December 17 , 1870.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
499 
lency realized out of a retail drug trade, although he may 
have stuck behind the counter from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and 
scarcely taken a day’s pleasure from year’s end to year’s end. 
In a town in which I resided a great many years, I could see 
from my door three druggists whose returns varied from 
£800 to £2000 per annum; being on friendly terms, we knew 
each other’s business to a certain extent. One had married 
well, which rendered him to some extent independent of his 
business; another was a bachelor, and had a good income in¬ 
dependent of his business; the third died suddenly, leaving a 
wife and family; he had the best business of the four, keep¬ 
ing two assistants and one apprentice; yet when the estate 
was wound up and all debts paid, there was a very small 
balance left. Now these men were many years my senior, and 
had been in business for upwards of twenty years, during 
which time neither could save £500. Though my returns 
were about £800 per annum from a general drug trade in a 
large country town, my profits did not average more than 
£200 per annum; what could I save out of that after paying 
the expenses for carrying on the business, rent, taxes, house¬ 
keeping and bringing up a family ? Had it not been for an 
additional income, live as economically as I could, I should 
•only have been barely able to pay my way. 
Thirty years since, when provisions were much cheaper 
than they are now, we charged for Oss and jjvj mixtures, 2s. Gel .; 
draughts, 9s. per dozen (we never get a prescription now for a 
dozen draughts ; Seidlitz powders, 2s. Gd. per box; single 
ones, 3d. Compare this with the present prices, especially a 
■Seidlitz powder retailed for Id., at a shop not a mile from St. 
Paul’s. I wonder if Mr. — pays his rent w T ith the profits ac¬ 
cruing from the enormous quantity he must sell ? I think 
these facts prove that the present profits attached to the 
retail drug business are not a sufficient remuneration for the 
time, labour and capital employed, to say nothing about the 
responsibility we take on ourselves, viz. the dispensing of 
illegible prescriptions, without having a licence to kill. 
December 8th, 1870. “ A Eetailee.” 
Sir,—There have been several inquiries in your columns for 
a list of “dispensing charges,” and as the one adopted by the 
Manchester Chemists’ Association is pretty generally followed 
in a tolerably extensive district, I beg to forward you a copy 
for publication, as one that may be considered fairly remune¬ 
rative without being excessive, and may give an idea of what 
is practicable in a neighbourhood where chemists have some 
little confidence in each other. The use of the “ price mark ” 
is strongly recommended in all cases, as in the event of a 
prescription being taken to another shop, the second dispenser 
at once sees the price already charged, and consequently is 
able to obtain the same without being afraid, on the one 
hand, of charging more than his neighbour, or, on the other, 
of underselling him. 
If the price mark “ Mel Boraeis,” which has long been 
used in Edinburgh, and more recently in several other places, 
were universally adopted throughout the country as the mark 
for dispensing charges,ht would be a great advantage, for then 
a prescription dispensed in various parts of the country could 
always be charged at the same rate, and a nearer approach to 
uniformity might thus be obtained. 
W. Wilkinson. 
Clieetham Sill, December 13 th, 1870. 
List of Dispensing Charges, adopted by the Manchester Chemists' and Druggists' Association, and recommended 
to the Trade generally. 
Pills.* 
1 
2 
4 
6 
8 
10 
12 
14 
16 
18 
20 
21 
30 
36 
48 
72 
> . 6<2. to Is. 
1 
Is. 3d. 
Is. 6d. 
Drops.} 
ioz. 
a 
2 
n 
2 
3 
4 
Is. 9 d. 
2s. 0 d. 
2s. 6d. 
Gd. per doz. and 
upwards. 
Powders. 
1 
6d. to Is. 
Is. 0 d. 
Is. 4d. 
12 and upwards 
Is. Gd. to 2s. doz. 
Powders for 
Effervescing 
Mixtures, Is. doz. 
Lotion Fotvders. 
one, Gd. to Is. 
six, 2s. 
twelve, 3s. Gd. 
3s. doz. for more. 7 
Mixtures.} 
Doses. 
1 oz. 
| oz. 
1 or 2 
drms. 
s. d. 
s. d. 
s. d. 
oz. 
1 0 
1 0 
1 
2 
1 0 
1 0 
2 „ 
1 0 
1 0 
1 2 
3 „ 
1 0 
1 2 
1 4 
4 „ 
1 2 
1 4 
1 6 
6 „ 
1 6 
1 9 
2 0 
8 „ 
1 8 
2 0 
2 6 
10 „ 
2 0 
2 6 
12 „ 
2 6 
3 0 
16 „ 
3 0 
3 6 
20 „ 
| 
3 6 
4 0 
Gargles 
and 
Injec¬ 
tions. 
s. d. 
1 0 
2 
4 
6 
0 
3 
Ointments, 
• 1 
Electuaries, 
and 
Draughts. 
Suppositories. 
Pessaries and 
Bougies. 
Confections. 
i 
s» c?* 
s. d. 
s. d. 1 
1 
1 0 
1 
\ Gd. 
1 
} 10 
c 1 0 
2 
1 9 
2 
> to s. 
2 
5 
3 
2 6 
4 
Is. 0J. 
3 
j- 1 6 
} 16 
4 
3 0 
6 
Is. 9d. 
4 
5 
3 G 
12 
3s. 0 d. 
5 
} 20 
2 3 
6 
4 0 
6 
3 0 
1 
12 
4 0 
1 
Liniments. 
} 
1 
1 
2 
2 
3 
d. 
0 
4 
8 
2 
8 
6 
Lin, aconiti, Is. . per oz. 
,, belladonna?, Is. „ 
chloroformi, Is. 
crotonis, Is. 
potassii iodidi 
cum sapone, 8 d. 
sinapis co., Is. Gd. 
J5 
Trice Marie 
MEL BOEACIS. 
123 45678910 
To be used thus—“m/c,” Is. 8 d., 
under the stamp of the first 
Dispenser. 
* S*ale of Prices for Pills.—The higher charge to be made 
when one, two, or more pills are ordered alone; if with mix¬ 
ture, etc., in the same prescription, the lower charge to be 
made. 
f Mixtures, etc.—Quinine or other costly ingredients, or 
nn extra large quantity of tincture, to be subject to a higher 
charge. 
X “ Drops,” including concentrated medicines or tinctures. 
Ordinary bottles and pots are included in the above prices. 
The uniform adoption of the price mark will prove advan. 
tageaus, as showing to subsequent disponsers the charge 
already made; when charged below the above rates, a mark x 
in the upper left-hand corner will denote exceptional. 
