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PHARMACY IN THE PHILIPPINES.

Interesting Description of the Filipino Druggist, His Stock, and His Methods-The Inferior Practice of Both Pharmacy and Medicine-Opportunity Presented for American

Pharmacists and Physicians.

American and other druggists and chemists will some day enrich themselves by catering to the enormous trade for drugs and chemicals in the Philippine Islands. America will eventually profit most by the opening up of the Philippines, if Americans take advantage of the wonderful opportunities which are now presenting themselves in rotation in nearly every line of business in the commercial world. American goods have always been the favorite in the Philippines, for the reason that the Spanish goods are ordinarily inferior in make and deceptive, while the goods from England, Germany, and Russia are too costly. Japan has a good field of operations in these islands, but the average Filipino despises the Chinaman and will not patronize either Japanese or Chinese goods unless compelled to do so. American goods, which are usually sold here at prices which are not exorbitant, and the goods themselves being reliable as a rule, are in the best demand, and this demand extends to the field of drugs and chemicals. In the plan of reaching the people of the Philippines for the sale of this line of goods, several questions are essential for investigation. These are: First, the type of drug and chemical store at present in existence; description of the market for the goods; some of the best localities for the distribution of the drugs and chemicals, transportation, prices, profits, etc.

TYPE OF DRUG STORE IN THE ISLANDS.

As to the first consideration referred to, the present type of drug and chemical store in the Philippines, these are very deficient. In Manila there are several fairly good drug stores in which a moderate line of drugs and general medicines are carried, also certain descriptions of chemicals for supplying the dye trade and the like. In Iloilo there are two so-called drug stores in which a limited stock of drugs and chemicals are carried in each. In all of the other large cities of the islands, possibly twenty-five to thirty, there are little one-horse shacks in which the proprietor keeps on hand a few dollars' worth of medicines, nearly all of which are in an advanced stage of deterioration due to the length of time kept in stock in a hot climate or to the defective means for caring for the same. In one instance, for example, I noticed that the corks in nearly all of the bottles were made of bamboo, and the ants had eaten into the wood and made airholes through which air could penetrate and alter the medicines.

Then in the hundreds of towns of the islands, there are as a rule no means whatever for furnishing the

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THE STOCK OF THE FILIPINO DRUGGIST.

A stranger in one of the cities, towns, or barrios of the islands might go for a long time without finding any indications of drug supplies. Those familiar with the methods of the dealers in medicines can find these venders of drugs in some of the worst sections of the town, hidden away often in their own homes, without any indication of having medicines for sale, and it is necessary to rouse the proprietor from other occupations or from sleep in order to make a purchase. On entering one of these medicine stores one will see some bamboo stands, some boxes, much waste nipa strewn about, some leaves and roots hung to the walls, and, scattered here and there, a few bottles of important medicines, some vials, and that is about all. There are no nicely arranged shelves containing an assortment of drugs as in America. Possibly five dollars in gold would buy out the complete outfit of the druggist. These Filipino druggists have no right to be in the business; they not only fail to carry anything worth having in stock, but they are filthy in their habits, and, in the event of treating a sick native, they will use certain utensils in mixing and giving the drugs, and these utensils are seldom cleaned after using. All of the bottles I saw in every drug store outside of Manila and Iloilo were covered with cobwebs and dust. All glasses were overrun with ants. Vermin were in the packages of stuffs, and the sights were enough to make the well sick. All sweepings from the floor, if perchance the floor is ever swept, are brushed into a corner. The floor is ordinarily the earth itself and is soaked with the refuse liquids of years. It would be a good thing for the country if all the drug stores outside of Manila, Iloilo, and some of the larger cities and towns were burned.

THE ILL TREATMENT OF PATIENTS.

The ordinary run of so-called druggists and drug clerks of the mountainous sections of the Philippines, particularly in places where but few white men have ever been, often ill treat patients who come to them for medicines and treatment. I have seen natives ill and huddled in a corner of the drug shop in pain and ridiculed by the owner of the store. In the event of the patient hav

ing money in abundance the treatment served is of the best, while the common herd must receive only blows and ridicule. I have seen wounded natives brought in from the front after conflicts with the Americans, and these wounded men are not only poorly treated by the incompetent medicine men, but they are often abused. I saw one native soldier brought into a drug store with a Mauser bullet hole through the thighs of both legs. The bullet had passed out and left a clean, small hole, as these little steel balls will do. But instead of applying the right treatment, the native surgeons who had been called in bound up the wounds without removing the foreign matter, and left the patient in the corner on the floor. The occupants of the store seemed amused at his sufferings. Soon an American surgeon of one of the regiments came along. He first kicked all of the native druggists and doctors out of the place, removed the defective bandaging of the ill-trained natives, cleaned out the wounds, and proceeded in the proper way to fit his patient for transportation to the hospital.

