PHARMACEUTICAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  A  U.  S.  A.  HOSPITAL.  107 
latter  entering  commerce  by  the  Persian  Gulf,  whilst  the  former 
comes  to  Smyrna,  to  be  used  as  an  adulterating  agent. 
THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  DEPARTMENT  OF  A  U.  S.  A. 
HOSPITAL. 
By  Edward  R.  Fell,  M.  D. 
The  Pharmaceutical  Department  of  "Mower"  U.S.  Army 
General  Hospital,  Chestnut  Hill,  within  the  City  limits  of  Phila- 
delphia, is  situated  on  a  corridor  which  bisects  the  ground  in- 
closed by  the  wards  of  the  hospital,  which  are  arranged  in  the 
form  of  a  quadrilateral  with  rounded  corners. 
This  provides  ready  access  to  different  portions  of  the  building. 
It  consists  of  three  apartments ;  one  of  which  is  styled  the 
"Dispensing"  room,  another  the  "Store"  room,  and  a  third  a 
small  out-house,  in  which  are  manufactured  those  preparations 
requiring  heat,  and  those  that  would  otherwise,  by  vapors,  dust, 
etc.,  incommode  the  occupants  of  the  store  room. 
The  first  of  these  is  68  x  14  feet,  of  which  a  small  portion  is 
partitioned  off  as  an  office  and  sleeping  apartment  for  the  hospital 
Steward  in  charge.  The  counter  is  60  feet  long  by  3  feet  wide, 
and  is  placed  opposite  three  good  sized  windows ;  one  half  of  its 
width  is  devoted  to  its  legitimate  use,  and  the  other  to  a  series  of 
wooden  compartments,  which  are  adapted  to  contain  forty-seven 
tin  trays,  one  for  each  ward.  Into  these  trays  the  prescriptions, 
dressings,  etc.,  ordered  by  the  Surgeons  are  placed :  they  are 
then  carried  to  their  respective  wards  by  the  "Ward  Masters," 
and  replaced,  after  the  articles  are  distributed. 
Four  pairs  of  scales  are  kept  on  the  counter ;  two  for  prescrip- 
tions, and  two  for  weighing  amounts  of  the  gravity  of  four  or 
five  pounds. 
The  shelves,  back  of  the  counter,  are  divisioned  off  into  twelve 
equal  portions,  in  which  the  medicines  are,  to  a  great  extent, 
similar.  Thus  each  prescriptionist  may  fill  his  prescriptions 
without  moving  from  his  place.  By  this  provision,  all  confusion 
is  avoided,  and  time  saved. 
Each  division  contains  eight  quart  salt-mouth  bottles,  contain- 
ing substances  usually  prescribed  in  considerable  amount;  twenty- 
