ENGLISH  AND  FRENCH  PHARMACY. 
439 
Were  such  a  commission  to  make  a  provincial  tour  in  England, 
would  it  be  bailed  with  the  words,  "  Welcome !  little  stranger!" 
and  would  the  delighted  Chemist  illuminate  in  colored  lamps, 
choosing  for  his  device  the  cabalistic  sign  P.  L.  ? 
Willingly  would  I  complete  the  subject  without  venturing  on 
the  last,  and  greatest,  point  of  difference  between  English  and 
French  Pharmacy,  the  use  of  private  formulae  and  secret  reme- 
dies. There  is  scarcely  an  English  journal,  medical  or  other- 
wise, which  does  not  bristle  with  marvellous  specifics  and 
romantic  cures.  The  language  of  Chemistry  is  exhausted  to 
produce  new  terms,  while  one  compound  treads  on  the  heels  of 
another,  labelled  with  a  name  which  Cardinal  Mezzofanti  him- 
self would  be  unable  to  pronounce. 
With  eagerness  does  the  modern  Chemist  abandon  the  old 
paths  of  Pharmacy  in  haste  to  conjure  up  his  fancy  combinations 
with  all  the  dexterity  of  Herr  Frikell,  for  these  are  fastidious 
times,  in  which  common  salt  is  not  good  enough  for  common 
people,  and  in  which  even  the  domestic  comb  and  brush  must  be 
galvanic.  One  branch  of  this  mania  for  supposed  discovery  has 
issued  in  a  nuisance— the  perpetual  introduction  of  small  fiddling 
chemicals,  which  disgust  the  mind,  and  overrun  the  cupboard. 
No  sooner  is  the  new  compound  hatched,  than  it  is  recommended, 
nolens  volens,  to  the  physician,  who  prescribes  it  for  about  one 
week,  after  which  brief  sojourn  in  the  world  below  it  disappears 
forever.  Not  content  with  chemicals,  some  quiet  root  in  Western 
Africa  is  torn  from  the  society  of  the  adjacent  niggers  to  be- 
come a  liquor ;  or  some  harmless,  homely  vegetable,  grown  near 
Putney  Bridge,  is  raised  to  the  dignity  of  an  extract.  From  the 
union  of  these  forces  the  Chemist  is  duly  favored  with  a  pre- 
scription  something  like  the  following  : — 
{&    Zinci  Ammonio  Tannat  Bj. 
Liquor  Peculiaris  Higgens  §ss. 
Aquse  Anodynse  ad  ^viij. 
rrt     Sumat  co eh  ij.  ampla,  bis  vel  ter  in  die.  , 
P    Ext.  Dauci  Carotaa  3j. 
(Walker's). 
In  pil.  xij.  divide  quarum  sumat  unam  hora  somni  0.  N. 
April  1,  1858. 
An  active  porter  in  seven-league  boots  is  required  to  chase 
