insulted and I will not render like for like. There exists no invective and no sarcasm in the lexicon which could touch me in such a controversy. I appeal from the libel of the Professor of the Gerveson School of Philadelphia to the sense of those whom I do not know, and who do not know me, nor have any personal interest in me, but interest only in my ideas. The teachings of both great universities are destined to be heard not only by their pupils, but by the medical profession at large. I am too serious. to humble myself or to be unassuming. I beg those in whose hands life or death is laid, to hear me for this once. I ask no personal favor. I only ask for the sake of those whose lives are in danger until a more powerful voice than mine shall plead for them. Everyone who disregards my teaching and causes destruction thereby has to ask the Lord to be forgiven, for men cannot forgive him." This dignified and kindly language forms a contrast to the abusive expressions of his opponents. The two noble men, the German and the American, were not aware of each other's publications until later, certainly not before the year 1861.-Post-Graduate. CARE IN WRITING AND IN FILLING PRESCRIPTIONS. From Charlestown, Mass., comes another warning to physicians to write their prescriptions plainly, and to druggists to be absolutely certain that they have read the prescription aright before attempting to fill it. A physician prescribed "laxol," a preparation of castor oil and peppermint, and the druggist dispensed "lysol." The patient died, and the druggist is being sued for $10,000 damages, notwithstanding that the doctor who performed the autopsy reported that the patient had died of pneumonia, and that if the lysol had had any effect it was of a subsidiary nature. GO NAKED. No, not in the streets. That would be inconvenient. Our effete civilization would not permit it. But personally I am. convinced that many of our bodily ills are due to the fact that from the cradle to the grave, our body is hardly ever permitted. to come in direct contact with the life giving rays of the sun and the ether of the atmosphere. Make it a rule to go about naked-in your own room-for an hour or at least half an hour every day. You can do it when you get up in the morning or on going to bed. Do it for a month and note the difference. No, you won't catch cold. ON Prescription Incompatibilities and Difficulties This very potent prescription, which again illustrates the reprehensible desire of some physicians to get half a dozen physiologic effects out of the same bottle, was presented to a druggist a few days ago. He knew enuf to refuse to dispense it as written and to inform the prescriber that it would make a dangerous combination. The bromides of gold and mercury present in mereauro will precipitate the alkaloids. 163.-Hydrogenii Perox...... Ac. Chromici........ S.: Caustic. For doctor's use only. 10.0 1.0 The doctor could just as well have allowed this "caustic" into the patient's hands, as it was no longer caustic and was powerless for harm or for good. This prescription illustrates beautifully the remarkable property of hydrogen peroxide to exercise first its oxidizing, then its reducing power on the same substance. On mixing the above substances a blue color is at once formed, due to the oxidation of the chromic acid (chromic trioxide) into perchromic acid (chromic pentoxide), but soon the blue color disappears, and a brownish amorphous powder precipitates. This precipitate is chromium sesquioxide, formed by the reduction of the perchromic acid. The following two reactions make the changes plain : This evolution of oxygen is quite abundant, as can be demonstrated by applying a glowing match to the mouth of the bottle or test-tube. In one week the writer received two prescriptions like the above; they both came from Brooklyn pharmacists, and originated from the same physician. On dissolving the salts and mixing the solutions, a brownish-red precipitate forms, consisting of mercury oxychloride, with probably some mercury borate. There is no mercury left in the supernatant liquid, as is shown by applying the various tests for mercury. How can this precipitation be prevented? We studied the properties of borax and its behavior with glycerin in previous prescriptions. We know that glycerin decomposes into boric acid and sodium metaborate. On adding some glycerin to the solution of the borax and then adding the corrosive sublimate, no red precipitate will be formed. In fact, it might seem at first that with this modification the prescription is all right. But it is not. After a short while a slight whitish precipitate will be found thruout the liquid and at the bottom of the vessel. Whether this is mercury metaborate, or whether it is due to the impurities present in commercial borax, has not been determined; the prescription should not be dispensed. The only way out of the difficulty is to substitute boric acid for borax; on mixing HgCl, with a solution of boric acid, a perfectly clear solution is obtained, and one that remains so indefinitely. The first ingredient is sugar of lead, or lead acetate; the second, potassium iodide; the third, syrup of violets (a syrup well known in Europe and prepared from the fresh flowers of viola odorata, our "sweet-blue" violet); and the fourth, spring water. It does not require much knowledge of chemistry to be aware of the fact that the first two ingredients are incompatible. Lead iodide precipitates. The reaction is as follows: Pb (C2H3O2)2 + 2KI = PbI2 + 2KC2H3O2. Where the potassium iodide is greatly in excess over the lead acetate, the precipitate will redissolve, as lead iodide is soluble in a concentrated solution of potassium iodide forming a double iodide of potassium and lead. (To be Continued.) The recent annual commencement of the New York College of Pharmacy at Carnegie Music Hall, was a very nice and impressive affair. There were good music, flowers, decorations, speeches, and all that sort of thing; and the graduates in cap and gown, filing down the aisles with measured tread, made an imposing picture, as did the various dignitaries on the platform. But there was the same spreading out of