1 68  Remarks  on  Orthography.  {^"X^hi'  x^s^""- 
REMARKS  ON  ORTHOGRAPHY. 
[Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  March  iSth.) 
Baltimore,  Md.,  March  13th,  1875. 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  : 
Dear  Sir, — I  have  read,  with  pleasure,  the  "  Notes  on  Pronuncia- 
tion and  Orthography,"  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Miller,  in  the  recent  number  of 
the  "American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,"  but  am  surprised  that  he  omits 
to  call  attention  to  some  most  comrrion  and  glaring  errors  constantly 
fallen  into  by  pharmacists  as  well  as  by  the  public,  one  of  which  he,  no 
doubt  thoughtlessly,  commits  himself,  or  your  compositor  commits  for 
him,  as  it  is  hardly  probable  that  one  so  well  informed  would  be  igno- 
rant upon  so  simple  a  subject ;  I  refer  to  the  use  of  the  plural  s  in 
Glauber's  saltj,  at  the  bottom  of  page  103.  This  and  like  errors  are 
constantly  being  committed  in  writing  Epsom  saltj  and  Rochelle  saltj- 
instead  of  salt,  syrup  of  squilb  for  squill,  spirits  of  wine,  spirits  of  harts- 
horne,  spirits  of  nitre,  spirits  of  turpentine,  &c.,  &c.,  instead  of  spirit ; 
cre^^sote  or  kreosote  for  creasote,  aniseed  for  anise  seeds,  flour  of  sul- 
phur or  flour  sulphur  for  flowers  of  sulphur,  &c.,  &c. 
These  errors  are  sometimes  the  result  of  ignorance,  but  frequently 
are  continued  in  use  by  those  who  know  better,  merely  because  it  is 
customary  to  see  them  so  written.  Not  long  since  I  called  the  atten- 
tion of  one  of  our  printers  to  some  of  the  above-named  errors  in  a  lot 
of  labels  he  was  preparing  for  a  pharmacist  of  some  standing  in  our 
city.  He  said  I  had  mentioned  the  matter  to  him  before,  and  he  had 
satisfied  himself  since  that  the  labels  were  incorrect,  but  his  customers 
would  have  them  so  because  they  had  always  so  seen  them  printed,  and 
people  expected  to  find  them  so.  Arguments,  we  know,  are  thrown 
away  upon  such  persons.  Dr.  Miller  is  perfectly  correct  in  suggesting 
that  the  general  public,  with  perfect  propriety,  looks  up  to  the  apoth 
ecary  as  an  authority  in  such  matters.  It  is  therefore  very  important 
that  he  should  be  accurate  in  the  use  of  his  language,  so  as  to  properly 
inform  those  who  are  not  in  positions  to  be  posted. 
I  was  much  amused,  not  long  since,  at  the  sad  perplexity  of  a  young 
lady  who  purchased  a  package  of  Rochelle  salt  at  my  store.  She  did 
not  notice  the  label  until  she  reached  home.  She  returned,  and,  with 
considerable  agitation,  asked  if  I  had  given  her  the  right  article. 
I  answered  yes,  and  asked  if  the  package  was  not  labelled  correctly. 
She  said  she  didn't  know,  the  last  she  purchased  was  from  my  neighbor^ 
Mr.   .     His  was  labelled  Rochelle  saltj,  while  mine  was  simply 
