[Pharmacopoeia and veterinary medicine].

The A recalls briefly the evolution of the veterinary pharmacopoeias. They were at first national and became later international. The A. describes the situation of the veterinary drugs and of their inclusion in the national pharmacopoeias, as far as the European countries are concerned. Are we supposed to assign to them, because of their specificity, a special section in the pharmacopoeia or should we set up a special pharmacopoeia for them? In view of the effects they have on public health should we incorporate them into the pharmacopoeia in the same forms as the human drugs? The A. relates the arguments in favor of each of these points of view. Whichever the decision will be taken to solve this problem, the A. emphasizes the usefulness of the insertion of veterinary drugs in a pharmacopoeia, because of the improper use that some countries make of this type of drugs and because of the consequences this use can possibily have on public health.