Am.  Jour.  PKarm.  1 
Oct.,  1877.  J 
Ammonium  Carbonate. 
5oi 
Sometimes  these  have  directions,  "use  as  a  gargle,"  or  "use  as  injec- 
tion," or  "  external  use,"  and  very  often  have  only  "  use  as  directed." 
In  most  of  these  cases  the  apothecary  can  tell  the  use  that  is  to  be 
made  of  them,  but  he  should  not  allow  the  preparation  leave  his  store 
store  without  some  mark  of  caution,  still  he  does  not  like  to  use  a 
poison  label  for  the  same  reasons  as  noted  above. 
The  following  suits  such  cases  very  well :  "  caution,  this  is  poison 
if  taken  into  the  stomach,"  or  c;  caution,  this  is  not  to  be  swallowed." 
Keeping  poisons,  such  as  morphia,  strychnia,  etc.,  in  a  separate 
apartment  or  closet  is  a  rule  that  should  be  adopted  in  every  apothecary 
store.  The  importance  of  this  is  too  plain  to  every  apothecary  to  need 
any  comments.  The  writer  knows  of  an  arrangement  that  has  worked 
well  for  several  years  and  answered  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  intended. 
It  consists  of  a  closet  with  double  doors,  purposely  placed  in  an  awk- 
ward position,  and  opened  and  closed  in  a  very  inconvenient  manner. 
The  object  of  this  is  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  operator  and  thereby 
incline  him  to  give  special  attention  to  what  he  is  doing ;  one  of  these 
doors  is  constantly  forced  outward  by  a  spring,  the  other  door  overlaps 
it  at  the  centre  and  has  a  fixture  on  it  that  attaches  itself  (when  closed) 
to  a  spring  hook  inside  of  the  closet,  which  is  operated  by  a  cord.  As 
soon  as  the  cord  is  pulled  the  hook  is  lifted,  and  both  doors  fly  open. 
To  shut  the  closet  it  is  necessary  first  to  close  the  door  with  the 
spring  attachment,  and  hold  it  till  the  other  door  is  closed  upon  it  and 
the  hook  has  caught.  You  cannot  possibly  shut  the  spring  door  unless 
the  other  one  is  properly  closed  also. 
The  matters  briefly  alluded  to  in  this  article  may  seem  trifling  to 
some,  but  they  are  important  and  necessary  to  the  successful  carrying 
•on  of  the  apothecary  business,  especially  as  the  public  expect  so  much 
of  the  apothecary,  it  requires  him  to  employ  every  possible  device  to 
prevent  an  improper  use  of  the  medicines  dispensed  by  him. 
AMMONIUM  CARBONATE  and  FAHRENHEIT  UP  in  the 
NINETIES. 
By  Hans  M.  Wilder. 
A  friend  of  mine  tells  the  following :   Came  a  prescription  calling 
for  i\  drachms  of  carbonate  of  ammonium  in  I \  fluidounce  of  syrupus 
acaciae.    When  made  it  was  poured  into  the  bottle  and  corked  ;  after 
