540 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [December 31,1970, 
that time I have dispensed but very few prescriptions from 
the hotel at which he was staying (the leading one in the 
town), whereas before I continually did so. 
Grey Hairs. 
Bridport, Dec. Ylth, 1870. 
Sir,—The price-mark recommended by the Manchester 
Chemists’ Association, and a dozen others adopted by leading 
firms, seem to have two defects, "which should be supplied 
previous to general adoption. There is no “repeater,” nor 
any provision for expressing the cypher. The letter “ W,” 
naturally suggesting the idea of reduplication, answers well 
as a repeater, and the cypher may be expressed by any letter 
not otherwise used. 
I would, however, suggest two alternative schemes. There 
is a system of artificial aid to memory, somewhat extensively 
known in schools, which makes use of all the consonants. 
It has the advantage of various letters to express figures 
above five. I append the system. 
1 
t 
Consisting mainly of one stroke. 
2 
n 
„ „ two „ 
3 
m 
„ „ three ,, 
4 
r 
Fourth letter of four, which has four letters. 
5 
1 
In Roman numerals suggests Jive decads. 
6 
d 
Supposed to resemble a reversed six. 
7 
cgkq 
The “ K ” sounds. 
8 
bhv 
Consonants in “beehive.” H is the eighth 
letter of the alphabet, and its name sug¬ 
gests sound of eight. 
9 
pf 
Consonants above and below the line. 
10 
7 
Has a toofold connection as consonant , 
and vowel, and represents two figures. j 
0 
S X z 
A circular figure, represented by letters sug- : 
gesting sound of circle, cipher and zero. 
w 
Repeating whatever letter has preceded it. 
The Greek method of notation recommends itself by its 
classic use, as distinct from a merely fanciful scheme, and its 
exposition would be found in any Greek grammar. It is to 
be regretted, for the sake of the general benefit resulting 
from its study, and especially because it is the language par 
excellence of scientific nomenclature, that all chemists are not 
fairly acquainted with the Greek language; it would, how¬ 
ever, require a very slight effort on the part of such an intel¬ 
ligent class to acquire a dozen characters. If desirable, 
shillings might be expressed by capitals, and pence by small 
letters, avoiding the intervening strobe, and the appearance 
to the public of a price. 
Henry II. Pollard. 
Hyde, I. W., December 20th, 1870. 
Obscure Prescriptions. 
Sir,—I have perused with peculiar interest the correspond¬ 
ence and your remarks thereon which have appeared in the 
late numbers of the Journal respecting the obscure writing 
of physicians and surgeons. Having had very considerable 
experience—much more than falls to the lot of most men—in 
a large dispensing house in London, I can with some autho¬ 
rity bear testimony and endorse all that your correspondent, 
“ M.P.S. by election ,” has advanced with reference to the 
slovenly and loose manner in which the great majority of 
medical men are in the habit of writing their prescriptions, 
which in justice to the patient, as well as to the dispenser, 
ought to be clearly and distinctly written. To my mind it is 
all fiddle-faddle about the “Latinity” of the prescription; it 
matters not to the patient if some of the terminations are 
written a when they should be ce, or if there should be one or 
two i’s. It is not as if every prescription written was to be sub¬ 
jected to the criticism of an Oxford professor. Any one can 
understand what is meant by tinct. belladon. Never mind j 
the termination; the all-important thing to be observed by 
the writer should be that when he orders tinct. belladon. it is 
so cleai’ly inscribed that it cannot be mistaken for anything 
else by the dispenser. With respect to the gross blunders 
occasionally made by even the most eminent medical men, 
I have seen very many, some of which would have proved 
fatal to the patient at the first dose had the prescription been | 
dispensed as actually written. What would be considered | 
trifling errors or omissions, such as quantities left out, vehicle * 1 
not mentioned, pills no number, and many other little inac¬ 
curacies, I found of almost daily occurrence. 
