Aubitl  mi"""}  Prescriptions.  469 
stances,  and  its  preservative  influence  might  be  utilized  in  the  prep- 
aration of  many  syrups  and  mixtures,  which  are  remarkable  for 
instability. 
Benzoin,  storax  or  balsam  of  Peru,  would  no  doubt  prove  as  good 
a  preservative  as  tolu,  but  we  think  tolu  the  least  objectionable. 
Archer  &  Co. 
Norfolk,  Va.,  September  11th,  1874. 
PRESCRIPTIONS. 
By  M.  S.  Bidwell. 
Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  written  by  physicians  and  phar- 
macists on  this  subject,  there  are  some  points  that  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  placed  before  the  two  professions  with  sufficient  clearness. 
As  this  is  a  subject  of  interest  to  all  your  readers,  will  you  allow  me 
to  attempt  this  ? 
The  first  question  is  on  the  ownership  of  the  prescription  or  recipe. 
"To  which  one  of  the  three  parties  concerned — physician,  patient  and 
pharmacist — does  it  belong  ?  It  may  aid  us  in  answering  this  ques- 
tion fairly,  if  we  first  consider  what  a  prescription  is,  illustrating  it 
bj  an  example.  Suppose  a  physician  to  visit  consecutively  three 
patients.  To  the  first  he  may  say,  "You  need  some  beef  tea:  get  a 
piece  of  the  round  to  make  it  of.  I  will  give  you  a  note  to  the 
butcher,  explaining  what  kind  you  want."  To  the  second  he  might 
.say  :  "  Send  your  boy  to  my  office  with  this  memorandum,  and  the 
.student  there  will  give  you  the  necessary  medicine  " — the  memoran- 
dum directing,  perhaps,  to  give  him  four  pills  out  of  the  box  on  the 
lower  shelf,  or  any  other  instructions  that  the  student  will  under- 
stand. To  the  third  he  gives  a  recipe,  in  the  usual  form,  directing  the 
pharmacist  into  whose  hands  it  may  come  to  put  up  a  certain  mixture 
for  the  patient's  cough.  Now,  is  it  not  evident  that  the  note  to  the 
butcher,  the  memorandum  to  the  student,  and  the  recipe  to  the  phar- 
macist are  precisely  analogous  ?  We  may  therefore  define  a  prescrip- 
tion to  be  a  confidential  letter  from  a  physician  to  a  pharmacist, 
instructing  him  to  dispense  certain  medicines  according  to  directions 
given.  So  far,  then,  as  these  two  parties  are  concerned,  it  would 
follow  the  same  rule  as  any  other  letter — the  recipient  being  entitled 
to  its  custody,  but  having  no  right  to  publish  it,  or  use  it  in  any  sim- 
ilar way,  without  the  consent  of  the  writer. 
