THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
NOVEMBER,  188 % 
PHARMACEUTICAL  STILLS  AND  VAPOR  CONDENSER. 
By  L.  Wolff,  M.  D. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  October  21. 
One  of  the  most  desirable  features  essential  to  the  further  advance- 
ment of  pharmacy  is  that  every  pharmacist  should  at  least  make  the 
most,  if  not  all,  of  his  galenical  preparations  and  many  of  his  chemicals. 
Why  this  is  now  so  seldom  done  seems  to  depend  upon  the  respective 
cost  of  production  at  our  own  laboratories  and  that  of  purchase  from 
the  various  manufacturers.  That  the  manufacturer  by  large  purchases 
obtains  a  material  reduction  in  the  price  of  the  raw  material  there  is  no 
doubt,  but  that  the  difference  in  price  between  a  few  pounds  and  a  bale 
or  barrel  is  not  near  that  of  the  relative  cost  of  production  and  pur- 
chase is  also  certain. 
That  the  wholesale  manufacturer's  expenses  are  more  than  the  phar- 
macist's, in  proportion  to  the  quantity  produced,  even  admitting  that  the 
same  care  is  exercised,  and  an  equally  reliable  article  made  by  them, 
is  also  without  question.  The  liberal  advertising  done  by  the  former  to 
create  a  market  for  his  goods,  and  the  skilled  labor  employed  by  him, 
must  all  be  paid  from  the  margin  on  his  wares,  as  it  is  obvious  that  no 
matter  how  large  the  quantity  is,  goods  cannot  be  sold  below  the  cost 
of  production  without  loss,  or  below  a  certain  limit  if  a  standard  of 
quality  is  to  be  observed. 
The  supply  for  crude  drugs  in  limited  quantities  is  facilitated,  at  the 
present  day,  to  such  an  extent,  that  there  is  little  excuse  for  any  phar- 
macist to  buy  his  fluid  or  solid  extracts,  providing  that  he  has  the 
necessary  apparatus  for  recovering  the  menstruum  or  solvent  employed. 
With  proper  means  for  doing  so,  no  more  than  10  per  cent,  of  alcohol 
ought  to  be  lost  in  their  manufacture,  and  with  that  loss  alone  we  can- 
not understand  why  a  pharmacist  should  not  more  than  compete  with 
the  wholesale  manufacturer. 
Take  fluid  extract  of  ergot,  for  instance,  and  employ  the  very  best 
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