Am.  jour.  Pharm  ) 
Mar.,  1878.  J 
Editorial. 
143 
Curious  Synonym  for  Quinia. —  Recently  we  were  shown  a  prescription  in  which 
the  first  article  ordered  was, 
R     Sulphatis  americanas  australis,        gr.  xxiv. 
This  South  American  szlphate  was  interpreted  to  mean  quinia  sulphate,  the  former 
term  having  been  probably  selected  by  the  physician  because,  from  a  fancied  idiosin- 
cracy  or  dreaded  ill-effects,  the  patient  imagined  to  be  unable  or  refused  to  take 
quinia. 
Prescription  Blanks  and  the  Percentage  Business — We  have  occasionally 
referred  to  the  nefarious  collusion  between  some  physicians  and  apothecaries,  by 
which  the  patient  is  made  to  pay  extortionate  prices  so  that  the  attending  physician 
may,  besides  his  regular  fee,  secure  some  additional  cash  through  the  apothecary. 
On  various  occasions  we  have  alluded  to  these  corrupt  bargains,  and  we  are  prompted 
to  again  refer  to  them  by  having  seen  a  prescription  blank,  upon  the  back  of  which 
is  printed  the  following  notice: 
"  N.  B  — In  justice  to  myself  and  the  profession,  attention  is  called  to  the  fact 
that  the  physician  who  writes  upon  this  blank  does  not  accept  percentage  from  the 
apothecary." 
We  are  not  aware  to  what  extent  the  practice  prevails,  or  is  by  the  public  sup- 
posed to  prevail  in  the  community  where  the  blank  before  us  originated  ;  but  for 
the  honor  of  both  professions  we  trust  that  the  honorable  physicians  and  pharma- 
cists, who  would  spurn  such  collusion,  are  vastly  in  the  majority,  and  do  not  form 
the  exception. 
The  Prolificness  of  Stramonium  Some  time  ago,  Mr.  Theodore  G.  Davis 
informed  us  that  last  year  he  had  chosen  a  plant  of  Datura  stramonium  with  the 
intention  of  collecting  its  leaves  and  seeds.  The  plant,  however,  was  destroyed  by 
a  storm  in  September,  at  which  time  it  had  attained  a  height  of  four  and  a  half  feet, 
and  with  its  branches  spread  over  an  area  five  feet  in  diameter.  It  had  produced 
125  flowers  and  capsules  ;  each  capsule  contained  between  700  and  735  seeds,  and 
as  it  takes  between  9  and  10  seeds  to  weigh  one  grain,  the  plant  would  have  pro- 
duced nearly  20  troyounces  of  seeds,  if  all  had  ripened. 
The  Necessity  of  Forest  Culture. — We  find  it  stated  that  in  ten  years  there  have 
been  destroyed  in  the  United  States  not  less  than  12,000,000  acres  of  forest  trees. 
We  do  not  know  how  accurate  this  estimate  may  be,  but  it  must  be  evident  to  all 
observing  travelers  that  in  many  localities  forests  are  ruthlessly  destroyed  for  the 
sake  of  the  timber,  and  without  making  any  endeavor  of  replanting  them.  The 
important  influence  of  forests  upon  the  climate  is  well  known  and  generally  admitted, 
and  with  such  a  wholesale  clearing  of  timber  land  as  above  indicated,  must  soon 
impress  upon  all  the  necessity  of  rational  forest  culture,  which,  up  to  this  time,  has 
been  almost  completely  neglected. 
