THE  PHARMACEUTICAL  BUSINESS — ITS  MANAGEMENT.  35 
what  he  can  get  to  sell ;  his  own,  only  clerk,  lives  closely,  sleeps 
in  the  place  if  single,  lives  over  it  if  a  man  of  family,  always 
there,  no  time  for  church-going,  or  politics  ;  gives  twenty-five  per 
cent,  to  his  medical  friends  for  the  run  of  their  prescriptions ;  if 
C.  sells  paregoric  at  10  cents  the  ounce  he  sells  it  at  8  cents;  the 
only  extravagance  he  is  guilty  of  is  a  mental  one,  that  of  believ- 
ing himself  to  be,  by  so  doing,  a  protector  of  the  public  from  the 
swindling  of  his  neighbor  druggist,  shouting  in  the  street  "  buy 
of  me,  the  public  benefactor."    And  so  he  wins. 
E.  has  the  same  small  shop ;  bought  it  out,  thinking  that  as  he 
made  a  cool  thousand  or  so  in  the  corner  grocery  trade  or  as 
army  sutler,  he  can  sell  drugs  as  well  as  sugar  or  tobacco.  Pro- 
prietary nostrums  being  a  perfectly  safe  field  to  work  in,  he  culti- 
vates it — has  a  whole  Materia  Medica  bottled  and  boxed  ready  to 
his  hand,  and  with  the  same  honeyed  eloquence  that  pushed  the 
sale  of  sugar  and  tobacco  he  assists  the  sale  of  them  ;  a  familiarity 
with  half  of  one  per  cent,  of  the  words  of  the  English  language 
enables  him  to  convince  his  customers  that  this  that  and  the  other 
of  his  is  a  little  the  best  and  a  little  the  cheapest.  Of  course 
this  JS.,  with  no  other  aim,  or  no  other  knowledge,  is  building 
blocks  of  dwellings  in  the  way  of  investment  in  a  score  of  years 
or  so. 
To  return  to  our  subject,  the  proper  management  of  Pharma- 
ceutical business  consists,  in  part,  of  knowing  how  to  buy  crude 
stock  ;  convert  this  into  saleable  commodities ;  preserve  it  when 
so  converted ;  handle  stock  with  system  and  rapidity  ;  and  how 
to  systematize  and  simplify  office  and  financial  duties.  Other 
equally  important  ones,  scientific  education  and  experience  are 
presumed  to  be  possessed,  so  I  pass  to  a  moment's  consideration 
of  the  points  first  named. 
Purchase  of  stock  :  the  dispenser  in  large  places  will  best  buy 
at  home,  at  least  so  far  as  his  market  will  let  him,  in  limited 
quantities  and  often ;  this  keeps  the  stock  reduced  in  total  value, 
while  it  may  reach  the  fullest  assortment  and  be  always  fresh.  A 
saving  of  interest  on  an  investment  in  a  large  idle  stock,  a  good 
assortment  of  goods,  though  limited  in  quantities,  well  kept  in 
hand  (that  is,  remembered),  will  pay  much  better  pro-rata  than 
the  vice-versa  rule. 
