628 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharrru 
Sept.,  1918. 
THE  DANGER  OF  INCOMPETENT  DISPENSING  IN  THE 
ARMY. 
The  mistake  that  occurred  in  an  English  Army  camp  hospital,  by 
which  a  soldier  was  given  carbolic  acid  in  place  of  quinine  mixture 
with  a  fatal  result,  demonstrates  forcefully  the  danger  to  which  the 
soldiers  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  are  subjected  to  by 
the  lack  of  pharmaceutical  corps  and  competent  dispensers  in  the 
hospitals  and  encampments  of  these  armies.  The  following  account 
of  the  inquest  in  this  case  is  copied  from  the  Pharmaceutical  Jour- 
nal and  Pharmacist. 
Inquest. 
Carbolic  Acid:  Dispensing  in  a  Camp  Hospital. — At  an  in- 
quest on  Cadet  Alexander  Miller,  R.A.F.,  before  the  South  Bucks 
Coroner,  on  July  5,  the  evidence  showed  that  death  was  caused  by 
carbolic  acid  poisoning,  the  acid  having  been  given  in  mistake  for 
quinine  mixture.  The  deceased  was  a  patient  in  the  camp  hospital, 
and  the  fatal  dose  was  given  to  him  by  another  cadet,  a  voluntary 
worker  in  the  hospital.  Another  voluntary  worker,  a  lady,  ex- 
plained that  she  got  the  carbolic  acid  from  the  corporal  at  the  dis- 
pensary in  'a  sauce-bottle  labelled  "  Quinine  Mixture."  The  cor- 
poral deposed  that  the  lady,  whom  he  took  to  be  a  nurse,  did  not 
say  wThat  she  wanted  the  carbolic  acid  for,  but  he  inferred  it  was  for 
cleaning  or  disinfecting  purposes.  He  did  not  think  ^about  a  poison 
label,  being  very  busy  at  the  time,  and  used  the  sauce  bottle  because 
bottles  were  very  scarce.  The  jury,  in  returning  a  verdict  of  "  death 
by  misadventure  "  added  that  the  corporal  was  very  much  to  blame 
in  not  seeing  that  the  bottle  was  labelled  poison.  In  future  they  con- 
sidered it  essential  that  the  camp  should  have  a  qualified  dispenser. 
The  coroner,  who  emphatically  concurred  in  this  recommendation, 
continued :  "  You  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  there  are  properly  qual- 
ified chemists  in  the  Army  who  are  pushing  barrows  about,  and  that 
sort  of  thing,  whereas  they  might  be  most  usefully  employed  in  their 
own  important  work." 
The  attention  of  those  responsible  for  the  lack  of  proper  phar- 
maceutical service  in  our  army,  especially  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  United  States  Army,  is  respectfully  directed  to  this  incident. 
G.  M.  B. 
