December 10, 1370.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
407 
Cbc pjaniutmitical |ourn;tl. 
-♦- 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 1870. 
Communications for this Journal, and books for review, etc., 
should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the 
transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Brem- 
ridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Sqtiare, W.C. 
Advertisements to 3Iessrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, W. Envelopes endorsed “ Bharm. Journ.” 
DRUGGISTS’ CHARGES. 
"We acknowledge with much pleasure the assurance 
given in the following note, appended to the letter 
.addressed to the Editor of the Lancet last week, in 
reference to a letter published in that Journal:— 
“ We would courteously request the Editor of the 
Pharmaceutical Journal again to refer to the Lancet 
•of the 19th November, where he will find that our cor¬ 
respondent makes no attack whatever upon druggists as 
a class, but merely relates a fact regarding the conduct 
of an individual.—E d. L.” 
We hope that the daily papers which also put for¬ 
ward this statement regarding the conduct of an 
Individual as a sensational illustration of the extor¬ 
tionate character of “ Druggists and their Charges,” 
will in like manner have the fairness to administer 
an antidote to the poison they have supplied—no 
doubt unconsciously—to the public mind, and we 
trust to receive from our medical contemporary a 
statement of the name and address of the individual 
dispenser referred to, as well as a copy of the pre¬ 
scription on which the alleged overcharge was made. 
A propos of this subject, it so happens that in the 
medical journals of last week, charges for medicine 
are discussed at some length—not druggists’ charges, 
however, but those of medical men. A correspondent 
of the Medical Times and Gazette submits a system 
of charges specially adapted, as he thinks, for the 
general practitioner in the country, and he gives the 
following rate of charge for medicine supplied:— 
V 
V 
'‘Mixtures for adults, 3 yj (6 doses) . 
gviij (8 doses) . 
*xij (12 doses) . 
„ gxvj (16 doses) 
children up to 3 v j • • 
lotions of similar size 
would be similarly priced. 
Pills . . . from 1 to 6 
. 12 
Gargles 
and 
from 1 to 
6 
each 
s. 
1 
1 
2 
2 
1 
d. 
0 
6 
0 
6 
0 
0 
1 
0 
1 
0 
6 
0 
6 
0 
6 
Powders . 
55 
Draughts . 
Blisters and plasters, 65 . to Is., or more, 
according to size. 
Ointments to 3 j, 6 tf.; 3lj> D.” 
He then adds:— 
“ Although it may sound paradoxical, in a certain sense 
Hiis is the basis of the system ; for the prices of medi¬ 
cines should be the same for all classes of private patients. 
They should he much what the patient would pay at an 
ordinary druggist’s; for the doctor, be it remembered, is 
his own druggist.” 
Again, in the Journal of the British Medical Asso¬ 
ciation we find a document emanating from the 
Shropshire Ethical Branch, recommending a tariff 
of medical fees, and among other things provided for 
are medicines, the charges being regulated for three 
different classes of patients, as follows :— 
“Mixtures, 3 x 1 ]. — I. 3s. 6 d. to -is. 6d.; II. 4s. to 4 s.Gd.; 
III. 4s. to 5s. 
„ 5 viij.—I. 2s. Gd. to 3s. Gd. ; II. 3s. to 3s. 6d. ; 
III. 3s. Gd. 
„ giv.—I. Is. Gd. to 2s.; II. 2s. to 2s. Gd. ; III. 
2s. Gd. 
Draught, ^iss.—I. Is. to Is. 6f7.; II. Is. Gd. ; III. Is. Gd. 
to 2s. Gd. 
When two or more are sent, a moderate de¬ 
crease in the charge should be made. 
Drops, -iss to ^ij.—I. Is. Gd. ; II. Is. Gd. to 2s. ; III. 2s. 
to 2s. Gd. 
Pills, xij.—I. Is. Gd. ; II. Is. Gd. to 2s. ; III. 2s. to 
2s. Gd. 
„ vj.—I. Is.; II. Is. to Is. Gd. ; III. Is. Gd. to 2s. 
,, ij.—I. Gd. to Is.; II. Is. ; III. Is. 
Powders, vj.—I. Is. Gd. ; II. Is. Gd. to 2s.; III. 2s. to 
2s. Gd. 
„ iv.—I. Is. to Is. Gd. ; II. Is. Gd. to 2s.; III. 2s. 
„ i.—I. Gd. to Is.; II. Is.; III. Is. 
Blisters.—I. Is. to Is. Gd. ; II. Is. Gd. to 2s.; III. 2s. to 
2s. Gd. 
Gargles and Lotions.—May ho charged somewhat lower 
than medicines proper.” 
We abstain at present from any comment on these 
propositions, and simply submit the scales of charge 
for the consideration of our readers. 
The fact that a tariff is proposed for medicines as 
well as for visits, etc., would seem to indicate that 
medical men do not see their way to giving up the 
preparation of medicines. It is to be regretted that 
this should be the case, for there is every reason to 
believe it would be advantageous both to the phar¬ 
macist and to the medical man if the compounding 
of medicines were left solely to the former. But, in 
this respect, we are far less fortunate than our 
cousins across the Atlantic, where, as Mr. Howden 
has shown in his account of American Pharmacy, 
the functions of the physician and the pharmacist 
are invariably kept separate. The results of that 
system, as described by Mr. Howden, are such as to 
make it well worth consideration whether it would 
not be wise to follow the example here. 
THE USE OF CHLOROFORM AS AN ANESTHETIC. 
At the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Monday 
evening Professor Chrlstisox, in proposing a vote of 
thanks to Mr. Milne-Home for his address, alluded 
to the notice that had been given of Sir James Simp¬ 
son. As to the discovery of chloroform, he said the 
liistory of that had never yet been fully given. When 
fully given, it would constitute one of the most 
* curious instances he knew ol the gradual progress of 