I have seen women with slight pains or injuries come into these native drug stores for medicines which if provided would bring relief promptly. But as a rule the medicines are not to be had, and if they were the proprietor would not deal them out unless he were sure that the sick woman possessed sufficient money to pay for them at a very great advance on the original price. I have seen medicines which in the United States would be dealt out in liberal quantities for a small sum, weighed in the balance with silver coin-that is, just as much of the inferior brand of excessively adulterated medicines are weighed on as will evenly balance a 25- or 50-cent silver piece, whereas the medicine so provided may be worth only a few cents. The druggist of the Philippines who owns a store in the jungle, so to speak, or away from the influences of the American garrisons in the cities and towns, not only deals out inferior medicines, but he makes them go a great ways by diluting them liberally with other liquids. I have seen cough medicine bottles opened here, one bottle of the medicine made into two bottles by adding ordinary rain water, and the bottles then corked up and sold at about three times the price on the label.

DEATH-RATES ARE HIGH.

Under the prevailing conditions in which this country has been for the past two or three hundred years, it is not remarkable that the percentage of deaths in all of the cities, towns, and barrios has been excessive. The people have never had the proper treatment from surgeons, for the reason that there are very few trained and properly educated surgeons of native birth on the islands. What few there are usually stay in Manila, Iloilo, or other large places, where they have all the business they can attend to. I am acquainted with several of these experienced surgeons of the Philip

pines, and in conversation with them I have learned that they had received their education and training in Spain. But the number of these men is so limited that it is hardly worth counting them in the long run. For every man that is well trained in medicine and surgery, there are probably 100 to 200 inferior doctors who have had no training whatever. There is no effective drainage in the Philippines, and sanitary methods are such that the results are defective and the consequences serious. The death lists are heavy everywhere. Since the Americans arrived here they have had hundreds of native laborers at work cutting drains to drain sections of thickly populated lands which were never drained before. Houses and yards have been cleaned out, streets graded and made more healthful, so that at the present time there is a great improvement in conditions and considerable reduction in death-rates all through the islands. But the lack of trained surgeons and the deficiency of the proper medicines make it impossible to carry the good work to its end.

LACK OF DRUGS SERIOUS.

There will be no permanent improvement in the health conditions of these islands until more drugs are shipped here for the treatment of the sick. There are cases going on record every day indicating certain deaths which might have been averted if the proper medicines had been at hand for use in time. The lack of medicines and the negligence of what few surgeons there are is disastrous to the people. The fact that the few trained surgeons are constantly overrun with business, of course makes them negligent of the poorer patients, and it is the latter classes that need the treatment the most, for the reason that they are not provided with the comforts of a home, as in the case of the rich. There are hundreds of thousands of shifting population in the islands, people who go about like gypsies, and these represent the poorer of the land; when ill, they must usually die for the want of a few cents' worth of drugs. Children die in large numbers for lack of medicines. In every city and town of the islands, many children die annually without having had any medical attendance whatever. The case often is that the people have money, but make no attempt to purchase medicines, for the reason that they are aware that none can be obtained of the right kind. The people of the islands have never had any medicines in any decent stocks provided, and therefore do not know that such stocks exist as may be seen in American drug

stores.

If the average Filipino were to see one of the neat, well-equipped, modern drug stores of New York City, he would take it for a palace, and worship it. He is used to seeing a few greasy bottles and boxes in filth, and this is his idea of the model drug store.

EXCELLENT OPENING FOR AMERICAN PHARMACISTS.

Of course, the surgeons of the American forces in the islands are doing all they can to help out serious cases among the natives, and many a native owes his life to the medical staff of the U. S. Army. But the surgeons of the regiments are busy with the soldiers, and they are not permitted to consume valuable time or medicines among the natives, unless it be in the event of a native soldier who has been wounded in battle with the troops. Therefore, there is a grand chance here for American drug stores. As to the location, Manila is pretty well provided, and so is Iloilo, as two or three drug stores have been opened in the latter place recently, and all are doing more business than they can possibly handle. It does not appear to matter how much or how often they order supplies from the United States or other countries, they cannot manage to keep any stock on hand. They no sooner receive a consignment of drugs or chemicals, than the entire lot is ordered and purchased, high prices being paid in each case, and the stock is cleared out while one is looking at it. What is wanted is a good big lot of the drugs and chemicals, and not a few batches of the different kinds.

