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Western District of the State of New York, January, 1819; College of Physicians of Philadelphia, February 2, 1819; Medical Faculty of Brown University, March 15, 18'19; Medical School at Lexington, Ky., April, 1819; New Hampshire Medical Society, May 5, 1819; Medical Society of New Jersey, May 11, 1819; Medical Society of the State of Delaware, May, 1819; Medical Society of Georgia May, 1819.
The Medical College of Ohio and the Medical Society of New Orleans approved the formation of a National Pharmacopoeia, but did not appoint delegates.
The District Convention for the New England States was held in Boston, June 1, 1819, and a District Pharmacopoeia was adopted.
The District Convention of the Middle States was held in Philadelphia, June 1, 1819, and two outlines of Pharmacopoeias, submitted by the delegates from New York and Philadelphia, were, by a committee there chosen, formed into one, which was adopted as the Pharmacopoeia of the Middle District.
There were no conventions held in the Southern and Western Districts, but measures were talken, by those concerned, to secure a representation of the Southern District in the General Convention at Washington. The General Convention for the formation of a National Pharmacopoeia assembled in the Capitol, at Washington, January 1, 1820, and elected Saml. L. Mitchill, M.D., President, and Thomas T. Hewson, M.D., Secretary.
The two Pharmacopoeia prepared in the Northern and Middle Districts were submitted to examination, compared in detail, and their contents, with such additions as were thought necessary, consolidated into one work, which, after full revision, was adopted by the General Convention, and ordered, to be published by a committee appointed for that purpose. It was published in Boston, December 15, 1820, in both the Latin and English languages, a second edition appearing in 1828.
Before adjourning, the General Convention of 1820 made arrangements for the future revision of the work. It instructed its President to issue, on January 1, 1828, writs of election to the several incorporated State Medical Societies and incorporated Medical Colleges and Schools in the Northern District, requiring them to ballot for three delegates to a General Convention to be held at Washington on January 1, 1830, for the purpose of revising the American Pharmacopoeia ; and that these several institutions be requested to forward to the President, on or before April 1, 1829, the names of three persons thus designated by ballot; and the President of the Convention was requested, on the said day, to assort and count the said votes, and to -notify the three persons, who should have the greatest number of votes, of their election ; and, in case there should not be three persons who had a greater number of votes than others, then the said President was desired to put a ballot into the box for each of those persons who had an equal number of votes, and draw therefrom such number of ballots as should make the number of delegates three, and notify as before directed.
This resolution was to apply in like manner to the Middle, Southern, and Western Districts.
Accordingly, there were to be three delegates from each of the four districts, the Convention thus to consist of twelve delegates.
Notwithstanding the care thus exercised by the Convention of 1820 to arrange for a Convention in 1830, a serious misunderstanding occurred, the result of which was that two Pharmacopoeias were published in 1830-one in New York and one in Philadelphia.
The President issued, on January 1, 1828, writs of election, as instructed by the Convention of 1820; but, on account of a certain ambiguity of expression in the resolution of the Convention of 1820, and perhaps, also, in the communication of President Mitchill addressed to the various societies and colleges, some of the organizations did not correctly understand what was expected of them, and instead of sending to President Mitchill the state of the ballot, sent to him merely its result. It appears to have been the impression in many places that the societies addressed were to choose delegates, and that the delegates thus chosen were to proceed to Washington.
President Mitchill received returns from the Northern and Middle Districts, but none from the Southern and Western Districts. He counted the ballots returned to him, as he understood that they should be counted, and notified the three chosen by each of the two districts of their election, but the appointment of the delegates for the Middle District was not satisfactory to many of the medical societies of that region.
The delegates from the Northern and Middle Districts who had been notified by President Mitchill of their election, resolved, by general concurrence, and for the sake of convenience, to hold the meeting of the Convention at New York instead of at Washington, as directed by the authority under which they were chosen; Eli Ives, M.D., of Yale College, Connecticut, was elected President. As they were so few in numbers they adjourned for six months in order to obtain assistance from the medical fraternity of the country. They issued a circular, to each of the Medical Societies and Medical Institutions in the United States not represented in the Convention, requesting them to appoint a delegate to co-operate with this Convention in revising the American Pharmacopoeia; and, provided no delegate should be appointed, or, if appointed, be unable to attend, said society or medical institution or delegates were requested to communicate their ideas, in relation to the revision of the Pharmacopoeia, to the Convention at their next session to be held on the first Wednesday of June, 1830, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New York.
