PHARMACY  IN  GERMANY  AND  PRUSSIA. 
435 
never  presents  that  superfluity  of  exterior  decoration  which  in 
other  countries  fixes  the  attention  of  the  passers ;  a  simple  in- 
scription, sometimes,  perhaps,  a  sign  placed  over  the  entrance, 
scarcely  distinguishes  the  pharmacy  from  the  neighboring  dwell- 
ing-houses ;  within  all  is  quiet  and  orderly,  as  is  accordant  with 
the  nature  of  the  business.  Several  assistants  are  engaged  in 
the  preparation  of  medicines,  one  person  only,  and  most  fre- 
quently the  principal,  being  engaged  with  the  customers  ;  he 
receives  the  prescriptions  and  distributes  them  among  the  assist- 
ants for  preparation.  When  the  medicines  are  completed,  they 
are  examined  by  the  principal,  to  ascertain  whether  they  agree 
with  the  prescriptions.  In  many  shops  the  customers  are  not 
admitted  into  the  place  where  the  medicines  are  prepared,  but 
remain  in  a  kind  of  ante-room  or  vestibule.  In  the  less  exten- 
sive establishments  there  is  always  a  small  space,  a  kind  of  office, 
reserved  for  the  preparation  of  medicines.  The  pharmaceutist 
is  compelled  by  the  regulations  to  write  upon  each  label  the  name 
of  the  person,  the  date,  and  the  mode  of  administering  the  me- 
dicine. In  some  States  it  is  customary  to  make  use  of  colored 
labels  for  external  applications,  so  as  to  make  a  more  marked 
distinction  between  them  and  others,  than  is  effected  by  a  written 
label. 
As  the  pharmaceutists  in  Germany  are  required  to  prepare  the 
greater  part  of  the  substances  sold  by  them,  and  as  most  of  the 
pharmaceutical  establishments  in  large  towns  are  on  a  very  ex- 
tensive scale,  they  are  provided  with  well  arranged  laboratories, 
in  which  steam  is  very  ingeniously  employed  as  a  source  of  heat 
for  the  preparation  of  infusions,  decoctions,  distilled  waters  and 
extracts,  for  evaporation,  and  in  short  all  the  operations  which 
require  the  aid  of  a  moderately  elevated  temperature.  These 
laboratories  likewise  contain  very  efficient  chemical  and  mechani- 
cal apparatus. 
The  difficulty  of  creating  new  establishments  prevents  many 
men  of  experience  from  meeting  with  suitable  positions  as  prip- 
cipals,  and  this  circumstance  likewise  ensures  the  capability  of 
the  assistants  in  the  pharmacies. 
INSPECTION  OF  PHARMACEUTICAL  ESTABLISHMENTS. 
The  inspection  of  pharmacies  is  provided  for  by  the  Prussian 
law ;  each  one  must  be  visited  at  least  once  every  three  years, 
and  more  frequently  if  the  inspectors  should  think  it  requisite. 
