"^'jfms™*}      Side-Talk  with  the  "  Freshmen''  9 
receive  no  special  instruction,  having  to  ''pick  up,''  as  best  they  can, 
how  to  do  what  they  are  told.  In  contusing  drugs  for  powders,  when 
the  pestle  is  held  firmly,  and  the  blows  planted  on  a  different  spot 
each  time,  so  as  to  bring  the  whole  material  under  its  action,  much 
more  progress  is  made  than  when  it  is  carelessly  dangled  about, 
striking  the  sides  of  the  mortar,  as  though  the  object  was  to  make 
much  noise.  In  triturating,  Dover's  Powder  for  instance,  the  same 
advantage  is  gained  by  a  constant  change  in  the  path  of  the  pestle, 
so  as  to  cover  every  portion  of  the  comminuting  substance,  by  alter- 
nate spiral  motions  from  the  centre  to  circumference  and  back  again. 
In  nothing  is  the  difference  between  good  and  ill  training  manifested 
sooner  than  in  cutting  and  placing  labels  on  bottles  and  boxes,  and 
the  beginner  should  practice  the  use  of  the  shears  both  on  curved  and 
square  labels  until  he  can  not  only  cut  them  neatly  but  quickly  ;  a 
label  with  a  loose  edge  or  an  irregular  outline  is  a  mute  though  less 
forcible  rebuke  to  the  dispenser  than  when  it  returns  to  him  for 
renewal  upside  down  on  the  bottle,  or  on  the  bottom  of  the  pill-box. 
The  washing  of  mortars  often  involves  far  more  science  than  the 
beginner  possesses,  and  he  has  constantly  to  apply  for  information. 
Let  each  difficulty  be  a  lesson  for  study ;  why  an  alkaline  or  alcoholic 
solution  of  soap  should  remove  a  resinous  body,  or  an  alkali  Prussian 
blue,  or  muriatic  acid  a  metallic  sulphide.  Scrupulously  clean  grad- 
uated measures  are  an  ornament  to  any  store  and  an  honor  to  any 
junior,  and  are  only  attained  by  constant  attention  and  the  habitual 
use  of  a  swab  or  feather  to  remove  the  insoluble  matter  precipitated 
on  the  interior  surface  from  many  liquids  when  diluted  with  water, 
in  rinsing.  Poisonous  bodies  like  aconitia  and  veratria,  when  rubbed 
down  on  the  ointment  slab  with  alcohol,  leave  a  stain  not  very  percep- 
tible, and  which,  overlooked  by  the  junior,  might  damage  the  next 
ointment.  For  this  reason  the  dispenser  should  be  responsible,  unless 
he  gives  special  directions  to  the  junior. 
There  is  a  subject  which  we  feel  specially  called  upon  to  urge 
strongly  on  principals,  especially  druggists,  as  well  as  on  our  present 
friends,  the  beginners.  It  is  the  want  of  order  in  the  store-room  and 
cellar.  How  can  the  junior  be  sent  with  safety  to  fill  bottles  and 
drawers  unless  every  receptacle  is  labelled  correctly  according  to  its 
Contents  ?  Many  months  must  elapse  or  even  years  before  he  can 
rely  on  his  knowledge.  Labels  drop  off,  covers  become  displaced,  and 
at  times  residues  returned  to  the  store-room  are  heedlessly  thrown  into 
