342 
The  Nh/hl  Bell 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    Aug.  1, 1873. 
alarmed  and  seized  with  dread  apprehensions,  starts  immediately,  for 
a  physician  and  thence  to  the  drug-store,  or  else  he  at  once  proceeds 
to  the  latter  for  some  article  which  experience  has  taught  him  is 
useful  in  such  cases.  Now,  I  contend  that  it  would  be  a  sad  state  of 
affairs  if  the  anxious  and  affrighted  parent  could  not  gain  admittance 
to  any  neighboring  pharmacy  to  obtain  the  much-coveted  boon,  in  the 
form,  perhaps,  of  five  or  ten  cents'  worth  of  paregoric,  laudanum, 
sweet  spirit  of  nitre,  hive  syrup,  syr.  ipecac,  lime  water,  or  other  sim- 
ple remedy ;  or,  if  the  physician  has  been  sought,  and  the  medicine 
cnnnot  be  procured,  the  attendance  and  skill  of  the  physician  are 
expended  in  vain. 
Yet  there  are  but  few  pharmacists  who  seem  to  view  the  matter  of 
their  night  business  in  the  right  light,  or  deal  with  it  in  the  right 
spirit.  We  are  aware  that  there  are  many  calls  made  upon  us  at 
night,  after  business  hours,  for  medicines  that  are  entirely  unneces- 
sary, or  at* least  for  which  there  is  no  immediate  need;  but  we  must 
also  remember  that  there  are  many  similar  calls  made  upon  us  by  the 
public  in  day  time  which  may  be  placed  in  the  same  category,  and 
which  go  to  make  up,  perhaps,  no  small  share  of  our  sales,  and  con- 
tribute to  a  very  great  extent  to  supply  us  with  the  comforts  of  life. 
But  these  calls  are  made  at  a  time  when  they  are  more  pleasurably 
tolerated. 
Some  pharmacists  will  never  get  up  at  night  to  answer  any  call, 
unless  it  is  for  medicine  on  a  prescription,  just  as  though  no  medi- 
cine was  ever  needed  to  relieve  pain  and  suffering,  or  to  cure  disease, 
tut  what  was  directed  in  the  prescription  of  a  physician.  Such  an 
idea  and  such  a  practice  are  simply  ridiculous. 
I  have  had  people  to  not  unfrequently  call  at  my  store  late  in  the 
night  for  medicine,  and  tell  me  that  they  had  come  eight  or  ten 
•  squares,  and  had  tried  to  gain  admittance  at  every  drug  store  on 
their  way,  but  failed  to  get  any  one  up.  I  have  frequently  secured 
good  customers  in  this  way  far  remote  from  my  own  store.  People 
usually  feel  very  grateful  to  you  for  such  an  accommodation.  They 
feel  that  you  have  proved  a  friend  in  need. 
It  is  important,  also,  when  called  on  for  medicine  at  night,  to  admit 
the  customer  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  not  to  keep  the  person  wait- 
ing at  your  door  longer  than  cannot  be  avoided,  especially  in  cold  and 
inclement  weather,  and  more  particularly  if  the  applicant  be  a  woman 
or  child,  for  they  are  naturally  timid  and  often  much  afraid  to  be  out 
