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EDITORIAL. 
469 
be  acceptable,  and  will  often  contain  more  valuable  facts  than  longer 
essays.  Among  the  subjects  just  now  which  particularly  appeal  to  all 
of  us,  and  which  very  many  may  contribute  to  throw  light  upon,  are  the 
preparations  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  to  be  criticised  with  a  view  to  the  Re- 
vision of  1870,  and  the  United  States  Dispensatory,  which  is  now  being 
revised.  Notwithstanding  the  improvements  embodied  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia of  1860,  there  are  many  points  which  need  retouching,  and  now  is 
the  time  for  suggestional  criticism,  to  bring  out  as  far  as  possible  the 
real  defects  that  may  exist  in  that  work.  In  regard  to  the  Dispensatory, 
suggestions  conceived  in  a  friendly  spirit,  in  reference  to  additions  needed, 
or  existing  .items  requiring  modification,  would  be  kindly  received. 
The  second  point  is,  that  the  necessity  we  are  under  to  "pay  the 
printer,"  requires  us  to  urge  our  delinquent  subscribers  to  pay  their  dues. 
This  Journal  has  never  been  conducted  in  the  spirit  of  money  making  ; 
for  a  large  part  of  its  existence  it  was  self-supporting  ;  but  since  the 
prices  for  paper  and  labor  have  permanently  advanced,  it  has  become  a 
burthen  to  the  College,  to  a  small  amount,  mainly,  however,  because  the 
dues  are  not  regularly  paid  by  many,  and  only  at  long  intervals  if  at  all 
by  others.  If  our  contributors  would  become  more  active  our  subscri- 
bers would  have  an  additional  inducement  to  be  prompt. 
Physicians  Prescriptions;  their  repetition  without  authority,  and 
THE  MUTUAL  RELATIONS  OF  PHYSICIANS  AND  PHARMACEUTISTS.  Within  a 
year  or  two  past  several  of  the  medical  journals  have  contained  articles 
in  relation  to  the  renewal  of  prescriptions  by  apothecaries,  written  from 
various  standpoints,  and  medical  societies  have  passed  resolutions  bearing 
upon  the  subject,  sometimes  not  couched  in  language  calculated 
to  promote  the  object  in  view.  The  functions  of  the  physician 
and  the  pharmaceutist  are  distinct  and  should  be  kept  separate,  yet 
the  more  harmony  of  action  that  can  be  maintained  between  them  the 
better  for  each  and  for  the  communities  who  are  to  receive  their  services. 
Our  attention  has  been  attracted  to  this  subject  by  a  letter,  signed  John 
Ordronaux,  addressed  to  Dr.  Shrady,  Editor  of  the  New  York  Medical 
Record  for  August  15th.  When  propositions  like  those  of  Prof.  Ordro- 
naux are  offered  as  a  remedy  for  the  presumed  ill  effects  of  reuewing  pre- 
scriptions, there  is  but  little  hope  of  any  such  harmonious  action.  If 
it  were  possible  for  apothecaries  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  Professor 
to  the  letter,  it  would  produce  a  feeling  of  indignation  in  the  community 
that  would  properly  vent  itself  on  physicians  themselves  when  its  nature 
become  understood.  That  such  a  law,  if  enacted,  should  be  carried  out 
literally,  without  injury  to  the  public  interests,  would  require  a  regularity 
of  action  and  a  continuity  of  attention  to  business  on  the  part  of  physi- 
cians, that  would  be  almost  superhuman.  Such  a  law,  to  be  effective, 
would  have  to  be  equally  binding  on  physicians  and  apothecaries,  and 
any  ill  consequences  from  the  refusal  of  an  apothecary  to  fill  a  prescrip- 
tion for  an  urgent  case,  for  which  the  neglect  or  forgetfulness  of  a  physi- 
