AmbJe°cU,ri8P78rrir'}  Chinese  Pharmacy  in  the  United  States,  593 
CHINESE  PHARMACY  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
By  Rich.  V.  Mattison,  Ph.G. 
Sauntering  along  one  evening  with  some  friends  in  the  City  of  the  Golden  Gate, 
discussing  the  pharmacy  of  the  past  and  that  of  the  immediate  future,  we  thought  a 
visit  to  the  Celestials  would  be  apropos,  so  we  dropped  into  the  shop  of  Mr.  Fook 
Sing  Tong  to  chat  about  the  price  of  drugs  and  the  probability  of  an  early  agree- 
ment on  the  subject  of  an  International  Pharmacopoeia. 
The  representatives  of  the  oldest  nation  not  being  so  communicative  to  our  body- 
as  we  desired,  we  soon  transferred  ourselves  to  the  shop  of  Messrs.  Chun  Wo  Tong 
&  Co.,  who  have  the  best  arranged  pharmacy,  probably,  among  the  Orientals  of  the 
coast.  Here  we  were  cordially  welcomed,  and,  after  an  interchange  of  courtesies, 
which  consisted  on  their  part  of  the  usual  tea-drinking  ceremony,  we  proceeded  to 
inspect  the  pharmacy. 
The  junior  partner  we  found  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  a  large  quantity  of 
pills.  In  this  case  secundum  artem  means  that  the  powders  are  beaten  up  into  a 
mass,  a  mortar  being  used  and  the  pestle  manipulated  in  true  Occidental  style. 
When  the  mass  is  of  sufficient  tenacity,  it  is  held  in  one  hand  and  with  the  other 
pulled  and  rolled  into  a  pipe  of  about  the  thickness  of  a  stick  of  liquorice,  and 
then,  with  one  hand  still  grasping  the  pipe,  sufficient  is  pinched  from  the  end  by 
means  of  the  ringer  nails,  which  are  kept  long  for  the  purpose,  to  make  a  pill  5  this 
is  rolled  between  the  thumb  and  fore  finger  until  quite  spherical,  when  it  is  dropped 
into  a  pan,  where  after  a  sufficient  number  have  accumulated,  they  are  placed  in  a 
warm  place  to  dry.  The  whole  process  is  one  of  astonishing  accuracy  and  dex- 
terity. The  mortars  used  are  of  brass,  the  usual  shape  and  size  ;  the  pestles  are  of 
wood,  with  a  brass  "  nose  "  at  the  apex  firmly  joined  to  the  wood.  Each  mortar  is 
furnished  with  a  leather  cover,  which  in  its  centre  is  pierced  with  a  hole  for  the 
passage  of  the  pestle. 
All  drugs  are  prepared  for  use  or  sale  in  the  following  manner :  The  drug  is 
carefully  steamed,  and  then,  while  soft,  is  cut,  usually  transversely,  in  very  thin 
slices,  by  means  of  a  machine  resembling  a  straw  cutter  or  tobacco  knife.  Perhaps 
liquorice  root  is  a  good  example  of  the  preparation  of  similar  drugs.  It  is  first 
steamed,  then  decorticated,  and  then  sliced  and  placed  in  the  sun  until  perfectly 
dry.  No  artificial  heat  is  used.  It  is  then  ready  for  sale.  Its  appearance  by  this 
time  is  about  as  unlike  liquorice  root  as  it  is  possible  to  get  it.  Orange  and  lemon 
rinds  are  treated  in  the  same  manner,  and  come  into  the  market  in  the  favorite 
chipped  beef  style. 
The  Oriental  has  no  liquid  preparations  to  trouble  him,  but  his  profession  is  thor- 
oughly in  the  line  of  practical  pharmacy.  Think  of  it,  pharmacists  of  a  civilized 
community  !  Not  an  elixir  to  grace  his  shelves.  Not  even  a  pill  except  of  his  own 
manufacture.  Not  a  sugar-coated,  gelatin-coated,  or  even  a  compressed  pill  to  be 
seen  upon  his  shelves,  to  say  nothing  of  his  not  being  obliged  to  keep  half  a  dozen 
makes  of  each  of  the  above  lines.  Already  we  think  we  hear  some  one  murmur- 
ing, "  What  a  paradise  for  pharmacy  !" 
The  R  is  written  by  the  physician  upon  rice  paper,  and,  after  being  compounded, 
is  twisted  up  into  a  little  roll  and  returned  with  the  medicine  to  the  owner,  1.  e.. 
