380 
EDITORIAL. 
of  his  wishes  will  justify ;  and  we  can  with  pleasure  bear  testimony  to 
the  general  observance  of  this  rule  in  the  practice  of  the  physicians  of 
Philadelphia. 
At  page  25  Dr.  Coates  observes,  in  regard  to  medical  patronage : 
"Two  principles,  both  of  them  praiseworthy,  have  been  in  action  at  the 
same  time  in  this  business.  One  of  them,  felt  as  liberal,  and  as  open  to 
the  improvements  of  the  age,  is  that  all  apothecaries  of  reasonable  qualifi- 
cation should  be  allowed  a  fair  and  equal  chance  ;  and  that  it  is  worse 
than  absurd  to  pass  by  a  respectable  store  and  go  to  a  distance  to  get 
what  the  near  and  meritorious  man  will  furnish  equally  well.  The  other 
is,  that  a  physician  should  be  familiar  with  all  the  apothecaries'  shops  to 
which  he  sends  for  drugs,  in  order  to  judge  of  the  qualities  and  often  very 
different  strength  of  the  articles  which  he  directs  to  be  procured,  to  avoid 
ambiguities,  and  to  be  sure  that  such  errors  as  we  have  described  may 
not  be  committed,  but  the  intention  of  the  prescriber  be  carried  out,  and 
even  that  time  and  confidence  too  may  not  be  lost." 
Dr.  Coates  has  fairly  stated  these  two  principles,  both  of  which  are  in 
operation  in  this  city.  The  first  is  certainly  the  practice  that  should  ob- 
tain where  the  apothecaries  deserve  confidence,  and  the  physician  is  fully 
entitled  to  feel  satisfied  on  this  point.  We  believe  it  is  not  difficult  for 
an  intelligent  physician  to  form  a  pretty  correct  opinion  of  an  apothecary's 
ability  to  understand  his  prescriptions,  and  to  dispense  them  correctly,  by 
the  occasional  intercourse  which  results  in  his  practice  in  various  neigh- 
borhoods ;  and  we  believe  it  is  a  satisfaction  to  most  apothecaries  to  have 
physicians  to  manifest  this  interest  by  calling  and  examining  any  prepara- 
tions in  which  they  may  feel  interested  on  behalf  of  their  patients,  when 
it  is  done  in  a  friendly  manner.  But  when  a  family  have  long  and  satis- 
factorily dealt  with  an  apothecary,  it  certainly  is  not  right  that  a  physician, 
except  in  special  cases,  should  send  his  prescriptions  to  another  store, 
without  good  reason,  and  thus  convey  the  inference  that  the  apothecary 
does  not  understand  his  business. 
The  second  principle  is  attempted  to  be  carried  out  by  some  physicians, 
so  far  as  to  induce  their  patients,  wherever  located,  to  deal  at  a  limited 
number  of  shops,  with  the  economy  of  which  they  believe  themselves  to  be 
familiar,  but  which  is  often  far  from  being  the  case.  It  is  true  that  where 
a  great  number  of  precriptions  of  a  given  physician  are  received  by  an 
apothecary,  he  is  more  apt  to  know  the  habits  and  peculiarities  of  the 
prescriber,  and  to  be  able  better  to  correct  his  oversights ;  but  we  have 
known  of  great  liberties  on  the  part  of  the  apothecary  to  arise  from  this 
confidence.  It  is  unfortunately  true  that  physicians,  as  a  mass,  are  not 
so  practically  familiar  with  the  medicines  they  prescribe  as  to  be  able  al- 
ways to  decide  their  merit  by  external  observation,  and  they  are  often 
influenced  to  a  surprising  extent  in  the  use  of  remedies  by  the  business 
tact  and  enterprise  of  some  apothecaries,  who,  like  the  French  masters  of  the 
cuisine  serve  up  old  dishes  in  new  seasoning,  which  by  their  novelty  of 