A few words respecting the possibility of a case occurring 
when it would be of importance the patient should not be 
cognizant of the drugs he is taking. I have had many appli¬ 
cations from medical men to suggest some means by which 
this might be overcome. As an instance, a lady had been 
taking for some time “liq. Fowleri” and with great benefit 
unfortunately one day she pushed the question as to what 
this “Fowleri” meant. Very reluctantly I told her it was- 
a preparation of arsenic; nothing could persuade her after¬ 
wards to continue its use from the fear of being poi¬ 
soned, as some one had told her that arsenic was cumulative 
in the system. In another instance, a gentleman travelled 
some sixty miles from the country to consult a medical man 
in London; two names having been submitted to him by the 
local apothecary, he called on me and asked my opinion which 
of the two I considered best. They both happened to be of 
equal calibre, so I told him he could not do wrong in consulting 
either, the one in the City and the other at the West-End. He 
returned in a few hours and presented me with the City doc¬ 
tor’s prescription, at the same time observing he was not satis¬ 
fied. He desired me to read over the articles prescribed (he 
is a dabbler in physic); having done so, he asked my opinion, 
what should I consider the ailment of the patient ? I un¬ 
hesitatingly told him, judging from the general run of pre- 
scribers, it might be for a slight cold, etc., as it would induce 
perspiration, etc. (it was composed of pot. nit., vin. ipecac., 
liq. amm. acet., mist, camph. and also a mild aperient pill,, 
h. s.). He took the prescription from my hand, remarking 
he was sure from the questions asked, the doctor knew nothing 
of what he was about, also that none of the ingredients 
ordered ever suited him; at the same time, to my surprise, 
handing me another prescription, written by the West-End 
doctor, desiring to be informed what he had ordered. V hen 
I told him it was a very mild dose of “ strychnine ” and other 
things he would not hear anything more about it, as he as¬ 
sured me lie was determined, if possible, to die a “ natural 
death.” The most laughable part of the story remains to be 
told; he then asked me to prescribe something for him : this 
I politely declined, telling him if he was not satisfied with 
the advice of two eminent doctors, mine would be of no ser¬ 
vice to him. In both these cases, had it been possible to 
keep from them what drugs they were taking, both might 
have been benefited. It must not be supposed I could 
advocate the plan adopted by Mr. Bradshaw, nothing can 
warrant such practice ; a patient consults a doctor and pays 
his guinea for the prescription,—if he refuse to take the me¬ 
dicine prescribed because he objects to some particular in¬ 
gredient or otherwise, it is his own business, but the pre¬ 
scription itself ought to be as plainly written as A B C, 
and in accordance with the B. P. 
W. M. 
St. Lawrence, JRamsgate, December, 1870. 
G. TV. Fox and Co. (Birmingham).—We have just received 
a long letter from these gentlemen, which we are prevented 
from inserting by the pressure on our correspondence columns. 
It will, however, receive early attention. 
II. Machon (Saffron Walden).—A still must be paid for 
unless the Inland Revenue authorities give exemption, as 
they have sometimes done, when it has been shotfn they can 
do so without risk to the Revenue. 
Nemo (Wolverhampton).—See “Answers to Correspon¬ 
dents,” G. A., ante, p. 180. 
Frank Adams (Stoke-on-Trent).—Yes. 
A. (Carlisle).—1. No. 2. No. 
Bolton. —1. No. 2. No. 
“An Old Subscriber.” —Chemist and Druggist; Member, 
1870. 
In consequence of want of space, we are obliged to postpone 
the insertion of answers to several correspondents. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Mr. Fairlie (Glasgow), Mr. H. B. Brady (Newcastle), Dr. de 
Vrij, Mr. A. Carter, Mr. R. Mountain (Harrogate), Mr. H- 
A. Thompson, Mr. M. C. Cooke, Mr. G. Dymond (Birmmg- 
1 ham), Mr. O. Davies Owen, W. B. (Dudley), G. S., A. H. L., 
A. P. S., “Biondino” (Scarborough), “Pestle and Mortar 
(Dorking), “Anxietas” (Macclesfield), Jestyn ap Gwrgan. 
