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INTRODUCTORY LECTURE. 253 
There is another kind of service often requested of the 
apothecary, which may not be so readily conceded as that 
just mentioned. I allude to the habit of the people to ask 
medical advice — often in very obscure cases — where the 
disease, though not very apparent, is making strong inroad 
on the vitality of the patient — and where nothing short of a 
skilful diagnosis can point out the course of medical treat- 
ment applicable to the case . Much mischief has been done 
by the empyrical practice of apothecaries in these cases, and 
such a course cannot be too highly deprecated. Prescribing, 
in any form, is foreign to our profession, and should be 
avoided when possible — yet there are cases, in the present 
organization of society, which demand a certain degree 
of action on our part, and it should also be our study to be 
able to lend a helping and efficient hand in those emergen- 
cies which sometimes occur when the physician is not 
near, where continued life, or death, turns on the action of 
the moment, and where the sympathising friends or relatives 
of the sufferer urge our aid till the physician shall arrive. 
Indifference, at such junctures, would incur the charge of 
inhumanity, and deprive us of that sweet satisfaction that 
ever arises from obedience to the dictates of benevolence. 
In no business is attention to appearances more required. 
All that tends to deprive medicine of its repulsiveness, and 
silence the whims and notions of the sick and suffering, 
should be resorted to, whether it have reference to the medi- 
cine itself, or the manner and neatness with which it is 
dispensed ; in fact, it is on the exterior minutiae of extem- 
poraneous pharmacy that the public are most liable to base 
their conclusions in comparing one store with another; 
hence that apothecary exhibits good policy, who pays due 
regard to order and neatness, and who sees that skill and 
kindness mark every feature of his intercourse with his 
patrons. 
Gentlemen, this fourth department of your business cannot 
be learned in this hall — it is altogether practical, and your 
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