"^VeXiazs.'""'}   Unguentum  Aqua  Rosa,— Cheap  Drugs.  387 
UNGUENTUM  AQVJE  ROS^^. 
Boston,  August  4th,  1875, 
Editor  of  the  Atnerican  jfoiirnal  of  Phar)nacy  : 
The  trouble  which  most  pharmacists  find  in  making  ung.  aquae  rosae- 
is  well  known,  and  several  substitutes  for  it  have  been  offered.  Until 
recently  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  the  substitute  mentioned  in. 
the  "  U.  S.  Dispensatory,"  until  my  eye  fell  on  an  egg-beater  in  oper- 
ation, and  the  thought  suggested  itself  to  me  to  use  it  in  making  the 
official  ointment.  1  tried  it,  and  with  the  best  success  j  it  produced  an. 
ointment  which  I  consider  perfect.  I  have  kept  it  in  the  store  with  no 
special  care  for  three  weeks,  and  it  showed  no  sign  of  separation  of 
the  rose-water.  The  beater  works  with  a  crank,  which  moves  two 
triangle  shaped  wires,  one  revolving  withm  the  other.  I  have  also  used 
the  beater  with  other  ointments,  and  have  invariably  obtained  them  finer 
and  smoother  than  by  any  other  process  tried. 
Yours,  respectfully,  E.  C.  Marshall,  Ph.  G. 
CHEAP  DRUGS. 
In  a  recent  article  in  the  "American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,"  enti- 
tled '-^Examination  of  ^uinia  Pills^'^  is  the  following  statement :  "  The 
results,  as  given  below,  strongly  indicate  that,  in  our  present  question- 
able practice  of  allowing  the  wholesale  manufacturer  to  prepare  those 
articles  which  should,  properly,  be  made  in  the  laboratory  of  the  indi- 
vidual pharmacist,  we  must  exercise  the  most  scrupulous  care  to  guard 
against  impositions  which  are  sure  to  be  attempted  on  the  profession 
and  the  community  at  large." 
Now,  it  occurs  to  the  writer  that  an  assertion  of  this  kind  calls  in 
question  the  integrity  of  a  highly  respectable  class  of  manufacturers,, 
and  institutes  an  invidious  comparison  between  the  '''"wholesale  manufac- 
turer'' and  the     individual  pharmacist^''  without  sufficient  cause. 
That  there  may  be  dishonest  makers  of  quinia  pills,  it  is  no  part  of 
my  purpose  to  dispute  ;  but  that  there  may  be  unscrupulous  pharma- 
cists is  also  quite  clear  ;  so  that  the  community  is  subjected  to  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  risk  in  the  hands  of  either. 
That  there  are  pill  manufacturers  of  the  strictest  integrity  is  so  well 
known  as  to  require  no  testimony  at  this  time,  and  there  cannot,  pos- 
sibly, be  any  difficulty  in  procuring  articles  from  them  of  standard 
purity  and  full  strength;  so  that,  unless  the     individual  pharmacist"  is 
