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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February 10 ,1872 
examination for the degree of D.C.L. ? In the case of the 
Preliminary examination,—where the analysis he quotes 
shows so large a percentage of failures upon questions con¬ 
siderably easier “than those passed by a lower third-form boy 
in any public school every three months,’'—he suggests the 
addition of the subjects of geometry and algebra; and further, 
that the Preliminary test should include Euclid, algebra and 
the translation of the ‘ Iliaddecimals, extraction of the 
square and cube roots, together with the laws of arithmetical, 
geometrical and harmonical progression, and logarithms, a 
knowledge of French and German and the metric system. 
Now, Sir, is this consistent?—because a boy does not know 
his multiplication table, set him to work out a double rule of 
three sum! Such seems the tenor of Mr. Agnew’s theory for the 
cure of one of our greatest pharmaceutical grievances,—the 
many failures in the Preliminary examination,—and he must 
pardon me if I cannot agree with him. That there is great need 
of and room for improvement is without doubt, but I scarcely 
think we shall get it by making the examination more strin¬ 
gent. 
As it is now, the questions seem to me very appropriate to 
the attainment of the desired object. If you make them 
stiffer, embracing the scientific subjects suggested by Mr. 
Agnew, your candidates must have received a higher scholastic 
education to warrant their competing, and I scarcely think 
men will be found to give their sons a high-class and expen¬ 
sive education without aspiring to a higher calling for them 
than the drudgery of a chemist’s apprentice. There is, of 
course, no degradation in our calling,—it certainly ranks first 
as a trade; but a trade, and not a profession, it most certainly 
is, and boys at good schools nowadays are taught to scorn 
the idea of shopman and counter-work. There is no trade 
where an apprentice’s work varies so much as in ours; in 
some establishments he is treated as a pupil, with one or two 
hours a day allowed him for study, and is taught the science 
and theory of chemistry ; but in how many businesses is his 
duty chiefly confined to beating up horse physic, opening and 
shutting up the shop, and, in many country shops, weigh¬ 
ing tobacco, etc.! Of course, what is law for one must 
be for the other. The only remedy for these failures seems 
to me (and I may be wrong), to make the youth pass the 
Preliminary examination betore his indentures are signed; in 
this case the failures, though possibly much less, would have 
less significance, because if he was found incapable of passing 
the Preliminary examination, he would then have the oppor¬ 
tunity of embracing some other calling, which would not ac¬ 
crue if he had (possibly) been one or two years behind a che¬ 
mist’s counter. I must apologize for occupying so much of 
your valuable space. 
Dover, February 6th , 1872. T. J. Perkins. 
Trade Marks on Prescriptions. 
It not unfrequently happens that a prescription made up 
in some distant town has been marked by the careful hand of 
some brother pharmaceutist with a mark which is unfort u- 
natelv not known to us, and my chief object in writing to- 
you is to suggest that you should publish a list of all the- 
public and well-known marks, such as:— 
You and them . . Bell. 
Cambridge . . . Savory. 
Despumatio . . . Corbyn. 
Mel boracis . . . Edinburgh, Manchester 
and Birmingham. 
Together with those which are in pretty general use, such 
as: — 
Cumberland. 
Coldstream. 
Yery thankful. 
May God help. 
Yinum aloes, etc. 
No doubt some of your correspondents can add consider¬ 
ably to this list, and the secretaries of associations using a> 
mark, will, doubtless, be glad to publish it for their own good 
and ours. 
Walter J. Churchill. 
Dirmincjham, January 17th, 1872. 
Difficulties in Dispensing. 
Sir,—The enclosed prescription was brought to be dis¬ 
pensed a few days since. Perhaps some of your correspondents, 
who appear to have such tender consciences with regard to- 
keeping minutely to the directions of the prescriber, will bo 
kind enough to inform me how such ingredients can be 
formed into a mass from which pills may be rolled, without 
in some way or other altering or rather amending the- 
formula. 
