British Pharmacopoeia


Pharmacopeia

, Pharmacopoeia (far'mă-kō-pē'ă), A work containing monographs of therapeutic agents, standards for their strength and purity, and their formulations. The various national pharmacopeias are referred to by abbreviations, of which the following are the most frequently encountered: USP, the Pharmacopeia of the United States of America (United States Pharmacopeia); BP, British Pharmacopoeia; Codex medicamentarius, the French Pharmacopeia; I.C. Add. (or BA), the Indian and Colonial Addendum to the BP; IP, International Pharmacopeia; Pharmacopeia Austr., the Austrian Pharmacopeia; Ph.G., the German Pharmacopeia (D.A.B.); Pharmacopeia Helv., the Swiss Pharmacopeia. The first edition of the USP was compiled in 1820 and was made a legal standard by the terms of the National Food and Drugs Act in January 1907. [G. pharmakopoiia, fr. pharmakon, a medicine, + poieo, to make]