98 
Business  Possibilities. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(     February,  1920. 
pharmacy,  its  formula  in  many  cases  becoming  quite  elastic.  It  is 
now  recognized  by  the  National  Formulary,  the  formula  here  being 
identical  with  formulas  published  by  Dr.  Thomson  in  his  works  of 
1835  and  1 84 1.  In  naming  this  preparation,  however,  the  N.  F. 
applied  a  title  which  had  already  been  employed  in  Eclectic  practice 
for  another  preparation  known  as  "Cephalic  Powder." 
THE   BUSINESS    POSSIBII.ITIES    OF  MANUFACTURING 
IN  THE  RETAIL  DRUG  STORE.  ^ 
By  Ge;orge  M.  Beringer,  Jr.,  P.D., 
CAMDEN,  N.  J. 
In  the  matter  of  manufacturing,  the  retail  druggists  of  the 
United  States  might  be  divided  into  two  classes:  those  who  prefer 
to  devote  all  their  energies  to  salesmanship,  and,  hence,  make  prac- 
tically nothing,  and  those  who  make  a  few  of  the  commoner  prep- 
arations and  specialties,  but  draw  the  line  at  certain  preparations 
which  tradition,  more  than  fact,  says  can  be  made  more  cheaply 
by  the  large  manufacturer.  Those  of  the  first  class  buy  Brown  Mix- 
ture, Chalk  Mixture,  Syrup  Wild  Cherry  and  Solution  Magnesium 
Citrate.  They  even  buy  five-  and  ten-cent  packages  of  Epsom  Salt 
and  sell  them  again — as  far  as  the  contents  go — sight  unseen !  These 
are  the  men  who  continually  decry  the  advancements  in  Pharmacy ^ 
who  would  turn  our  colleges  into  mere  schools  of  salesmanships 
yet  they,  themselves,  violate  the  first  principle  of  modern  salesman- 
ship in  that  they  know  nothing  about  the  goods  they  sell.  The 
second  class,  I  fear,  are  less  numerous  than  the  first.  They  are 
surely,  fundamentally,  better  merchants  than  their  pseudo-successful 
brethren  of  the  first  class,  and  would  probably  be  more  successful 
were  they  but  fully  alive  to  the  business  possibilities  that  their 
manufacturing  offered. 
The  trouble  is,  that  the  average  druggist  of  all  classes  thinks 
only  of  his  profit  as  the  difference  between  the  cost  and  the  selling 
price.  If  business  were  so  simple,  we  would  all  be  merchant  princes. 
However,  there  are  a  number  of  factors  which  make  the  problem 
1  Read  before  the  Commercial  Section  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  New  York  City,  August,  1919. 
