393 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [November 12,1870. 
*** No notice can be taken of anonymous communica¬ 
tions. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authenti¬ 
cated by the name and address of the Writer ; not necessarily 
for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. 
Pharmaceutical Education. 
Sir,—During the discussion (on “ Pharmaceutical Educa¬ 
tion in the Provinces”) at the meeting of the Pharmaceuti¬ 
cal Conference held at Liverpool, Mr. Bremridge, in a short 
but pithy speech, expressed exactly the opinion that I have 
held for some time, viz. that no master should take a youth 
as an apprentice unless he has previously passed the Prelimi¬ 
nary Examination of the Pharmaceutical Society. If all 
masters would insist upon this it would give themselves far 
greater satisfaction, as they would then be able to turn out 
upon the world qualified assistants (unless, of course, the ap¬ 
prentice was a regular thick-skull), and (to me, at any rate) 
it is far greater pleasure to teach the sciences of chemistry 
and botany than to teach Latin, etc. It would also be the 
best thing that could be done for the would-be apprentice, as 
I think he would learn his Latin, etc. much better in class at 
school than he would at home. Any one who takes a youth 
as an apprentice, honestly intending to do his duty to him 
and to his pharmaceutical brethren, will certainly act as Mr. 
Bremridge suggests. 
There is one more point to which I should like to call the 
attention of the executive of the Pharmaceutical Society, and 
that is the desirability of publishing more to the public the 
necessity of educating youths, intended to follow the profes¬ 
sion of pharmaceutical chemists, in the Latin language. I 
have had many applications from fanners and first-class 
tradesmen in this neighbourhood, desiring to apprentice their 
sons to the profession of pharmacy, and in all cases to the 
question “Does your son know anything of the Latin lan¬ 
guage ?” the answer has been in the negative. 
Tanmorth, October 25 th, 1870. T. B. Allkins. 
Pharmacy and Medical Practitioners. 
Sir,—In last w r eek’s issue of the Journal I read with inter¬ 
est a letter, appended to which was a prescription, called by 
the writer of the letter “ grape shot.” As regards, however, 
the ingredients, they all seem applicable to one complaint, 
namely, a severe cold and cough. Not but what I think that 
half the number of the things would have been quite as 
useful. 
I send you copy of recipe I made up a short time ago for a 
medical man, which might almost, I think, be called a pana¬ 
cea, as it is calculated to cure a cough, indigestion, an attack 
of nervous weakness, or, indeed, almost any kind of weak¬ 
ness, containing, as it does, five or six tonics. Here it is:— 
R. Ac. Nitric. Dil. tux 
Ferr. et Quin. Cit. gr. x 
Tinct. Nucis Yom. aiij 
Bismuth. Nit. gr. x 
Pulv. Tragac. Co. gr. x 
Yin. Ipecac, iqx 
Tr. Valer. Am. 
Tr. Aurant. 3ss 
%r. 5j 
Inf. Calumb. 
Aq. Menth. Pip. part, {equal, ad 5ss. 
Ft. Ht. ter die sd. 
How can w r e get legitimate profits out of a recipe like this ? 
Beta. 
Sir,—Being a late student in the art of pharmacy at 
Bloomsbury Square, I am naturally anxious, for the honour of 
our College, to be able to dispense any prescription which may 
be presented me for that purpose. The following prescription 
has, however, fairly puzzled me. French, German, Ameri¬ 
can and other pharmacopoeias have been searched in vain. 
In despair I ask your readers for information. Is it a relic 
bygone days, when doctors exhibited as a sign a parti¬ 
coloured pole, and bled and shaved their customers as well; 
and when chemists, instead of mixing “nasty medicine,” 
confined their attention to the conversion of ignoble metals 
into gold, and other similar ambitious objects ? Or is it only 
meant to perplex country chemists, and make their clients 
think them fools P 
As I w'as only able to obtain a copy, I enclose beneath a 
draft of this, as nearly as I could understand the cabalistic 
writing:— 
“Mr. ScarlifTe. 
