372       Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
work  is  deplored  by  the  author,  who  places  the  blame  therefor  on 
purely  mercenary  grounds,  and  who  favors  legislative  enactments 
for  correcting  the  evil. 
Some  Everyday  Problems. 
Dr.  C.  B.  Lowe. 
Some  practical  points  are  taken  up  in  an  interesting  way  under 
the  following  subheads: 
The  Care  of  the  Store,  with  reference  to  cleaning  tiling,  oiling 
floors  and  minimizing  the  dissemination  of  dust. 
The  Soda-  Water  Fountain. — If  the  labor  is  added  to  the  cost  of 
making  ice  cream  by  the  pharmacist  himself,  it  does  not  pay. 
Several  of  the  proprietary  ingredients,  to  increase  the  quality  of 
ice  cream,  were  tried  with  poor  results.  Decorating  the  fountain 
by  growing  plants  and  cut  flowers  is  a  very  attractive  way  of  beauti- 
fying the  store. 
Store  Lighting. — Gas  is  cheaper  than  electricity,  but  in  summer 
contributes  more  heat  than  the  latter  and  adds  to  the  discomfort. 
The  Nernst  electric  lights  are  more  satisfactory  for  the  store  proper, 
the  ordinary  incandescent  lights  being  better  adapted  for  the  pre- 
scription department,  etc. 
The  Prescription  Counter. — The  prescription  counter  is  often  made 
subsidiary  when  it  should  be  of  first  importance  in  the  allotment  of 
store  space.  A  Bunsen  burner  arranged  horizontally  provides  a 
good  way  for  melting  sealing-wax.  A  number  of  observations  are 
also  made  on  keeping  distilled  water,  dispensing  capsules,  cleaning 
ointment  slabs,  etc. 
The  Laboratory. — This  should  be  a  separate  department  wherever 
possible.  A  convenient  filtering  rack  is  described,  and  a  note  on 
keeping  and  dispensing  lime  water  is  also  given. 
Commercial  Problems. — Advertising  the  pharmacy  by  means  of 
the  mimeograph,  sending  out  periodical  bulletins  to  regular  cus- 
tomers is  very  highly  commended.  Some  notes  on  methods  of 
recording  cash  and  credit  sales  are  also  appended. 
The  paper  closes  with  a  consideration  of  the  methods  possible  in 
stimulating  the  interest  of  physicians  in  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia. 
