Am.  Jour.  Phariu. 
May,  1902. 
Spoonful  Doses. 
219 
quite  possible  that  he  has  been  given  either  more  or  less  than  the 
intended  quantity,  and,  as  a  result  of  this,  has  either  not  responded, 
or  has  responded  in  a  way  that  was  unexpected  and  startling.  So 
that,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  the  scientific  study  of  the  incidental 
or  unexpected  effects  of  drugs,  it  would  appear  desirable  that  any 
abnormal  variation  from  the  intended  quantity  or  dose  should  be 
guarded  against  and  prevented,  if  possible. 
The  reason  why  well-made  liquid  preparations  are  generally  con- 
ceded to  be  more  efficient,  and  consequently  more  desirable,  than  a 
corresponding  amount  of  a  dry  drug  or  a  solid  extract,  is  found  in  the 
physiological  necessity,  that  materials  to  be  absorbed  by  the  stom- 
ach or  intestinal  canal  must  be  in  a  fluid  or  a  semifluid  state;  and 
while  it  is  true  that  under  ordinary  circumstances  the  stomach  has 
the  property  of  dissolving  many  otherwise  refractory  substances,  it 
must  also  be  remembered  that  in  case  of  illness  or  disease,  the 
whole  gastro-intestinal  tract  is  necessarily  less  active,  and  in  many 
cases  is  debilitated  to  such  an  extent  that  it  will  not  absorb  or 
assimilate  the  plainest  food,  and  certainly  would  not  be  in  any  con- 
dition to  dissolve  and  absorb  medicinal  ingredients  contained  in  a 
hard  pill  or  bolus  mixed  up  with  a  large  amount  of  inert  or  perhaps 
irritating  powder. 
The  advantages  of  liquid  preparations  and  their  quality  being 
acknowledged,  it  remains  for  us  to  inquire  into  the  practicability  of 
adjusting  or  improving  the  methods  of  measuring  out  and  adminis- 
tering them.  Modern  practices  appear  to  demand  that  liquid  prepa- 
rations be  not  only  elegant  in  appearance,  pleasant  to  the  taste  and 
smell,  but  also  concentrated  to  a  degree  that  will  allow  a  number  of 
doses  being  carried  about  in  a  vial  no  larger  than  would  be  needed 
to  contain  a  single  dose  of  an  old-time  tea  or  infusion. 
By  apparent,  general  consent,  rather  than  by  any  carefully 
studied-out  plan,  doses  have  been  adjusted  to  correspond,  more  or 
less  closely,  with  the  capacities  of  various  household  utensils,  while 
from  these  in  turn  we  have  derived  distinctive  names  for  the  various 
quantities,  as  teacupful,  wineglassful,  tablespoonful  or  teaspoonful 
doses. 
Our  object  in  this  particular  paper  is  to  call  attention  again  to 
the  desirability  of  recognizing  the  importance  of  correctly  measur- 
ing these  smaller  doses,  the  evident  reason,  of  course,  being  that 
mixtures  that  are  to  be  given  in  tea  or  tablespoonful  quantities  are 
