102  Orthography  of  the  Metric  Units.  {^""£"^1881'"™' 
which  is  quite  as  objectionable  as  any  proposed,  namely,  g.  This  is- 
the  lithographed  and  stereotyped  abbreviation  adopted  by  the  Bureau,, 
seen  on  their  Putnam's  Metric  Charts,  also  in  the  metric  nomenclature 
adopted  by  the  Bureau  and  American  Metrological  Society;  see 
Metric  System  of  Weights  and  Meausures'^  (J.  Pickering  Putnam,, 
p.  59),  the  "  Metric  Manuel,''  Metric  Primer,"  Metric  Bulletins,"' 
and  a  book  just  issued,  Bradbury's  Eaton's  Practical  Arithmetic.'^' 
In  the  present  state  of  confusion  and  want  of  uniformity,  this  writer 
maintains  that  it  would  be  far  better  to  avoid  abbreviations  entirely 
until  the  system  is  thoroughly  introduced  and  understood.  One  mis- 
take— the  loss  of  a  life  through  a  blunder,  caused  by  defective  abbre- 
viation— would  give  the  system  a  greater  blow  and  give  its  enemies 
more  aid  and  comfort  than  all  of  the  arguments  that  they  have 
brought  to  bear  against  it.  In  advocating  the  use  of  the  word  gramme 
in  pharmacy,  the  claim  that  is  made  by  the  writer  is  that,  practically,, 
it  is  a  better  word  than  gram^  because  gram  more  closely  resembles 
grain  than  gixtmme  does,  and  is  much  more  likely  in  writing  to  be- 
mistaken  for  it. 
The  following  prescription  might  mean  relief  to  the  patient  if  the  i 
is  dotted  clearly,  or  death  if  it  was  omitted  : 
R    Sulphate  morphia,  1  gram. 
Divide  in  ten  powders ;  use  as  directed. 
If  gramme  was  the  authorized  orthography  there  could  be  no- 
defence  in  case  of  mistake,  whilst  if  g.,  gr.  or  gm.  were  used  the  drug- 
gist would  be  in  doubt  in  the  first  two  cases  and  also  in  the  third  case 
if  imperfectly  written,  as  would  very  likely  be  the  case.  The  spelling; 
of  gramme  in  full  could  not  be  regarded  by  the  physician  as  a  hard- 
ship, for  by  using  this  one  term  once  at  the  head  of  his  prescription 
he  is  saved  the  necessity  of  repeating  5,  3,  9,  gr.  for  each  ingredient,, 
as  in  the  present  method.^ 
Prof.  Maisch  is  of  course  correct  in  stating  that,  "  in  the  nietrie 
prescriptions  of  continental  Europe  lO'O  means  ten  grams,"  and  the 
writer  can  go  further  than  this,  and  say  that  metric  prescriptions  are 
frequently  written  in  this  way  in  this  country,  particularly  by  physi- 
cians who  have  been  educated  abroad,  yet  the  practice  of  indicating 
quantities  by  their  absence,  and  trusting  to  an  understanding  that  when 
no  quantity  is  specified  that  grammes  are  meant,  cannot  be  regarded  as 
^If  an  abbreviation  should  be  found  necessary  for  prescription  i^iiri^oses,. 
the  Greek  letter  r,  Gamma,  might  be  used,  although  the  writer  i^refers  the 
word  gramme  si^elled  out. 