The Convention met, according to agreement, in New York, June 2, 1830, ten delegates being present, representing: Connecticut, South Carolina, New York, Ohio, and Western Massachusetts. They revised the Pharmacopoeia of 1820, authorized the publication of their revision, and, before adjourning, provided for a subsequent revision in 1835. The book was published in New York, July, 1830.
In consequence of the dissatisfaction existing in the Middle District, arrangements were made to hold a Convention at Washington, January, 1830, which should be more fairly representative of the medical societies, colleges, and schools of the Middle District.
The Convention was held in the Capitol, at Washington, January 4, 1830. It consisted of eight delegates, two from New Jersey, two from Philadelphia, one from Delaware, One from Maryland and two from the District of Columbia, all members from the Middle District. Lewis Condict, M.D., of New Jersey, was elected President.
Since many sections of the United States were not represented at this Convention, and it appeared desirable that the various medical interests of the country should have their due representation, it was resolved, soon after the organization of the Convention, that the Surgeon-General of the Army, the senior surgeon of the Navy, stationed at Washington, and those Members of Congress who were practitioners of medicine, should be invited to participate in the proceedings.
In compliance with this invitation, the Surgeon-General, the senior naval surgeon, and three Members of Congress took their seats in the Convention, thus recruiting the number of the delegates to thirteen. The Convention appointed a Committee of Revision, consisting of a Chairman and two members from each of the following cities, viz.: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charleston, Lexington, and Cincinnati.
The Chairman of the Committee was requested to open a correspondence with the several members for the purpose of submitting to their examination a revised draft of the Pharmacopoeia presented to the Convention by the delegates from Pennsylvania. He was also instructed to call a meeting of the Committee in Philadelphia. Any three members were constituted, a quorum for the transaction of business, and, after a careful examination of the several communications that might be submitted to them, they were to prepare a revised edition of the Pharmacopoeia, and make the necessary arrangements for its publication.
The Committee performed the duty imposed upon them, and their revision of the Pharmacopoeia was published in Philadelphia in 1831.
Previous to adjournment, the Convention arranged for a Convention in 1840, by the following resolution: Resolved, That the President of this Convention shall, on the first day of January, 1839, issue a notice, requesting the different incorporated State Medical Societies, the incorporated Medical Colleges, and the incorporated Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, throughout the United States, to elect a number of delegates, not exceeding three, to attend a General Convention to be held at Washington, D. C., on the first Monday in January, 1840.
The plan of the New York Convention for a revision of the Pharmacopoeia in 1835 was subsequently abandoned. The plan of the Washington Convention for a revision in 1840 was quite generally recognized as the more feasible, and was fully carried out.
The notices for the choice of delegates to the Convention of 1840 were issued by Lewis Condict, M.D., President of the Washington Convention of 1830, in accordance with the resolution quoted above. The Convention assembled at Washington on the first day of January, 1840, twenty delegates being present, representing the Rhode Island Medical Society, the New Jersey Medical Society, the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia, the Delaware Medical Society, the Washington University of Baltimore, the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland, the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, the Columbian Medical College, the Vincennes Medical Society of Indiana, and the Medical Society of Georgia.
The credentials of delegates from the Medical Society of Vermont, the Medical Society of New Hampshire, the Albany Medical College, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lexington, Kentucky, were presented, but the delegates did not make their appearance during the session. Lewis Condict, M.D., of New Jersey, was elected President.
With the view of giving the various medical interests of the country proper representation in the Convention, the Surgeon-General of the Army and the senior naval surgeon at Washington, were invited to participate in the proceedings. The Convention appointed a Committee of Revision and Publication, consisting of seven members, three to form a quorum, and the meetings of the Committee to be held at Philadelphia. To this Committee were referred all communications received by the Convention from the various organizations represented. The Committee was authorized to request the co-operation of the colleges of pharmacy in the United States, and to publish the work after the completion of the revision. Valuable assistance was rendered the Committee by the Colleges of Pharmacy of Boston, New Yorli:, and Philadelphia, especially by the latter. The book was not published until early in the year 1842. In this revision the Latin version was omitted. The process of displacement or percolation was introduced for the first time.
Before adjourning, provision was made, by the following resolution, for a Convention in 1850:
"The President of this Convention shall, on the first day of May, 1849, issue a notice, requesting the several incorporated State Medical Societies, the incorporated Medical Colleges, the incorporated Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and the incorporated Colleges of Pharmacy, throughout the United States, to elect a number of delegates, not exceeding three, to attend a General Convention to be held at Washington, on the first Monday in May, 1850."
