HINTS  TO  DISPENSERS. 
349 
tions,  which,  though  not  absolutely  essential  to  the  compounding 
a  prescription,  are  yet  highly  important,  and  deserving  attention. 
The  most  important  of  these  perhaps  is  caution,  from  the  want 
of  which  so  many  sad  accidents  have  occurred,  spreading  dismay 
throughout  the  profession  and  the  country.  This  caution  or 
care  need  not  interfere  with  dispatch  in  dispensing  ;  for  many 
dispensers,  by  the  power  of  concentrating  their  thoughts  upon 
the  one  object  then  in  hand,  have  been  remarkable  for  their 
quickness  as  well  as  correctness  in  dispensing.  A  few  aids  to 
correctness  may  here  be  mentioned : — that  of  copying  prescrip- 
tions prior  to  making  up  the  medicines  or  writing  the  labels, 
whereby  the  general  meaning  and  composition  of  the  prescription 
is  impressed  on  the  mind  ;  that  (where  practicable)  of  having  all 
medicines  prepared  by  the  dispenser,  checked  and  sent  out  by 
either  the  master  or  another  assistant ;  that  of  having  the 
measuring  of  all  powerful  remedies,  as  tr.  aconiti,  tr.  nucis 
vomic,  preparations  of  hydrarg.  oxymur.,  etc.,  when  ordered 
for  internal  administration,  witnessed.  There  is  further,  the 
now  generally  adopted  arrangement  of  a  chemist's  shop,  so  that 
the  dispensing  of  medicines  is  kept  quite  apart  from  the  retail 
counter.  In  shops  where  the  stock-bottles  are  exclusively 
stoppered,  a  tin  cap  fitting  loosely  over  the  stopper  would 
probably  form  a  sufficiently  distinctive  feature  to  distinguish 
poison-bottles  from  ordinary  ones ;  or  if  caps  be  the  covers  for 
many  of  the  ordinary  bottles,  then  a  different-shaped  one  might 
be  used  for  the  poisons.  Still  these  are  but  aids,  and  the  great 
security  against  accident  lies  in  the  concentrated  attention  of  the 
dispenser.  Quickness  of  perception,  or  a  readiness  to  under- 
stand the  general  interpretation  of  a  prescription  ;  coolness,  or 
a  collectedness  of  mind  under  a  heavy  pressure  of  work,  are  also 
qualifications  worth  the  cultivating. 
Under  the  second  head  it  may  be  just  remarked  at  the  outset, 
that  a  quick  eye  and  delicate  nose  are  both  useful  as  checks  and 
tests.  Medicines,  as  generally  prescribed  in  this  country,  may 
be  classed  under  one  of  the  following  divisions  : — liquids,  com- 
prising mixtures,  lotions,  liniments,  gargles,  etc.  ;  pills  and 
powders  ;  ointments  and  plasters.  The  first  class  will  demand 
the  largest  share  of  attention.    In  compounding  medicines, 
