646  Increasing  Prescription  Dispensing.  {AmseTp0tUr"IJ>Ih8arm' 
In  behalf  of  the  tablets  examined,  however,  the  writer  would 
like  to  state  that  the  disintegration  in  general  has  been  exceptionally 
good,  the  discoloration  only  moderately  bad,  and  that  while  the  ap- 
pearance of  most  of  the  tablets  is  poor  it  is  undoubtedly  preferable 
to  sacrifice  physical  appearance  for  efficacy  in  all  cases  and  when 
all  is  said  and  done  it  is  quite  probable,  too,  that  though  these 
matters  are  of  considerable  importance  to  manufacturers  the  retail 
druggist  may  be  in  a  position  to  inform  us  that  the  public  are  not 
sufficiently  educated  in  such  details,  and  may  prove  to  us  that  the 
poorest  looking  tablet  is  the  best  seller  of  all. 
SERVICE— THE  BEST  METHOD  FOR  INCREASING 
PRESCRIPTION  DISPENSING.1 
By  Robert  P.  Fischelis  and  Hugo  H.  Schaefer. 
The  prime  factor  governing  the  increase  of  prescription  dis- 
pensing is  undoubtedly  service. 
The  pharmacist  who  best  serves  the  medical  profession  through 
careful  conscientious  and  up-to-date  dispensing  will  be  sought  out 
and  patronized  even  though,  as  Emerson  might  have  said,  he  built 
his  shop  in  the  wilderness. 
What  constitutes  the  right  kind  of  service  to  the  medical  pro- 
fession and  how  can  it  be  given  most  effectively?  Pharmacy  is  tfce 
handmaiden  of  medicine  and  service  to  the  medical  profession,  im- 
plies an  expert  knowledge  of  drugs  and  medical  supplies  and  the 
ability  to  apply  this  knowledge  practically  to  the  problems  of  the 
day.  First,  then,  to  give  proper  service  the  pharmacist  must  be  edu- 
cated and  when  we  refer  to  education  we  include  not  only  the  reg- 
ular college  course  but  the  annual  postgraduate  courses,  offered  to 
the  pharmacist  through  his  state  and  national  associations.  To  give 
the  right  kind  of  service  the  pharmacist  must  be  up-to-date  and  a 
little  in  advance  of  the  average  physician,  dentist  and  veterinarian 
if  possible,  in  his  knowledge  of  the  newer  materia  medica  products. 
He  should  attend  meetings  of  medical  associations,  where  possible, 
and  by  all  means  read  at  least  one  medical,  dental  and  veterinary 
1  At  the  forty-eighth  Annual  Convention  of  The  New  Jersey  Pharma- 
ceutical Association  this  paper  was  awarded  the  $25.00  prize  offered  for  the 
best  paper  on  "  How  to  Increase  Prescription  Business." 
