330 
PREVENTION OF ERRORS IN DISPENSING. 
(lays of the P. L., is presented; his pills “ Hydr. Chlor. etc.” are prepared by this 
exulting young dispenser: a coroner’s inquest is the inevitable result, and the 
aspiring youth is u hauled up,” and if so fortunate as to escape a verdict of man¬ 
slaughter, he is severely censured for the extraordinary crime of being an ac¬ 
curate dispenser, and a startling announcement of “ another case of accidental 
poisoning by a, chemist,” adds another to the already augmented list. Apolo¬ 
gizing for thus intruding upon your valuable space, I am, yours truly, 
~ „ T. C. Jones. 
ijilj Lx rove btreet , Liverpool. 
TO THE EDITORS OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Gentlemen, I do not think I am the ouly one of the Pharmaceutical Drug¬ 
gists that would endorse the remarks made by a Dispenser in the last October 
o.urnal, w ^ . reference to the present B. P. The book appears to me to be 
neither one thing nor the other (perhaps it is the happy medium), it is neither in 
Gatin nor English, but a little of each. Nor does it give us the forms for all the 
preparations which a druggist is obliged to keep. In addition to the omissions 
mentioned by “ Dispenser,” why are the tinctures of quassia, aloes co., guaiaci, 
1 " iel » s y r * croc b a nd many others omitted? some of which are daily pre- 
sci ibed. As to syr. croci, you find it oftener in prescriptions than any other syrup 
except syrupus aurantii. Which of the three rhubarbs are we to use in making its 
preparations? Why particularize aloes ? We can guess the one as well as the 
? 1 „ er .‘ . Q some tinctures leaves are specified ; in others, though made with the 
leaf it is omitted. These little, but I think important, details should not be 
overlooked m the new edition, if one uniform strength of medicines is wished 
ioa. lhe present B. P. is of little use to the dispenser. To the druggist who 
makes some of the preparations it is of use, as the forms for such are in quan¬ 
tities suitable for the retailer. The Materia Medica and Appendix are good ad¬ 
ditions and of great use to the chemist , but I think that part is not often referred 
to by the greater portity of the druggists; therefore the laboratory is its fittest 
place as it is not the complete work the retail druggist requires. Therefore it 
is to be hoped in the new edition we shall have one of use to the apprentice as 
wefi as the laboratory man ; one in which can be seen at a glance the whole of 
the preparations in use (or at least such as are recognised by the medical pro- 
ession), with their processes, their medicinal properties and uses, their characters 
and tests, their doses and antidotes; and let simple preparations be styled as such, 
and compounds as, such. Again, why are the present rising generation of drim- 
gists to study Latin and undergo examinations in translating Latin prescrip¬ 
tions and passages m Ovid, Csesar, etc. etc., if the B. P. is to be printed in 
. nglisli, symbols to be done away with, and prescriptions as well as the direc¬ 
tions to be written iii English? But presuming the compilers of the B P 
have not that idea in view, I agree with “ Dispenser ” in having the new edition 
giea y enlarged, jirinted in Latin, and with the well-known symbols as before 
so iat our young men may in their daily work find it to be a stepping-stone to 
their studies, as well as useful to a 
November 9 tk, 18G5. 
Country Druggist. 
PREVENTION OP EBBOItS IN DISPENSING. 
TO THE EDITOR OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
an q scheme that w iH tend to afford security against errors in dis- 
bu , t h f°! interest to chemists, perhaps you may think this com¬ 
munication not out of place m your journal. 
