Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1875. 
Statistics  of  the  Drug  Business. 
15 
to  saloons,  but  soon  the  liquor  law  will  be  waged  as  hotly  against  the 
druggist,  not  only  to  his  injury,  but  to  the  injury  and  great  discomfort 
of  his  customers.  The  present  enforcement  creates  a  greater  demand 
on  the  druggist  for  liquors,  yet  no  one  can  tell  how  soon  that  part  of 
his  trade  will  be  cut  off  by  the  very  ones  now  so  successfully  shutting 
up  the  saloons."  This  is  followed  by  an  argument  defending  the  right 
of  every  man  to  make  a  beast  of  himself  if  he  sees  fit.  The  evil  effects 
are  also  evident  within  the  profession,  by  the  demoralizing  influence 
upon  the  clerks  and  apprentices  who  deal  out  liquors.  No  other  pro- 
fession demands  as  much  from  assistants,  and  they  being  almost  entirely 
cut  off  from  the  pleasures  of  society,  and,  not  unlike  other  mortals, 
prone  to  yield  to  temptations,  and  in  their  case  become  even  more  sus- 
ceptible by  the  long  hours  and  continued  application  to  which  they  are 
subjected.  This  traffic  always  draws  a  class  of  dissipated  men,  whose 
influence  upon  the  clerk  is  of  the  most  poisonous  character,  and  often 
causes  his  ruin.  This  class  of  druggists  are  frequently  troubled  with 
dissipated  and  unreliable  clerks,  and  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  ? 
Will  not  some  of  our  leaders  raise  a  voice  against  this  growing  dis- 
honor to  the  profession  ?  Cannot  some  one  suggest  a  remedy  for  this 
evil,  or,  at  least,  a  means  by  which  the  outside  world  can  distinguish 
between  the  pharmaceutical  saloon  and  the  legitimate  pharmacy  F  It  is  a 
subject  which  should  interest  every  one  who  has  the  good  of  the  phar- 
macal  profession  at  heart. 
iVkw  Torkj  December  16M,  1874. 
ON  SOME  STATISTICS  OF  THE  DRUG  BUSINESS. 
The  popular  notion  that  the  drug  business  is  a  very  profitable  one 
in  all  its  various  branches,  is  deeply  seated  in  the  minds  of  the  public, 
and  all  denials,  on  the  part  of  those  engaged  in  it,  seem  to  have  no 
other  effect  than  to  provoke  a  smile  of  incredulity,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple, probably,  that  every  man  thinks  his  neighbor's  business  better 
than  his  own,  or  his  troubles  lighter.  And  this  idea  of  the  great  profit 
in  handling  drugs,  which  has  prevailed  for  so  long  a  time,  has  had  its 
effect  in  crowding  so  many  persons  into  the  business,  that  we  may  well 
stop  to  ask  if  it  is  not  overdone  ? 
That  the  trade  in  drugs  was  at  one  time  a  profitable  one,  there  can 
be  no  doubt ;  but  if  we  are  to  judge  from  the  frequent  statements 
made  by  so  many  of  those  engaged  in  it  now,  that  it  is  not  what  it 
