86 PRESCRIPTION WRITING 



A prescription, derived from the Latin Prae, before, and 

 Scriptum, written, comes to us from the early custom of 

 physicians in writing down their advice beforehand for their 

 patients' guidance. As now used it is the written formula 

 of the practitioner describing to the pharmacist the manner 

 of compounding and dispensing medicines, and to the 

 attendant the mode of administering them. 



Formulae are official when simply taken from the 

 " United States Pharmacopoeia," and extemporaneous when 

 concocted off-hand by the practitioner. Extemporaneous 

 formulae are simple when composed of one ingredient ; a 

 compound prescription is composed of several parts, which 

 may be considered as follows : 



I. Heading. 

 II. Names and quantities of drugs. 



III. Direction to compounder. 



IV. Direction to attendant. 

 V. Signature of writer. 



The heading, "Kecipe," is derived from the Latin, the 

 imperative of the verb meaning to take, and is ordinarily rep- 

 resente^J by the sign $1 , a corruption of Qj_, the sign of the 

 Zodiac for Jupiter. After the Christian era the sign of the 

 Cross was used, or N. D., for Nomine Deo, in God's name; 

 J. D. for Juvane Deo, meaning God helping, etc. We have 

 now reverted to the old sign, which is all that remains of an 

 appeal to Jupiter. This symbol seems to put the practi- 

 tioner, even if involuntarily, into a position of reverence in 

 thus offering a prayer in embryo (the old physicians always 

 wrote one) whenever one writes a prescription. The custom 

 also suggests that we are not yet sufficiently sure of our 

 Materia Medica after all these centuries, to sacrifice the 

 efficacy of prayer. 



In regard to the names and quantities of drugs, we find 

 in the text books that one should always strive after a 

 classical arrangement, whereby four ingredients are essential 

 to accomplish any result. These include : 