details by the different functionaries that goes to make these affairs somewhat tiresome. The people in attendance are satisfied, for instance, to learn that a certain student has won a gold medal for the best examination in general chemistry, but they hardly have the inclination to go over the whole course with him, as some of the medal awarders would have them do. Cut it shorter, gentlemen, and the reserved seats will be taken early. With the newspapers of Massachusetts recording daily the unseemly struggle of the druggists of that state to obtain licenses of one class or another to sell liquor and thus creating a popular impression that the trade in liquor must form a very important part of the druggists' business in the old Bay Statethe name of one of their number stands out brightly, that of Wm. Miller Bartlett, of Salem. He says he not only doesn't want a liquor license, but wouldn't accept it if it were offered him. He conducts his drug business successfully without selling intoxicants. A license to sell liquor on the prescription of a physician is the only one a druggist has any business with. Any other license. makes the drug-store in part a "gin mill," and operates against "raising the standard of pharmacy," of which we hear so much nowadays. The lackadaisical, or even hostile attitude of the druggists in certain localities toward the N. A. R. D. is hard to understand, in the face of the steady progress of the National Association in bettering conditions in other localities where the druggists are willing to put Pithy Comments on Things Pharmaceutical. their shoulders to the wheel. When firms like Smith, Kline & French, of Philadelphia, or Peter Van Schaack & Sons, of Chicago, are called to account for "inadvertence," or something else, in selling cutters, and promise not to offend thereafter, it seems as if there must be a good deal of horse-power in the N. A. R. D., the use of which should be worth the full $2 dues charged, and of which the druggists of all communities have need. It's a blind man who can't see, too, that the National Association has possibilities beyond the mere control of "patent-medicine" prices. * The completion of fifty continuous years as proprietor or part proprietor in the drug business, is the event just celebrated by Chas. W. Snow, head of the wholesale house of C. W. Snow & Co., Syracuse. We doubt if any man could make such a record unless he had adhered pretty rigidly to principles of right living-had kept his body sound, his mind cultivated, and been just and fair in his dealings with his fellowmen. ** * * The M. J. Breitenbach Co., proprietors of Pepto-Mangan, has won its suit against the Siegel-Cooper Co., which is restrained from making use of the words Pepto-Manganate, or any term similar to Pepto-Mangan, in connection with the advertisement or sale of any preparation, excepting only that of the plaintiff. This should have a deterrent effect on those who would trade in misleading names that approximate those given to preparations made popular by others, and should cause the man who means to be honest to be very careful in his selection of a trade name. The result of the suit is considered a great victory for the M. J. Breitenbach Co. * Ex-President J. L. Parker, of the Alabama Pharmaceutical Association, is a stanch believer in a pharmacist's having a good general, as well as a professional, education. In his brilliant address at the recent convention of his association, he said that the educated, practical, and honest pharmacist is in greater demand than ever, but he wasn't to be had for $50-only $100 and up men could do the work satisfactorily. One of his gems of advice is that pharmacists should provide themselves with the best drug journals, and study the recognized authorities, so that they may avoid vexatious delays while vainly hunting for information. * * The tendency in Connecticut toward an increase of drug-stores and a decrease of saloons is pregnant with significance, says a Hartford paper, which shows that while in ten years the number of liquor licenses in Hartford had decreased by thirty-three, the number of drug licenses had increased by twenty-three, mostly in the suburban districts. The contention is that it is comparatively easy to secure a license to establish a drug-store in the residential district where an application for a liquor license would develop strong neighborhood opposition. The Hartford Druggists' Association could do no more useful work than help root out "blindpigs' or else publicly refute the aspersions cast upon the druggists of the city. Samuel Van Buren Swann, secretary of the Manhattan Pharmac Association, suggested at a meeting of that body, recently that druggists keep on their counters-presumably for the moral effect on patrons a copy of the article on "The Patent Medicine Curse," which appeared in the "Ladies' Home Journal," That is a very good suggestion, but the Squibber begs to remind his friend Swann that the suggestion is not original. The Squibber has seen many editorials from the Critic and Guide pasted on the show cases, or even on the windows. And many druggists order from ten to fifty copies of a special issue, to distribute among their customers. "Johnny Bodkins to see you, sir." "All right, let him in." "Hello, Johnny, what is it?" "Mamma wants to know is she to take the medicine plain or in water?" "In water, certainly, Johnny." This positively spoken decision is important in medicine, even though the water, in this instance, is of no possible importance. Johnny leaves only to return in ten minutes in great excitement. "When I got home, doctor, mamma had just taken her medicine without water. She says what should she do?" "Tell her, my boy, that it doesn't matter this one time-its' all right!" Exit Johnny once more. Scarcely has the doctor resumed his writing, however, when in walks Mr. Johnny Sr. who remarks that there seems to be some misunderstanding about the medicine, greeting the doctor very coldly at the same time. Despite the doctor's assurance that it is all right he declines to be reassured, and is only satisfied when the doctor finally drops his work and goes over to visit his wife. S. W. B. |