260 
Spirit  us  JEtheris  Nitrosi. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1876. 
of  the  two  would  be  guilty  of  such  an  ignominious  transaction  I  am 
not  prepared  to  say,  as  all  the  nitre  that  I  examined  was  obtained  from 
retail  druggists,  with  the  exception  of  those  marked  otherwise. 
It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  by  all  those  interested  in  the  promotion 
of  the  science  of  pharmacy  that  so  many  incompetent  or  unskilled  per- 
sons are  allowed  to  practice  it.  By  way  of  exemplification,  I  desire  to 
give  the  readers  some  idea  of  a  class  of  druggists  that  the  pharmacists 
in  this  country  have  to  contend  with.  In  conversation  with  a  drug- 
gist on  the  above  subject,  he  laughed  at  the  idea  of  a  pharmacist  offer- 
ing for  sale  spirit  of  nitrous  ether.  "  Why,"  said  he,  "  I  sell  the  pure 
nitrous  ether  itself,  and  it  is  the  only  thing  that  should  be  sold  when 
spt.  nit.  aeth.  is  called  for."  A  friend  of  mine,  representing  a  whole- 
sale drug  house,  from  Philadelphia,  informs  me  that  he  called  on  a 
druggist  for  the  purpose  of  selling  him  a  bill  of  goods.  It  was  about 
the  time  the  new  "  Pharmacopoeia  "  was  published.  He  asked  the 
druggist  if  he  did  not  want  one.  The  druggist  wanted  to  know  what 
it  was  ;  thought  it  was  some  new  medicine  or  quack  nostrum,  and 
refused  purchasing  for  those  reasons.  When  informed  that  it  was  a 
book  of  great  value  to  druggsits,  and  that  it  should  be  in  possession  of 
every  one,  his  reply  was  that  he  could  get  along  without  so  many 
books. 
I  must  not  get  off  my  subject ;  but  I  simply  referred  to  this  class  of 
druggists  to  show  the  necessity  of  reform,  and  of  having  none  but 
qualified  and  competent  pharmacists.  I  am  satisfied,  if  we  had  a  more 
intelligent  body  of  pharmacists,  spirit  of  nitrous  ether  could  be  obtained 
of  a  far  superior  quality,  as  considerable  of  it  spoils  owing  to  the  inse- 
cure condition  in  which  it  is  kept ;  and  of  course  the  same  will  apply 
to  almost  any  other  drug.  I  know  of  a  retail  druggist  who  buys  spirit 
of  nitre  by  the  carboy,  and,  not  knowing  the  injurious  and  destruc- 
tive influence  of  atmospheric  air  and  moisture,  takes  no  pains  to  see 
that  the  carboy  is  securely  stoppered,  but  simply  drops  the  stopper 
loosely  into  the  neck  of  the  carboy,  and  allows  it  so  to  remain.  In 
justice  to  the  pharmacist,  and  more  especially  to  the  patient  and  physi- 
cian, manufacturers  should  not  fill  it  in  carboys,  but  in  half-pound  or 
pound  bottles,  similar  in  style  to  that  in  which  Dr.  Squibb  puts  it  up. 
From  my  investigations  I  would  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would 
be  advisable  for  pharmacists  to  make  their  own  nitre  ;  prepare  it  in 
small  quantities,  as  wanted,  and  see  that  it  is  well  preserved.  Recently, 
I  have  been  making  all  I  needed,  and  find  it  economical  as  well  as  a 
