AmMi?ch,f9olrm'}    Dose  Measures  and  Measured  Doses.  121 
accuracy,  or  to  the  accuracy  of  the  doses  measured.  It  is  true  that 
occasionally  we  find  an  article  calling  attention  to  the  variation  in 
the  shape  and  size  of  the  different  household  utensils  that  are  used 
as  dose  measures.  But,  so  far  as  the  writer's  knowledge  goes,  no 
attempt  has  ever  been  made  to  inquire  into  the  needs  and  necessities 
for  obtaining  more  accuracy  in  the  administration  of  potent  medi- 
cines to  the  patient. 
Some  remarks  that  were  made  at  a  recent  pharmaceutical  meeting 
led  the  writer  to  try  and  investigate  more  fully  the  existing  dose 
measures  as  to  their  efficiency*  and  accuracy,  and  to  further  make 
some  investigations  as  to  the  importance  ol  the  part  played  by  per- 
sonal equation  in  the  measuring  of  doses. 
To  confine  ourselves  within  reasonable  limits  we  will  not  go  into 
a  discussion  on  metrology,  nor  will  we  take  up  the  measures  for 
larger  quantities,  but  will  restrict  ourselves  to  a  consideration  of 
the  ways  and  means  for  measuring  out  spoonful  doses  of  active 
medicines. 
The  difference  in  the  size  of  various  tea  and  tablespoons  has  been 
recognized  for  a  long  time.  More  than  twenty-five  years  ago  Mr. 
Barnard  S.  Proctor  brought  the  matter  up  for  dfscussion  before  the 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.  In  the  course  of  this  dis- 
cussion several  substitutes  were  suggested,  Mr.  Proctor  himself 
championing  a  cheap  graduate  marked  in  quantities  of  drams  and 
ounces,  ignoring  any  and  all  reference  to  the  term  spoon.  Others 
suggested  graduated  glass  measures  similar  to  those  used  so  exten- 
sively at  the  present  time. 
Among  the  other  devices  for  overcoming  what  was  thought  to  be 
a  serious  problem  was  the  graduating  of  the  medicine  vial  into  tea 
and  tablespoon  doses,  so  that  the  patient  in  pouring  out  the  medi- 
cine could  tell  whether  or  not  the  proper  quantity  was  being  taken. 
This  same  device  has  since  come  into  extensive  use  in  connection 
with  nursing-bottles.  Here  it  answers  a  double  purpose  :  facilitating 
the  proper  mixture  of  milk,  cream  and  water,  and  at  the  same  time 
aiding  the  mother  or  nurse  to  keep  an  accurate  account  of  the 
amount  of  food  consumed  by  the  child. 
Still  another  device  was  the  use  of  a  half-ounce  bottle  as  a 
measure  for  tablespoonful  quantities ;  this  could  be  graduated  for 
teaspoonful  doses  by  making  a  scratch  at  the  proper  position  with  a 
new  or  sharp-edged  file. 