R. Pulvis Cinerii gr.ij 
Extr. Laxativ. gr. ij 
Extr. Drastici gr. iv. 
M. ft. Pil. ij h. s. bis hebdomadoe sumendoc. 
11. Liq. Alkalinoe 5iss 
Extr. Nigr. gr. ss 
Infus. Amarre 3 viij 
Tinct. Amarce 5yj. 
M. Capiat sextam partem ter in die. 
Maii 17 die, 18G9. Watson Bradshaw..”' 
I enclose the prescription envelope for your inspection,. 
F. J. B., 3'Iajor Associate. 
[* # # The prescription envelope sent by our correspondent 
bears the name of Messrs. Wilkinson, late Bridge and Co., 
270, Regent Street, London, with the endorsement “Copied 
A. 2176.” The prescription -would therefore seem to have 
been dispensed by that firm, and probably.they could furnish. 
F. J. B. with the information he requires.—E d. Ph. J.] 
Sir,—Having read the correspondence in the Journal w r ith 
regard to the concentrated form of doctors’ prescribing, and 
the wonderful profit that “ Reformer ” thinks the chemist 
gets therefrom, I wish to enlighten him on the state ofr 
affairs in the north of London. A customer came into the- 
shop yesterday, and, handing me a prescription, asked w r hat 
I would charge for dispensing it. The following is a copy:— 
R. Pulv. Calumbae, Pulv. Zingib., 
Sodae Bicarb., aa 5ij 
Ferri Citrat. 9 iv 
Quinae Disulph. gr. xvj 
Sacch. Alb. §ij. Misce, ft. pulv. 
Cap. i parv. ter die ex aqua. 
Knowing the cutting w T e have to compete with here, I said 
Is. 3d. The reply was, “ Why, Mr. H. makes it up for 6 d.”' 
Perhaps some of your readers w r ill not credit this, neverthe¬ 
less it is a fact, and Mr. H. is a man who places M.P.S. at the’- 
end of his name. Can “ Reformer ” make the chemist’s bill as 
heavy as the doctor’s at this rate ? If he can, he has beeix 
brought up at a very different school to what I have. 
October 25th, 1870. Assistant.. 
Druggists’ Charges. 
Dear Sir,—The following prescription was brought to my 
shop to be dispensed:— 
Acid. Nit. Mur. Dil. 5 ijss 
Liq. Taraxaci.ad 
Ft. Mist. s. 3 j secund. vel tert. horis. 
J. B. Mulock. 
My assistant, in my absence, charged 4s. for it. A few days 
after, my customer sent a friend, stating that I must have- 
made a mistake in the price. He had it made up frequently, 
and never paid more than 2s., and only Is. 9 d. at Yarmouth 
and Royston. I reduced the price to 3s. 6d.; at the same 
time I informed him I could not believe the prescription was 
faithfully compounded at the low price charged. I will make 
no comment upon the cutting prices charged, but leave it to 
the consideration of my professional brethren. 
A Pharmaceutical Chemist (by Examination). 
Cambridge, Nov. 1870. 
Sir,—Just now, when the spirit of our profession is being, 
roused by a few medical men whose practices afford them, 
ample time for writing, it would bo well for us to bear in 
mind the fact that our most serious enemies are “ those of 
our own households,” and to do our utmost to reform our 
own ranks. 
For a person to apply to us for a certain article, stating 
that the oilman or grocer charges for it some few pence less 
than ourselves, is bad enough. In this case, however, we can 
remark that we are chemists, leaving it to be inferred that 
our goods are of superior quality; but when we are told of a 
chemist underselling us,—it may be a neighbour,—we feel 
helplessly injured in pocket and wounded in mind. 
I have been asked for a shilling Is. 1 \d. patent medicines, 
and for a Is. 6 d. pot of Liebig’s Company’s extract of meat; 
in |each instance I was told that they could be obtained of 
chemists at the above quotations. 
Now, if we look the truth in the face, we cannot fail to 
