666 
The  Ethics  of  Prescribing. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   September,  1920. 
I  will  sell  customers  the  sort  of  articles  they  want  to  buy  instead 
of  trying  to  make  them  purchase  the  things  I  want  to  sell,  because 
I  realize  that  by  doing  this  I  will  be  making  friends  instead  of  dis- 
satisfied purchasers. 
I  will  keep  my  show  rooms  neat  and  pleasing  because  I  realize 
that  people  prefer  trading  in  attractive  places  instead  of  doing 
business  in  poorly  lighted  and  dowdy-looking  rooms. 
I  will  do  a  certain  amount  of  newspaper  advertising,  not  more 
than  my  business  can  afford,  and  I  will  try  to  make  this  advertising 
snappy  and  different  because  I  realize  that  there  is  so  much  adver- 
tising of  the  ordinary  kind  that  it  takes  a  different  slant  from  the 
usual  in  newspaper  publicity  to  make  people  sit  up  and  take  notice. 
I  will  watch  my  charge  accounts  carefully,  send  bills  regularly, 
and  make  a  real  effort  to  collect  overdue  accounts  because  I  realize 
that  the  loss  on  one  charge  account  which  isn't  paid,  frequently 
eats  up  the  profits  on  a  number  of  cash  sales. 
I  will  read  my  trade  paper  carefully  and  note  the  various  points 
it  emphasizes  because  I  realize  that  my  trade  papers  are  published 
for  the  purpose  of  helping  me  make  more  money  out  of  my  business 
and  that  from  them  I  can  secure  many  valuable  pointers. 
I  will  take  my  proper  place  in  civic  and  commercial  affairs  be- 
cause by  so  doing  I  will  enhance  my  prestige  in  the  community  and 
because  I  realize  that  the  greater  my  prestige  is  the  more  business 
I  will  do. 
I  will  see  to  it  that  my  employees  extend  to  customers  a  constant 
courtesy  and  service  because  I  realize  that  courtesy  and  service 
are  two  of  the  most  important  factors  in  building  up  and  keeping 
a  good  trade. 
I  will  be  fair  and  square  in  my  dealings  with  my  customers  and 
with  the  houses  from  which  I  purchase  goods  because  I  realize  that 
the  Golden  Rule  is  still  the  best  rule  for  the  successful  conduct  of 
modern  business. 
THE  ETHICS  OF  PRESCRIBING.* 
By  James  Burnet,  M.A.,  M.D.,  M.R.C.P., 
EDINBURGH,  SCOTLAND. 
Probably  few  medical  men  have  reflected  that  there  are  certain 
ethical  matters  relating  to  a  prescription.    In  fact  a  prescription 
may  do  a  great  deal  of  good,  but  at  the  same  time  it  may  work  much 
harm.    We  shall  endeavor  in  this  short  article  to  point  out  certain 
*  From  The  Prescriher,  July,  1920. 
