THE ALUMNI JOURNAL 55 



PACIFIC COAST RESOURCES. 



MEXICO HAS MANY LATENT MATERIALS AWAITING USE. 



Mr. Philip Carroll makes his first commercial report as consul 

 at Manzanillo on the many natural resources of the Pacific coast 

 region of Mexico, writing: 



The wood of the mangrove tree, which grows in great abundance 

 in the swamps along the Pacific coast of Mexico, contains a large 

 percentage of tannin of superior quality, which, in my judgment, 

 it would pay to extract. Wild limes of delicious flavor grow abun- 

 dantly around Manzanillo. and in view of the immense supply the 

 establishment of a plant to extract the juice and citric acid would 

 render lucrative returns. Pineapples, mangoes, and other fruits 

 abound in this vicinity, and the canning of these fruits would be a 

 good paying industry. Sardines and mackerel of all kinds abound 

 along the coast and an establishment to can these fish would be a 

 good paying concern. 



CUBAN PHARMACY. 



Consul-General Steinhart, of Havana, furnishes information in re- 

 gard to the pharmacies and drug business in Cuba. He writes: 



There are 250 drug stores in Havana for the 250,000 inhabitants, 

 and the same ratio may be accepted for the other cities of Cuba. 

 There are also many organizations and societies which employ doc- 

 tors and their own pharmacists, and dispense medicine to the so- 

 ciety members. Physicians, however, do not often dispense medi- 

 cine. The average number of prescriptions compounded is less than 

 in the United States. The pharmacist is not permitted by law to 

 prescribe, and the relation between physicians and pharmacists is 

 friendly. Doctors prescribe a great amount of ready-made or pa- 

 tented medicine. Prescriptions are the best part of the drug bus- 

 iness in Cuba, as pharmacists here sell less of toilet articles, cigars, 

 etc., such are are sold in American drug stores. The customer is 

 considered the proprietor of his prescription, which is returned to 

 him after being entered in the prescription book. Pharmacists in 

 the larger Cuban cities fill foreign prescriptions as well, consulting 

 the foreign pharmacopoeia of the country from which it comes. The 

 Cuban pharmacists generally prepare their own tinctures and oint- 

 ments. 



