THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



11 



ence between the percentage of expense 

 and the percentage of gross profit. His 

 total income is discovered by adding the 

 proprietor's salary, taken from the ex- 

 pense account, to the net profits for the 

 year. 



These percentages, it should be ex- 

 plained, are all based on the selling price 

 instead of the cost. Let us suppose that 

 a druggist finds his percentage expense 

 to be 28, and in pricing a given article 

 he wants to cover this expense plus a 

 net profit of 12 per cent., making a total 

 or gross profit of 40 per cent. How does 

 he arrive at the proper selling figure? 

 The article, let us say, costs $2.00. The 

 unknown selling price represents 100 per 

 cent., 40 per cent, of which is to be 

 profit, and the remaining 60 per cent., 

 therefore, the cost. The cost price of 

 $2.00 is accordingly 60 per cent, of the 

 selling price to be determined. The 

 problem may therefore be stated as 

 follows : 



$2.00 : 60 : : X : 100, 

 and the answer is $3.33. Thus a precise 

 know^ledge of selling cost and percentage 

 of profit is a vital necessity in the pricing 

 of every article in the store, and indeed 

 in the conduct of the whole business if 

 a druggist wants to make a store yield 

 him a good income instead of doling out 

 reluctantly a mere living. 



LIQUID PETROLEUM OR "RUS- 

 SIAN MINERAL OIL."* 



Petroleum has been in use as a medi- 

 cine from time immemorial. It was 

 known to Herodotus 400 years before 

 Christ and is mentioned by Plutarch, 

 Dioscorides, Pliny and other early writ- 

 ers. It was extensively used by the Ara- 



bians and evidently played an important 

 part in the practice of medicine in India, 

 being known to the Bengalese as "Muthe 

 Katel." The raw product was the sub- 

 stance used in earlier times and differed 

 much in character and composition, as 

 obtained from different sources. 



As an internal remedy it was early 

 employed in chronic pulmonary affec- 

 tions, in obstinate skin diseases, in rheu- 

 matism, and for the expelling of tape- 

 worms. It was extensively used for 

 these several purposes in France under 

 the name "Oleum Gabianum" and in 

 Xorth America as "Seneka oil."' The 

 internal use of the refined product may 

 be traced to a patent granted to Robert 

 A. Chesebrough of New York, in June, 

 1872, for the manufacture of a "new and 

 useful product from petroleum, named 

 vaseline." This name was originally ap- 

 plied only to a semi-solid preparation, 

 but later a liquid products known as li- 

 quid vaseline was marketed and for a 

 time exploited as a cure for coughs, 

 colds, consumption and a number of 

 other diseases and conditions. 



The liquid petrolatum has since be- 

 come known under a variety of names, 

 proprietary and otherwise, in additional 

 to being used as a substitute or an 

 adulterant for other, more costly, fats 

 and oils. Some of the names applied to 

 the product are : 



*From the Journal of the A. M. A., May 

 30, 10T4. 



Heavy Petroleum OilRock Oil 