Outside of Manila and Iloilo, there are a large number of flourishing cities, which have been quite Americanized during the past year by American soldiers, and there are wonderfully good openings in these cities for drug stores. Then there are the towns. The towns are usually as large as the average American city, for the reason that the towns include the barrios for several miles distance, on either side.

THERE ARE GOOD CHANCES

for the establishment of stores or branch stores in these towns. There is certainly a good field presented in each, and the chances are there will be no competition for many years to come. Then as to the barrios, these are frequently of sufficient importance to provide with branch stores on a small scale. They are all through the hills of the Philippine archipelago, and in many cases a druggist could get rich within the year because of the rare metals that the natives handle and use, quite miscellaneously. In some of these barrios, in the metal districts of Panay, I noticed that the natives offered little nuggets of gold and pieces of silver, which they had found in the hills, in exchange for articles of commerce, as they possessed no money. I was offered a bolo knife for a blanket, and accepted the knife as a relic. I sent the knife home to a friend, and behold, he writes me that he took it to a jewelry store to be fixed up, and they there discovered that the metal band at the hilt was pure gold, worth $30. The natives give little pieces of gold to their children to play with and lose. There is no market for the rich metal, and the stuff is useless to the natives. If an American were to open a drug store

in a community of this kind, he would handle gold pieces instead of paper or silver money, and the many excellent bargains that would come his way would, in the course of a year, make him well off.

Philippines, the idea seems always to be to get as much As to prices of drugs and chemicals here in the as possible for everything and be satisfied with the results. I have known native dealers to start off with a very high price for an article, and accept a much lower one with satisfaction. The native druggist evidently sizes up his purchaser and sets the price accordingly. It will be some years before competition becomes so effective as to control prices here, and in the meantime those druggists who open stores can adjust the values in accordance to the circumstances. This, of course, will enable one to get on his feet quicker, and avoid failure.

SIDE DEPARTMENT.

The drug store of the Philippines can be made profitable in various ways, one of which would consist in the adoption of departments for the sale of chemicals, oils, brushes, soaps, stationery, paints, and even dyestuffs. The drug store of the towns in which your correspondent visited appeared to be the common center of attraction for the people who wanted anything. There are no postoffices outside of Manila and Iloilo, and in a number of the drug stores I noticed that they were making quite a goodly income by selling two two-cent stamps for five cents, and stamped envelopes for three cents each. Usually the purchaser of the stamps would want pens and ink or stationery, and frequently pipes and tobacco. Then, as to the handling of chemicals and dyes for the numerous dyers and weavers of fabrics, this is quite a rich business, as the profits on these lines of goods are high.

THE NATIVE CLERKS.

Although the present type of native drug clerk is more fitted for a butcher than to handle medicines, he is indispensable in the drug trade, and the American who would engage in the drug business in these islands will find it necessary to have one or more of these men about the store to deal with the native customers in their own language. In course of time, the native language would be picked up, and then there would be no necessity for the services of the native clerk.

The native clerks can be hired for 20 cents per day each, and they will provide food and lodgings for themselves. But they are a shiftless lot, and very careless in mixing medicines. They take great delight in mixing poisons for killing off the crazy, wild-cat dogs of the island that bawl and fight all night, and often will burst out in laughter in the middle of the process of compounding the poisonous drugs, at the thought of the agony to which the victim will be subjected.-Correspondence of the Oil, Paint, and Drug Reporter.

INSECTS WHICH INFEST CRUDE DRUGS.

The Destructive Creatures which Thrust Themselves on the Pharmacist's Hospitality - Some of the Ways for Getting Rid of Them.

By W. A. KNIGHT. *

The preservation of drugs from the attacks of insects is a subject to which little or no attention has been shown in this country [England], although doubtless every retailer loses a certain amount every year from the depredations of these pests. In attempting to fight these destructive creatures it is necessary first of all to know the habits and favorite food of the insect. Having acquired this knowledge the pharmacist will then be in a position to meet its attacks, and I therefore propose to-night to give a short classification of the large class of insects, indicating those which are specially harmful, and finally giving a few suggestions as to the remedies I have found most suitable.

The word insect is derived from two Latin words, in, in, and secto, I cut, the thorax being almost entirely severed from the abdomen by a constriction. The word entomology has a similar meaning, being derived from the Greek en, in, and teneo, I cut.

The group of insects forms one class of the great phylum Annulosa, which is distinguished by having a "metameric segmentation," or repeated appearance of similar parts. This segmentation is particularly well seen in the grub or larval stage of the beetles.

A true insect is defined by zoologists as "An articulated animal breathing by tracheæ, divided into three distinct portions-i. e., head, thorax, and abdomenpassing through a series of transformations, and having in the perfect or winged state six articulated legs and two antennæ." Although such animals as spiders and centipedes are usually included under insects, the above definition will show that they have no right to the title.