Perhaps their better judgment and larger experience may 
suggest a modus operandi which may be at once satisfactory 
to the prescriber, creditable to the dispenser and as beneficial 
in its results to the patient:— 
11. Opii Pur. gr. 
Plumb. Acet. 
Ext. Ergot. Liquid, gtt. nj 
Secal. Cornut. q. s. 
Ft. pil. mitte no. xl. Sumat pil. ij quart, hor. 
It. Podopliylli gr. |- 
Ext. Aloes Aq. gr. xij 
,, Bellad. gr. j 
M. et divide in pil. xlviij, to be silvered. Six or eight pills 
occasionally. 
The above is rather an exceptional size for pills, and the- 
less frequently the dispenser sees them the better. 
Dournemouth, January 20 th, 1872. Dispenser. 
x 
8 
g r - i 
Sir,—It is a happy sign of the progress of pharmacy and 
of the improved tone of pharmaceutical ethics, that the prac¬ 
tice of marking the price charged against each item in a pre¬ 
scription, is becoming much more common. 
It is much to be wished that the practice were general, for 
it is satisfactory to know that you are charging the same 
price as a chemist in some distant town, and it is still more 
satisfactory to be able to refute that rather numerous class of 
customers, who untruthfully say, “ Oh, Mr. — charged me 
6d. less than that!” 
Travellers frequently tell me that they have been charged 
2s. 6 d., 2s. or Is. 6 d. in different towns for some well-worn 
prescription, and wonder that prices should vary so much. 
To those who object to use a trade mark, fearing that some 
mean rival will purposely charge less than the price ma?\ked, 
I would suggest that it is better to be undersold to the extent 
of 3d. on a published price than that the rival should charge 
6d. or Is. less, through not knowing the real price and being 
determined to undersell at any price. 
Moreover, when a prescription has been made up at a 
fashionable shop and charged more than the usual price, it is 
pleasant to the subsequent dispenser to get a higher price 
than he otherwise would, and the customer is prevented think¬ 
ing the first dispenser extortionate. 
In cases in which it is deemed impracticable to use a trade 
mark always, it is obviously both a just and wise custom to 
mark all peculiar and unusual medicines which cannot be 
priced according to any regular list, and in such cases where 
no regular mark is used, it is best to use Bell’s “you and 
them,” or the Edinburgh “ mel boracis.” 
C. Davies. —Chemists and druggists cannot sell the smallest 
quantity of unmedicated spirits of wine without licence, 
under a penalty of £50. Recently, prosecutions have taken 
place and convictions been obtained for selling as little as two- 
ounces of spirits of wine, which, although slightly medicated, 
was not sufficiently so to unfit it for use as a beverage. 
“Nemo.” —Oil of tar is a somewhat heterogeneous product, 
obtained by distilling Stockholm or Archangel tar. It may 
be rendered colourless, or nearly so, by alternate treatment 
with caustic alkali and oil of vitriol, and redistilling. 
N. O. A. —(1.) So far as the operation of the Act is con¬ 
cerned, it would be safe. (2.) The materials you mention 
might be held to come under clause 3, as being directly made- 
from a “bituminous substance,” viz. wood tar. The licence 
you have sent is for the keeping of petroleum. 
C. J. Dell. —(1.) The case was not considered to come 
within the exceptions contemplated by the Act. (2.) You 
had better consult a legal adviser. (3.) Y r es. (4.) They 
have the same privileges as Associates not in business, except 
that they have no vote or participation in the administration 
of the Benevolent Fund. 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Mr. D. Hanbury, Mr. R. Bannister Mr. Groves, Mr. H. 
Pocklington, Mr. J. Tully, Mr. J. F. Brown, Mr. Keen, Mr. 
R. L. Churchyard, Mr. J. H. Wilson, Secretary of the Old¬ 
ham Association, “ A Minor Associate,” “ Chemicus,” “ In¬ 
quirer,” F.C.S., “ Quiesivi,” “A Medical Dispenser,” “An 
Assistant,” “Fairplay,” J. R. W., A. M. B.. J. C. H. 1 
M. P. S. H. 
