102 
Original Communications. 
them agents for good or for evil, according to the judi- 
ciousness of their application. Now, as this application is 
made by the public at large, who are ignorant of the nice 
principles on which the practice of medicine is conducted ; 
it will be readily conceded, that such medicines, in their 
hands, will much oftener be the instruments of evil than of 
good. 
Another difficulty which the young pharmaceutist has to 
contend with is, that he is often solicited by the poor and 
parsimonious to prescribe. The ignorant people who do so, 
cannot be made to comprehend, that the pharmaceutical and 
medical professions severally embrace within their scope, 
such diversified science, that it is hardly possible that the 
same individual should have a competent knowledge of both. 
I need hardly remark here, that no apothecary is permitted, 
according to the rules of his profession, to pay a visit to a 
patient in order to prescribe. This would be a palpable in- 
terference with the rights of another profession. But fre- 
quently, in slight cases, a person applies personally at the 
shop of an apothecary for some medicine which may re- 
lieve him. To decline peremptorily to afford any advice, 
might give offence ; and instead of inducing the applicant to 
resort to a physician, would throw him on his own crude 
medical resources. Now, from the very nature of the phar- 
maceutical profession, its members must possess much gene- 
ral intelligence on medical subjects, as well as exact know- 
ledge of the doses of medicines. In the case supposed, there- 
fore, it would be justifiable in the apothecary to give his 
opinion, and advise some simple medicine ; in many instances 
correcting the views of the ignorant applicant, both as to the 
appropriate remedy, and the proper dose in which it should 
be given. In thus admitting the propriety of an apothecary's 
prescribing in slight cases, where refusal to do so would be 
productive of no good, but perhaps harm, I feel bound to ad- 
vise you to avoid doing so whenever it is in your power. 
Nothing could be further from my views than that you should 
aim at being medical practitioners, influenced either by the 
