498 
THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA. 
greater than usual, so also has been the necessity for making the change as 
completely and as speedily as possible. To prolong unnecessarily the confu¬ 
sion and uncertainty with reference to the composition of prescribed medi¬ 
cines, which have existed for the last two or three years, without making 
vigorous attempts to remedy the evil, would reflect discredit on the medical 
profession. 
We cannot admit that the blame, if blame exists, rests exclusively, or even 
principally, on the dispensers of medicines, for they manifest an earnest 
desire to carry out what they believe to be the wishes of prescribers. In 
some cases these wishes are verbally expressed by medical men to the 
chemists living in the neighbourhood in which their practice lies, while in 
other cases they have to be inferred from the terms in which the medicines 
are ordered, or from the letters “ L.,” “ E.,” or “ D.” written at the top of the 
prescription, or appended to the names of medicines which are desired to be 
made according to the London, Edinburgh, or Dublin formulae. Where a 
clear indication is given in a prescription as to the intention of the prescriber 
it is the duty of the dispenser—and we believe this duty is always cheerfully 
performed—to carry out the instructions given; but where there is no such 
explicit indication, it is incumbent upon him to act in obedience to the 
requirements of the law. This is his only safe course, and for a reason which 
has been frequently stated, it is the course most conducive to the safety of 
those by whom the medicines are to be taken. It is sometimes stated that, 
although there is no clear indication that a prescriber intends any other than 
the authorized Pharmacopeia to be followed, yet indirect indications may 
exist to that effect, and these constitute cases of extreme difficulty, and often 
call for the exercise of much judgment and discretion on the part of the dis¬ 
penser. It is with reference to such cases that it is most important that a 
better understanding should exist between medical men and dispensing 
chemists. We cannot believe that any medical man would be willing to 
acknowledge, or to have it inferred from the manner in which he conducts 
his practice, that he is insensible to the importance of having but one stan¬ 
dard of authority with reference to the composition of medicines, and one 
authorized guide by which the terms used in prescriptions should be inter¬ 
preted; that he would refuse to lend his aid in carrying into operation the 
means provided by the Legislature and the Medical Council for establishing 
such a uniform standard, which would contribute to the advancement of 
medical science and the safety of the public; or that he would consider the 
trouble of studying a new Pharmacopoeia, and of conforming his practice to 
it, sufficient excuse for continuing to follow an obsolete rule, and thus to 
keep up a state of confusion in reference to the preparation of medicines 
which ought to be studiously avoided. We highly approve of the suggestion 
which has been made, and the plan which in several instances appears to have 
been adopted by chemists, namely, that they should intimate to all the 
medical men in their neighbourhood that in all cases, unless otherwise expli¬ 
citly directed, they would dispense medicines, as the law required, according 
to the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867. At the same time, we think it very 
undesirable that anything should be said or done that w r ould be calculated to 
encourage the practice among medical men of prescribing according to any 
other than the British Pharmacopoeia; and the use of letters referring to 
other Pharmacopoeias on prescriptions must be viewed as a very unsatisfac¬ 
tory expedient for eluding what the law clearly contemplates. It was bad 
enough to have three Pharmacopoeias in use at the same time and in the 
same country; and if by the introduction of the British Pharmacopoeia we 
have only added to the number, the proposed remedy will be but an aggra¬ 
vation of an admitted evil. 