In accordance with this resolution, the Convention met at Washington, May 6, 1850, thirty delegates being present, representing: the Rhode Island Medical Society; the Geneva Medical College; the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York; the Medical Society Of New Jersey; the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia; the University of Pennsylvania; the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia; the Medical Faculty of the Pennsylvania College ; the Medico-Chirurgical College of -Philadelphia; the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy; the Medical Society of Delaware; the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of -Maryland; the Medical Society of the District of Columbia; the National Medical College, of the District of Columbia; the Medical Department of the National Institute; the Georgetown Medical College, and the Rush Medical College, of Chicago.
The credentials of delegates from the New Hampshire -Medical Institution; 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; the Wisconsin State Medical Society, and the Medical Faculty of the University of Iowa were presented, but the delegates did not make their appearance during the session.
Geo. B. Wood, M.D., of Philadelphia, was chosen President. The Surgeon-General of the Army and the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy Department were invited to participate in the proceedings.
The Convention appointed a Committee of Revision and Publication, consisting of the President of the Convention and three other members, three of whom should form a quorum; the meetings of the Committee to be in Philadelphia, and the Committee to publish the work after its revision.
The book was published in 1851 and a second edition in 1855. Before adjourning, the Convention of 1850 made arrangements for a Convention to be held on the first Wednesday in May, 1860, by a resolution similar to the one adopted by the Convention of 1840.
The Convention met in 1860, thirty delegates being present, representing: the Maine Medical Association ; the Massachusetts Medical Society; the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy; the Connecticut State Medical Society; the Medical Society of the State of New York; the New York Academy of Medicine; the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York; the University of Pennsylvania; the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia; the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia; the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy; the Delaware State Medical Society; the University of Maryland ; the Maryland College of Pharmacy; the National Medical College, of Washington; the Medical Society of the District of Columbia; the United States Army, and the United States Navy. Geo. B. Wood, M.D., of Philadelphia, was chosen President.
A Committee of Revision and Publication was appointed, consisting of nine members, including the President of the Convention. To this Committee were referred all communications relating to the revision of the Pharmacopoeia. Three members were to form a quorum. The Committee was to meet in Philadelphia, and was authorized to publish the work after its revision. The book was published in June, 1863. Before adjourning, the Convention made arrangements, by a resolution similar to the resolution adopted by the Convention of 1850, for a Convention in 1870.
In accordance with this resolution, a Convention met in Washington, Wednesday, May 4, 1870, sixty delegates being present, representing: the St. Louis Medical College ; the Maryland College of Pharmacy; the Missouri Medical College; the St. Louis College of Pharmacy; the Chicago College of Pharmacy; the Jefferson Medical College; the Medical Society of the District of Columbia; the Medical College of Virginia; the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy; the Medical Society of the State of New York; the College of Physicians, of Philadelphia; the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York; the National Medical College, of Washington; the University of Pennsylvania; the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy; the College of Pharmacy of Baldwin University; the Medico-Chirurgical Society, of Louisville ; the Baltimore Medical Association ; the Medical Department of Georgetown College; the United States Army; the United States Navy; the Washington University, of Baltimore; the Massachusetts Medical Society ; the Maine Medical Association ; the University of Buffalo ; the Medical and Chirurgical Society of Maryland; the Baltimore Medical Association; the University of Nashville; the University of Maryland; the Pharmaceutical College of Howard University, the University of Virginia, and the Woman's Medical College, of Philadelphia.
Such Members of Congress as were graduates of regular medical schools, the Surgeon-General of the Army, and the Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery of the Navy Department, were invited to take seats in the Convention and participate in its deliberations. Joseph Carson, M.D., of Philadelphia, was elected President of the Convention.
A Committee of Revision and Publication, consisting of fifteen members, was appointed and given definite instructions as to the general plan to be followed in revising the Pharmacopoeia.
Before adjourning, it was resolved that the rules adopted by the Convention of 1860, for the meeting of 1870, be adopted for the Convention of 1880, simply changing the dates. The fifth revision of the Pharmacopoeia was published in 1873.
* Previous to that time, European: Pharmacopoeias were chiefly used as authorities, although, to supply the need for standards better suited to the requirements of this country, a Pharmacopoeia had been published by the Massachusetts Medical, Society in 1808, and another, by the New York Hospital, in 1816.
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