18 
D isp ensin g  3Iemora nda. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
c       Jan.,  l48a. 
DISPEXSIXG  AIEMORAXDA. 
By  F.  V.  BuTTEEriELD. 
Witli  regard  to  its  iiaportance.  dispensing  may  be  considered  the 
soul"  of  the  chemist's  existence  :  take  that  away,  and  he  at  once 
degenerates^  and  descends  to  the  level  of  the  ordinary  tradesman. 
This  only  serves  to  show  how  impoitant  it  is  that  the  pharmacist 
should  cultivate  the  sciW(/ic  portion  of  .his  business,  and  thus  raise 
himself  beyond  the  competition  of  ignorant  hucksters  and  others,  who 
seek  to  dabble  in  medicines.  I  trust  the  day  is  approaching  when 
chemists,  in  general,  will  be  looked  upon  as  a  body  of  public  analysts, 
entrusted  with  the  analyses  of  potable  water,  milk,  wine,  etc. ;  manv 
of  our  leading  pharmacists  occupy  this  position  at  the  present  time. 
It  behooves  us.  then,  to  excel  in  this  important  branch  of  our  busi- 
ness, known  as  the  dispensing  department,  and  make  ourselves  worthy 
of  the  confidence  of  the  medical  profession.  But  the  question  is,  Are  we 
doing  this  ?  If  so,  then  why  are  physicians  so  frequently  found  to 
prescribe  American  pills  and  extracts  and  other  proprietary  pharma- 
ceutical preparations,  in  preference  to  those  of  our  own  compounding, 
if  ours  are  equal  to  them  in  elegance,  and  have  the  great  advantage  of 
beino'  freshly  and  scientifically  prepared.  The  '^future  of  pharmacy*' 
is  ei:_  _  the  attention  of  some  of  our  leading  men,  and  these  pro- 
prietary preparations,  multiplying  as  they  are  every  day,  must  have  a 
marked  influence  on  it,  certainly  a  bad  one,  in  substituting  factory- 
made  mixtnreti,  pills,  etc..  in  place  of  pure  and  simple  dispensing. 
Into  vrhat  it  wil-  t      :  .  :  lutionize  it  is  impossible  to  say.  but 
the  ^n  igile  mii-:  rL  '  :::  -  irvival  of  the  fitt^.'^ 
E  i  e  :  ihdnib  in-:  -  -  :  i-ianipulation,  relics  of  the  pharmacy  of 
the  past,  are  but  too  frequent  in  the  dispensary  of  to-day,  wasting 
valuable  time  and  generally  attended  with  unsatisfactory  results.  To 
take  one  example  of  a  numerous  class — a  prescription  to  be  dispensed 
reads  thus  : 
R  Stiyclminae   gr.j. 
Ex ciijientis   q..?.  nt  fiant  pilolse  sexaginta, 
Xow,  this  ••  excip.  q.s."  troubles  the  spirit  of  the  man  who  pins  his 
faith  to  ^' r\\\-    :  rliumb,  "  whereas  the  efficient  dispenser  knows 
experinient  that  it  will  require  equal  parts  of  confection  (rosfe  caninse) 
and  pulv.  glycyrrhizse  to  make  a  mass  of  a  proper  pilular  consistence, 
and  weighing  out  thh-ty  grains  each  to  form  a  one-grain  pill,  has 
