Official Preparation. Emplǎstrum Ichthyocollæ-Emplastri Ichthyocollæ-Isinglass Plaster(COURT PLASTER). Physiological Action and Therapeutics.-Isinglass is emollient, demulcent, and protective, and possesses nutritive properties. Isinglass plaster is commonly employed to protect abraded surfaces and slight cuts of the skin. It should be moistened with pure water and never with saliva. Lycopodium-Lycopōdii-Lycopodium. U. S. P. Origin. The spores of Lycopodium clavatum L. and of other species of Lycopodium, low-creeping perennials found in dry woods distributed over the greater portion of the globe. Description and Properties.-A fine powder, pale yellowish, very mobile, inodorous, tasteless, floating upon water and not wetted by it, but sinking on being boiled with it, and burning quickly when thrown into a flame. Under the microscope the spores are seen to be sphæro-tetrahedral, the surfaces marked with reticulated ridges, and the edges beset with short projections. Lycopodium contains a fixed oil and a minute quantity of a volatile base, methylamine. Used principally externally. Physiological Action and Therapeutics.-Lycopodium is an admirable protective, and possesses great power of absorbing oils. Its lightness, dryness, and absorptive power render it an excellent dusting powder for excoriated surfaces, eczema, herpes, intertrigo erysipelas, superficial ulcers, etc. Its peculiar property of not being wetted with water makes it a valuable protective to prevent irritation or chafing caused by the urine or alvine dejections of infants. The drug is used as a basis for insufflations and in pharmacy to prevent the adhesion of pills. PRESCRIPTIONS. A PRESCRIPTION (L. præ, for; scribo, I write) is an order on the pharmacist to compound for the patient certain medicines intended to meet the requirements of the individual case. Considering it as an order, therefore, it should begin with the Name of the person for whom it is designed and the Date on which it is written. In some cases it may be advisable to omit the name, but the date should never be omitted. The date is often indicated by the calendar number, instead of the name of the month, thus: 3. | March, 3d month | 10. | day of the month | '96. | year |. Unfortunately, there is no uniform usage in this respect, some persons writing the number and others the day of the month first, so that a druggist unfamiliar with the custom of the physician could not know whether 3. 10. '96. meant March 10th or October 3d of the year. The Latin numerals are also employed to designate the month: III. 10. '96. To avoid all chance of error, it is best to abbreviate the month or write it in full: March 10, 1896. The importance of the date is manifest from its value to the physician or pharmacist as a reference, and the possibility of its evidence being required in medico-legal contingencies. After the name and date comes the prescription proper, the name of the article required or the ingredients in case of a mixture. In the latter instance the various ingredients are written in a certain order or sequence with reference to their medicinal action or importance, which usually is also in accord with their pharmaceutical requirements for satisfactory dispensing. For the purpose of examination a regular prescription may be divided into six parts: 1. The name of the patient and the date of the order; 2. The superscription, or heading, indicated by the symbol R, standing for the Latin word Recipe, "take;" 3. The inscription, expressing the names and quantities of the ingredients; 4. The subscription, being instructions to the pharmacist or compounder; 5. The signature, containing directions to the patient or attendant; 6. The Name of the Physician. Here the small numeral or exponent, ', is the superscription; 2, the inscription; 3, the subscription; *, the signature. A typical prescription consists of a formula of four divisions: The Basis, or principal active agent; The Adjuvant, or auxiliary, to aid the action of the Basis; The Corrective, to correct or modify its action; The Vehicle, to give proper form or taste to the whole. Each ingredient should have a separate line, although it is not necessary that all prescriptions should include the above complete formula. COMBINATION OF DRUGS. In writing a prescription we assume that it is intended, as should always be the case, to fulfil a single therapeutic purpose only; and we are to decide first, whether the medicine shall be administered in a solid or in a liquid form; and second, whether a single medicine shall be prescribed or a combination of remedies. The drug upon which we base our expectations of success, the Basis of the inscription, should always be written first, and this drug may be the only one required. Frequently, however, some other drug is necessary to assist the action of the Basis, which substance would be the Adjuvant (Lat. adjuvare, to assist). No general rule can be laid down in this matter. The course to pursue will depend entirely upon the therapeutic indication, the physiological action of the drug, and the idiosyncrasies of the patient. The tendency to-day, among many able therapeutists and clinicians, is to prescribe single