106      Drug  Business  in  Australia,  India  and  U.  S.  {^^ithl'isS.^'''^' 
than  vice  versa.  The  cigar  case  usually  found  at  the  entrance  of  our  drug 
stores  is  also  absent  in  the  other  countries,  the  Australian  druggist  not  selling 
the  weed,  and  the  Indian  druggist  selling  them  by  the  box  only.  There  is 
small  reason  to  do  otherwise  in  India,  when  cigars  sell  at  thirty-five  cents  to 
$1.00  a  hundred. 
There  is  considerable  difference  in  prescription  work,  India  and  Aus- 
tralia being  somewhat  similar.  Blanks  are  not  furnished  physicians 
as  in  this  country,  the  doctor  providing  these  himself,  and  they  are  as  a  rule 
about  three  times  the  size  of  our  ordinary  blank,  and  why  they  should  l)e  so  I 
have  never  been  able  to  determine.  If  it  were  the  custom  as  with  us,  to  retain 
the  original  prescription,  the  file  would  present  a  very  ragged  sight,  so  many 
sizes  of  paper  being  used  ;  but  in  Australia  and  India,  the  prescription  belongs 
to  the  patient  and  must  be  returned.  This  entails  much  more  work  in  dispens- 
ing than  with  us,  but  the  facility  in  referring  to  old  prescriptions  is  far  prefer- 
able than  raking  through  a  dusty  file.  A  good  plan  when  time  will  admit,  is 
to  daily  copy  the  prescriptions  and  renew  entirely  from  the  book.  The  form 
of  label  is  similar  to  ours,  except  that  in  all  cases  the  physician  adopts  the 
very  commendable  practice  of  writing  the  name  of  the  patient.  This  name  is 
put  on  the  label  and  the  doctor's  name  omitted.  It  is  a  most  important  item 
in  dispensing  and  it  would  be  a  great  improvement  if  our  M.D.'s  would  practice 
it.  In  Australia,  Latin  directions  are  the  rule,  while  in  India  they  are  in 
English,  certainly  the  proper  way,  and  it  seems  absurd  that  a  system  that 
allows  the  patient  to  retain  the  prescription,  should  not  also  a>dopt  English 
directions,  which  would  be  a  guide  and  check  on  the  dispensor.  Mixtures  are 
of  larger  quantities  than  ours,  the  average  being  six  and  eight  ounces,  but  the 
doses  are  in  proportion,  and  a  favorite  practice  is  to  direct  the  doses  in  parts, 
for  instance,  one-sixth  part,  one-fourth  or  one-eighth  part,  every  two  hours,  etc. 
This  necessitates  a  graduated  paper  being  pasted  on  the  bottle.  I  prefer  our 
own  method.  Empty  capsules  are  not  used,  but  capsuled  pills  as  i^repared  in 
Amei'ica  are  used  to  a  great  extent.  Many  coat  their  pills  with  French  chalk, 
but  they  are  not  desirable. 
The  Australians  and  Indians  have  much  to  learn  yet  in  coating  pills  for  the 
market,  their  best  being  very  inferior  to  ours.  Few  spread  plasters  are  used, 
another  point  wherein  they  are  in  the  rear.  The  manner  of  printing  "The 
Mixture,"  "  The  Liniment,"  etc.,  on  prescription  labels,  is  customary  in  all  stores 
in  the  two  countries  meniioned,  and  I  believe  it  is  a  step  backward  for  ns  to 
be  giving  up  the  idea,  for  such  seems  to  be  the  case.  The  old  labels  were  not 
suitable  to  the  advance  in  the  designing  of  the  present  labels,  but  a  very 
pretty  label,  with  the  names  as  above,  can  be  printed,  which  looks  very  neat 
on  a  bottle,  and  may  often  prevent  mistakes.  It  may  surprise  some  when  I 
say  that  in  prescription  work  the  most  complete  I  have  seen  done,  is  that  in 
the  drug  stores  of  India.  Bottles  of  all  descriptions  are  kept  in  stock,  flint  and 
blue  glass,  from  the  smallest  up  to  quarts.  Blue  bottles  are  always  used  for  ex- 
ternal remedies,  and  the  corks  capped  with  red  sealing  wax;  mixtures,  etc., 
with  black  wax.  All  labels  are  "  The  Mixture,"  "  The  Ointment,"  etc. ;  then 
there  are  the  slips— ''Caution,"  "Poison,"  etc,  and  each  bottle  is  capped  with  a 
Hunt's  bottle  cap ; '  Poison  "  caps  for  that  sort.  A  bottle  is  never  refilled  when 
brought  in  for  that  purpose,  but  a  clean  bottle  always  used,  no  matter  whether 
for  mixture  or  liniment.    The  Slightest  soil  on  a  pill  box  or  powder  box  label 
