214  Preparation  of  Compressed  Tablets.  {Am£^iSarm' 
druggist,  in  whose  skill  he  places  his  health's  safety.  I  am  free  to 
say,  I  have  no  faith  in  the  skill  of  the  doctor  who  prefers  the  pre- 
scriptions of  others  to  his  own  ;  or  in  the  ability  of  the  druggist  who 
depends  upon  others  for  the  products  that  legitimately  belong  to  his 
pharmaceutical  calling. 
There  is  one  form  in  which  medicine  is  very  frequently  used  at 
the  present  time,  that  gives  the  retail  druggist  ample  opportunity 
to  show  his  individual  skill  and  meet  the  many  demands  of  his  cus- 
tomers without  resorting  to  the  products  of  others  :  I  mean  com- 
pressed tablets. 
The  enterprising  manufacturers  not  only  will  furnish  them  direct 
to  the  physician,  but  will  solicit  orders  also  from  the  druggist.  No 
pent-up  Utica  is  theirs,  the  whole  boundless  domain  of  physics  is 
embraced  in  their  all-absorbing  love.  Nor  will  the  doctor,  prone  to 
the  easy  paths  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  stop  his  ears  to  the  seduc- 
tive arguments  of  the  travelling  salesman.  The  manufacturer  sees  the 
opening  for  trade,  the  retail  druggist  trys  to  ignore  it;  but  it  is  use- 
less ;  the  doctors  want  compressed  goods,  and  if  they  cannot  get  them 
from  the  retail  druggist  first-handed,  they  will  get  them  where  they 
can.  It  is  useless  to  say  that  they  are  not  used,  or  that  they  cannot 
be  made  by  the  retail  druggist.  They  are  used,  and  the  retail  drug- 
gist can  furnish  them  in  a  better  condition  for  administration  than 
is  often  done  by  the  manufacturer.  The  druggist  can  fill  a  doctor's 
own  prescription,  leaving  the  doctor  no  excuse  for  using  that  of 
others.  He  can  make  them  hard  or  pliable,  to  suit  the  wants  of  the 
physician.  By  this  means,  the  patient,  the  doctor  and  the  druggist 
are  brought  nearer  together,  between  whom  there  should  be  mutual 
confidence.  It  is  urged  by  many  druggists  that  they  can  buy 
tablets  at  a  lower  price  than  they  can  make  them.  This  is  not  so  for 
goods  of  the  best  quality;  further,  there  are  some  compressed  goods 
which  are  popular  as  domestic  remedies,  which  change  in  appear- 
ance by  keeping  long,  if  made  properly.  For  instance)  soda  mint 
tablets,  such  as  are  usually  put  on  the  market,  if  they  have  the  full 
amount  of  oil  in  them  and  ammonia  they  will  turn  yellow  ;  if  they 
have  not  they  are  of  but  little  use,  and  the  buyer  is  disappointed  or 
cheated.  A  druggist  could  make  up  a  small  quantity  at  a  time  and 
have  them  fresh  ;  customers  always  want  things  fresh. 
Soda  mint  is  very  easily  made.  Mix  I  lb.  of  bicarbonate  of  soda, 
gum  arabic    I   ounce,  oil  of  peppermint  oiii,  and  carbonate  of 
