'''"•iN[ovri?75""  }  Tincturia  Opii  Murtatica.  497 
TINCTURIA   OPII  MURIATICA. 
BY  GEORGE  W.  KENNEDY,  PH.  G. 
Within  the  last  year  or  two  a  number  of  my  friends  have  written  to 
me  for  a  formula  to  prepare  tinct.  opii  muriatica.  If  I  am  correct, 
this  so  called  tincture  originated  in  our  town,  and  was  prescribed  largely 
by  one  of  our  more  prominent  physicians  (now  deceased).  Several 
years  previous  to  his  death  he  had  communicated  to  other  practitioners 
the  good  success  and  the  satisfaction  obtained  from  the  above  prepara- 
tion, and,  no  doubt,  in  this  way,  physicians  from  abroad  were  induced  to  try 
it.  This  would  account  for  the  many  apothecaries  who  have  written  to 
me  within  the  last  few  years,  for  information  in  reference  to  furnishing 
them  with  a  formula.  I  am  always  glad  to  be  able  to  accommodate 
inquiries  in  this  respect,  and  at  any  time  when  I  am  in  possession  of 
such  information,  will  communicate  it  cheerfully  and  willingly.  A  few 
weeks  ago  I  received  a  communication  from  a  friend  of  mine  in  Phila- 
delphia, soliciting  formulas  to  prepare  the  various  preparations  pre- 
scribed by  Prof.  Pancoast  ;  he  stated  that  he  was  not  acquainted  with 
the  composition  of  any  of  them,  which  necessitated  him  to  purchase 
from  those  fortunate  few  who  were  favored  with  formulas  to  prepare 
them ;  he  also  informed  me  that  he  had  called  on  an  old  college  class- 
mate of  his,  for  such  information — one  whom  he  considered  a  true  and 
good  friend,  and  who  resided  and  did  business  in  another  section  of  the 
city,  and  was  refused.  The  reply  of  this  very  liberal  and  generous 
friend  was,  that  he  had  the  preparations  in  stock  and  would  sell  him  any 
quantity  he  wanted,  but  the  formulas  were  neither  to  be  sold  or  given 
away.  I  say  shame  to  such  narrow-minded  and  selfish  colleagues,  to 
refuse  a  friend  such  little  information.  Only  think  of  the  embarass- 
ment  and  the  perplexity  the  pharmacist  is  placed  in  when  the  prescrip- 
tion is  handed  him,  and  calls  for  "  Pancoast's  Tonic,"  Kline's  Fever 
Mixture,"  or  some  other  preparation  kept  secret  by  physician  and 
pharmacist.  The  customer  is  politely  invited  to  take  a  seat,  or  to  call 
for  the  preparation  in  an  hour  or  two,  explaining  the  matter  in  as  com- 
prehensible a  way  as  possible ;  the  pharmacist  then  goes  in  search  of 
the  prescribed  article  to  some  pet  druggist,  returns  to  his  store  and 
hands  it  to  the  person  waiting.  The  customer  leaves  the  store,  labor- 
ing under  the  impression,  perhaps  inferring,  from  what  he  saw,  that  the 
pharmacist  does  not  understand  his  business,  and  had  to  get  a  more 
skillful  and  scientific  person  to  prepare  the  medicine  for  him  ;  he  proba- 
32 
