Misce. Fiat mistura. Signa: 

 Mix. Let a mixture be made. Label: 



Drachmam unam ter in die post cibos. 



One drachm three times a day after meals. 



The grammatical form proves on examination not to be a difficult one. 

 The verb "recipe" which is invariably used, governs the accusative. It 

 is clear that the pharmacist is not to take all of his stock of any ingredient 

 but only a part thereof. Hence the nouns expressing the quantity, "un- 

 ciam" "drachmas" are in the accusative governed by "recipe." The 

 names of the ingredients of which the stated quantities are to be taken 

 are in the partitive genitive. Adjectives must agree with the noun that 

 they modify in gender, number, and case; so "duas" and "tres" agree with 

 "drachmas," "unam" with "unciam," and "quattuor" though inde- 

 clinable with "uncias. " "Nitrosi" also agrees with ^Etheris. Potassii 

 is again in the partitive genitive as are both " Ammonii" and ' ' Acetatis" 

 in the following line. 



The last line of the inscription gives slightly more trouble. As usually 

 written the words included within brackets are omitted, yet the clause 

 beginning with "quantum" is the object of the sentence and is governed 

 by the verb "recipe." "Infusi" is again in the partitive genitive. "Qu- 

 antum" is in the accustive for the reason given; "sufficiat" is the third 

 person singular of the present subjunctive owing to the clause being a 

 subordinate one; "usque" is an adverb meaning "upto" "until"; "ad" 

 a preposition governing the noun "uncias." There is a slightly different 

 form in which this line is occasionally written in which in place of ' ' Infusi " 

 "Infusum" would be written; this is the partitive use of the accusative. 



"Misce" like "Recipe" is the second person singular form of the im- 

 perative mood of a verb of the second conjugation, while "signa" is the 

 form of the same tense, number, person, and mood of a verb of the first. 

 "Mistura" is the nominative of a noun of the first declension. "Fiat" 

 is the third person singular of the present subjunctive and is an example of 

 the jussive use of that tense as a mild imperative. "Drachmam unam" 

 is the accusative governed by some such verb understood as "capiat" an 

 other example of the jussive use of the subjunctive. "Ter" is a numeral 

 adverb. " Die " the ablative of the noun ' ' dies " after the preposition ' ' in." 

 "Cibos" is the accusative plural of "Cibus." Several other similar 

 stereotyped forms are in use in the signature of which the following is 

 one of the more common ' ' Drachma una ter in die sumenda. " The trans- 

 lation would be the same. "Drachma" is in the nominative singular 

 and has agreeing with it the gerundive of the transitive verb "sumo." 

 This use of the gerundive signifies duty or necessity and hence an order in 

 a mild form. 



The following points in regard to the manner of writing should be noted. 

 The custom has been adopted of writing the numeral expressing the 

 quantity after the abbreviation for the measure. The numeral is written 

 in small Roman numerals except in the case of fractions, or where one 



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