340  The  Night  Bell.  {A\u£\$lT* 
and  cheerfully  performed,  by  every  member  of  our  profession  who 
pursues  this  calling  with  the  right  spirit,  and  with  the  determination 
to  do  his  whole  duty. 
Many  pharmacists  answer  the  night-bell  very  reluctantly,  and  some 
will  rarely  respond  to  its  unwelcome  ring,  and  when  they  do  will 
hardly  treat  a  nocturnal  customer  with  common  courtesy,  while  there 
are  some  who  never  attend  to  any  night  business  whatever ;  that  dis- 
tasteful part  of  their  legitimate  duties  they  seem  to  ignore  entirely, 
and  leave  it  to  their  neighbors  to  perform.  After  they  lock  their 
doors  at  night  their  shops  are  as  impregnable  to  a  suffering  customer 
as  would  be  the  citadel  of  a  beleaguered  city  to  a  corporal's  guard. 
After  they  close  their  doors  at  night  they,  as  it  were,  commend  their 
customers  to  the  mercy  of  circumstances.  If  an  individual  swallows, 
in  the  night,  laudanum  or  other  poisonous  or  deleterious  substance, 
by  mistake,  he  can  get  relief  as  best  he  can,  so  far  as  they  are  con- 
cerned ;  or  if  any  one  should  be  attacked  with  hemorrhage,  or  should 
meet  with  some  accident  that  would  imperil  life  if  immediate  and  prompt 
relief  could  not  be  procured ;  or  if  a  person  should  be  seized  with 
cholera  morbus,  colic  or  other  painful  or  dangerous  malady — they 
must  obtain  relief  in  the  best  way  they  can,  or  suffer  until  morning, 
or  perhaps  die.  How  a  successful  prescription  business  can  be  done 
under  such  management  I  cannot  understand.  Surely  the  pharma- 
cist guilty  of  such  utter  disregard  of  his  duty  and  the  interests  of 
his  customers  is  not  deserving  of  the  patronage  of  any  community. 
Aside  from  the  kindly  sympathies  and  the  humane  promptings  of 
our  nature,  there  are  also  business  interests  involved  in  this  matter 
which  should  commend  it  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  all  who 
desire  success  in  the  business  of  pharmacy,  as  none  of  us  can  tell  what 
influence  the  prompt  and  polite  attention  to  our  night  business  may 
exert  upon  the  general  business  of  our  store. 
Every  young  man  who  contemplates  choosing  pharmacy  as  his  busi- 
ness, if  he  is  not  already  aware  of  the  labors  and  various  onerous 
duties  which  belong  thereto,  he  should  be  fully  and  candidly  informed 
of  them  by  his  intended  preceptor  before  he  enters  upon  his  appren- 
ticeship, and  the  night  business  should  especially  be  impressed  upon 
his  mind  as  one  of  the  most  important  and  unpleasant  parts  of  his 
duties.  Then,  if  he  demurs,  and  seems  to  think  that  he  cannot  ac- 
cept and  perform  cheerfully  all  the  legitimate  demands  of  the  busi- 
ness, he  should,  thus  at  the  threshold,  abstain  from  entering  the  arena 