drugs or simple combinations, while the prescriptions of former times are good examples of polypharmacy. There is, at all events, danger in going to the extreme of sacrificing therapeutic efficiency to simplicity of form and elegant pharmacy; and it must be confessed that such compounds as Warburg's tinc 1 In ancient times it was customary to preface a prescription with a pious invocation to Jupiter or some guardian deity. These prayers were finally abbreviated, until they came to be expressed by the simple astronomical sign 2, symbol of the planet Jupiter. The upright stroke across the letter R heading modern prescriptions is a curious relic of the above heathen usage condensed in the planetary sign. ture and the bolus prescribed by Dr. Graves in the treatment of dropsical patients prove the efficacy of polypharmacy in many The hackneyed rule of Asclepiades that medicines should always be so combined as to cure quickly, safely, and pleasantly (curare, cito, tuto, et jucunde) has resulted in the adoption of the above form of inscription. The theoretical prescriber writes by rule, religiously avoids incompatibles, and would be shocked by, and have little respect for, a physician who should deliberately include in the same prescription the names of substances directly antagonistic to each other physiologically. The subject will be further discussed hereafter. As a general rule, we prescribe only one drug to provoke emesis, and a combination of several if we wish a diuretic. A purgative is usually multiple, but if the selection be castor oil or croton oil, it will be single. After we have selected the Basis, or chief ingredient, of our prescription, the next point to determine is whether we can add anything which will in any manher be of real assistance to that Basis. This ingredient, or Adjuvant, as it is called-has usually a physiological action similar to that produced by combining two cathartics or two diuretics acting upon different portions of the intestines or kidneys. Sometimes, however, an Adjuvant may differ in its effects-as sulphuric acid serves as an Adjuvant to quinine, by favoring its absorption and thereby hastening and increasing its action, as mercury assists the action of squills upon the kidneys, or iron acts as an Adjuvant to a cardiac stimulant. The Adjuvant, as a rule, should not be directly opposed in its action to that of the Basis, as chloral is to strychnine, a diuretic to a diaphoretic, or a typical cardiac stimulant to a cardiac depressant. Having chosen the Adjuvant, the next point to consider is whether the action of the drugs selected may not be rendered more kindly through the addition of some other substance as a corrective. A substance may be added which will correct some disagreeable effect of the active agents by producing a medicinal impression upon the patient. Extract of belladonna or hyoscyamus relieves the griping occasioned by some of the more violent cathartics, like podophyllin, and other well-known instances of this kind are those of the aromatic spirit of ammonia, which mitigates the unpleasant symptoms of iodism, and hydrobromic acid, which lessens the untoward action of quinine. Again, a corrective may act by producing some chemical effect upon the Basis—as salicylic acid is rendered more soluble and less irritating by combining it with sodium carbonate or bicarbonate, forming the sodium salicylate. Great care and thought should be given not only to the Basis, Adjuvant, and Corrective, but also to the Vehicle, which claims equal attention. A prescription is often rendered more kindly, and no less efficient, through the medium of some substance producing a more agreeable taste. It is a mistaken idea that medicines, in order to be effective, should be repulsive to the patient. The homeopath's success is largely due to the very agreeable taste of his remedies. The mere caprice of the patient, however, should not be considered in the choice of a remedy when, in the best judgment of the physician, it is indicated. Still, it is well to study carefully the art of prescribing agreeable doses, so far as may be compatible with fidelity to science. It is to be noted that pleasantness of taste is far more important in the case of fluids than in that of solids. Aromatic elixirs, syrups, aromatic waters, etc. are in frequent use as Vehicles, yet it must be remembered that oftentimes a sensitive patient repudiates sweets and syrupy mixtures. In many cases simple syrup or pure water serves, after all, as the best vehicle, although the physician's choice must be governed mainly by experience. It will be observed that in the body of the present work, in the majority of cases, the method of administration is fully explained. It may here be noted that liquids are much more readily absorbed than solids, yet adults usually prefer to take medicines in the solid form, such as pills, capsules, powders, and tablets. In illness the patient's condition is often such that the gastric and intestinal secretions are greatly reduced, and there may not be sufficient fluid to dissolve the solid, so as to render it in a condition to be absorbed. It frequently happens, for instance, that pills are voided with the |