THE  PHARMACEUTIST  AS  A  MERCHANT.  201 
It  is  shown  in  the  fittings  of  a  store ;  rich  without  extrava- 
gance, or  plain  with  neatness,  either  may  be  elegant.  Conve- 
nience and  appliances  which  favor  the  rapid  dispatch  of  busi- 
ness, should  not  be  overlooked  as  a  saving  of  help  and  labor, 
and  consequently  a  means  of  profit. 
Tact  is  particularly  shown  in  a  courteous  bearing  towards  cus- 
tomers, implying  an  appreciative  sense  of  their  patronage,  with 
a  self-possession  and  manly  self-respect  that  is  above  fawning 
or  flattering.  Here  it  is  that  an  intelligent  understanding,  or 
knowledge  of  the  goods  in  which  we  deal — their  history,  their 
merits,  their  qualities,  their  peculiarities — is  of  such  great  as- 
sistance in  our  business  in  making  sales.  If  you  possess  the 
ability  (and  you  should  possess  the  will)  to  explain  to  the  cus- 
tomer, with  curiosity  excited,  that  which  he  seeks  to  know,  or 
to  impart  that  which  you  have  led  him  to  desire  to  know,  and 
you  do  it  in  a  self-confident  yet  truthful  way,  it  is  always  a  great 
point  gained ;  that  customer  will  always  respect  your  intelli- 
gence ;  his  opinions  in  all  that  relate  to  the  art  will  be 
moulded  by  your  own,  and  he  will  be  sure  to  be  your  regular 
patron. 
I  believe  in  stating  the  merits  of  an  article  decidedly  and 
truthfully  ;  good  goods  tell  no  after-tales  of  deceit ;  poor  ones, 
well  puffed,  most  surely  will. 
Business  tact  is  shown  in  treating  your  clerks  as  if  they 
were  friends,  and  so  making  them  such.  Kind  words  and  even 
temper  are  consistent  with  a  sufficiently  rigid  discipline ;  re- 
member, that  the  example  by  word  and  deed  of  a  proprietor 
will  produce  lasting  effects  on  the  impressible  characters  of 
your  young  apprentices,  bearing  fruit  in  future  habits  and 
business  ways. 
Business  tact  is  shown  again  in  keeping  pace  with  the  age 
in  which  you  live — to  be  ready  with  all  the  innovations,  novelties 
and  sensations  in  the  medical  world — experimentally,  of  course, 
at  first ;  and,  while  you  do  not  endorse  such  necessarily  by 
your  own  approval,  you  should  be"  ready  to  supply  them. 
It  is  shown  in  the  careful  selection  of  the  stock  of  goods, 
particularly  where  means  are  limited,  watching  the  demand 
so  as  to  apportion  it  correctly,  so  that  no  overplus  of  some 
