Excerpt from Annual Reports of the Chemical Laboratory, Vol. 8: Of the American Medical Association The scope of the work of the Chemical Laboratory of the American Medical Association has been described in previous volumes, but to prevent misapprehension it seems worth while to review its activities again here. The Laboratory was established primarily to aid the Association's Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry in determining the character and quality of the proprietary and unofficial medicaments offered to the medical profession. As a part of this duty, the Laboratory examines the various preparations which are proposed for inclusion in the Council's publication, "New and Nonofficial Remedies," and also other medicinal preparations regarding which it is deemed important that the medical profession be informed. Since its establishment in 1906, the sphere of the Laboratory's activities has constantly widened. Thus it supplies information on chemical topics to various departments of The Journal - Queries and Minor Notes and the Propaganda Department, for instance. In particular, it has devoted much time during recent years to the analysis of "patent medicines" and quack nostrums, thus furnishing material for the campaign of the Propaganda Department of The Journal in the interests of public health. The reports of the Laboratory are published in order that its findings may be readily available to those who are interested in the composition of medicines, namely, drug analysts, food and drug authorities, pharmacists. and others. The methods of analysis, when believed to be of interest, are reported in detail in the hope that this information may be of help to those engaged in drug analysis. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.