A typical example of an insect is the book louse, a species of Atropos. Insects are divided into several orders, of which the seven following are the most important:

1. Order Coleoptera (Gr. coleos, sheath, and pteron, wing), which comprises the beetles. The wings are covered, when not in use, by hard, horny elytra (wingcases). They have powerful, biting jaws.

2. Order Lepidoptera (lepis, scale, and pteron). This order comprises the butterflies and moths. The wings are covered with fine scales. The mouth of these insects is adapted only for sucking.

3. Order Diptera (dis, twice, and pteron). the two-winged flies, of which the common

a member.

These are These are house-fly is

4. Order Hymenoptera (hymen, membrane, and pteron). This order includes the saw-flies, the gall-flies, ants, bees, and wasps.

5. Order Heteroptera (eteros, other, and pteron). This comprises the water-fleas and bedbug. The wings are partly leathery and partly membranous.

6. Order Orthoptera (orthos, straight, and pteron). These insects have four wings, the anterior pair of which are leathery, the posterior pair folding longitudinally like a fan. The order includes the cockroaches, grasshoppers, and locusts.

7. Order Neuroptera (neuron, nerve, and pteron). This order includes the beautiful dragon-flies and stone flies. The wings are naked and reticulated with nerves.

While this classification will be found useful for obtaining the name and relations of the insect, from the pharmacist's point of view the only classification necessary is into harmless and injurious insects. Evidently only those insects which have strong biting mouths can deleteriously affect hard, dry drugs, insects with sucking mouths having a much more restricted baneful effect. To the former category belong the beetles and cockroaches, whilst the bugs and moths constitute the sucking insects. In some cases, eg., mites and ants, the mouth is adapted for both biting and sucking, and is hence injurious.

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* Read before the Chemists' Assistants' Association of London; drugs belong to the family Ptinidæ, of the N. O. Colereprinted from the Pharmaceutical Journal.

optera. They are cylindrical, pubescent insects, and eat

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Another member of the Ptinidæ, Bostrichus sp., attacks sweet almonds.

An allied family, the Cucujida, furnishes a lightbrown, flattened beetle with clubbed antennæ. It belongs to the genus Silvanus (Fig. 6), and is sometimes found in senega root and quince seed. The families Tenebrionidæ and Hesteridæ also have representatives among the pests. Tenebrio obscurus and T. mol tor are dullbrown, flattish, square - bodied beetles with extremely hard elytra which are not easily pierced with a pin.

Several weevils-Ceutorynchus sp. and Calandra oryza -are also often found in seeds; the latter, as its name implies, infests rice, whilst the former is often found in maw seeds.

The Lepidoptera are represented among the pests only by their larvæ, the adult butterfly or moth being harmless. The larvæ of this order have usually eight pairs of legs, the anterior three being thoracic and the posterior pair attached to the last segment of the body, whilst the larvæ of beetles (Fig. 4) have usually only three pairs of thoracic legs.

To this order belongs the moth, the well known grub of which causes such serious loss. It belongs to the family Tineidæ, but no member of this family is found in drugs. Gelechia cerealella, the grain moth, is another lepidopteron, which, in the larval condition, attacks wheat and other kinds of grain.

The N. O. Diptera is represented by Trypeta arnicivora, sometimes found, as its name implies, in arnica. A wingless insect, Lepisma sp. (Fig. 7), of the N. O. Thysanura, has been found in mezereon bark.

The N. O. Hymenoptera is represented by Cynips kollari (Fig. 8), often found in galls. This insect, however, belongs to the group Entomophaga (èvτoμos, insect, payɛiv, to eat), and is hence beneficial. They lay

FIG. 6. Silvanus.

FIG. 8. Cynips kollari.

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FIG. 7. Lepisma.

FIG. 9. Glyciphagus spinipes.

With regard to the remedies which may be applied, many antiseptics have been proposed. Many of the remedies are toxic, and are hence almost worse than the disease. The vapor of carbon bisulphide is fatal to insects in all stages except the egg stage. If the drugs are placed in a tightly stoppered vessel and a few drops of carbon bisulphide sufficient to charge the vessel with vapor poured in, any larva or adult beetle will be killed. After allowing time for the eggs to develop, the bottle should be again examined, and if any larvæ are present the process should be repeated.

One great advantage of carbon bisulphide is its ready volatility, an hour or two's exposure being sufficient to eliminate any trace of its vapor.

In conclusion, I have to thank Mr. E. M. Holmes for several specimens of infected drugs, and my friend and coworker, Mr. A. Kirkland, for the trouble he has taken in preparing the illustrations.

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