Each general chapter is assigned a number that appears in brackets adjacent to the chapter name (e.g.,á621ñChromatography).Articles recognized in these compendia must comply with the official standards and tests and assays in the General Notices,relevant monographs,and General Chapters numbered below 1000.General Chapters numbered above 1000are considered interpretive and are intended to provide information on,give definition to,or describe a particular subject.They contain no official standards,tests,assays,or other mandatory requirements applicable to any pharmacopeial article unless specifically referenced in a monograph or elsewhere in the pharmacopeia.

The use of the general chapter numbers is encouraged for identification of and rapid access to general tests and information.It is especially helpful where monograph section headings and chapter names are not the same (e.g.,Ultraviolet Absorption á197Uñin a monograph refers to method á197Uñunder general tests chapter á197ñSpectrophotometric Identification Tests;Specific rotation á781Sñin a monograph refers to method á781Sñunder general tests chapter á781ñOptical Rotation;and Calcium á191ñin a monograph refers to the tests for Calciumunder general tests chapter á191ñIdentification Tests—General).