812 
THE  PERCENTAGE  SYSTEM. 
be  informed  regarding  decompositions  liable  to  occur,  and  if  pos- 
sible guard  against  mischief  likely  to  result  therefrom,  or  else 
return  the  prescription  to  the  writer,  with  his  objections  clearly 
stated.  He  should  also  notice,  when  such  a  prescription  is  re- 
turned for  renewal,  whether  any  deposit  has  taken  place  in  the 
bottle,  and  remove  it  by  washing  should  such  be  the  case.  The 
question  whether  it  is  his  duty  to  mark  the  bottle  "  Shake  well" 
when  the  recipe  gives  no  such  direction,  is  one  admitting  of  dif- 
ferent opinions;  but  we  think,  when  so  marked,  the  error,  if 
any,  is  on  the  side  of  prudence. 
We  would  suggest  to  physicians,  when  prescribing  a  remedy 
like  strychnia  in  solution  to  its  usual  full  dose,  to  prescribe  it 
alone,  and  to  give  separately/  whatever  else  may  be  deemed  advis- 
able. We  have  in  our  experience  been  made  aware  of  changes 
unforeseen  and  unknown  to  us,  until  the  event  developed  the 
facts. 
Philadelphia,  June  15,  1870. 
THE  PERCENTAGE  SYSTEM. 
Mr.  Editor. 
Dear  Sir  :  If  not  intruding,  will  you  allow  your  humble  cor- 
respondent a  few  words  in  your  valuable  journal  ?  The  subject 
may  not  be,  in  a  scientific  point  of  view,  of  direct  advantage  to 
the  profession  at  large,  but  it  may  be  productive  of  some  good, 
and  serve  to  promote  the  dignity  as  well  as  the  final  interest  of 
our  vocation.  It  is  a  subject  also  in  which  the  public  is  deeply 
concerned,  for  whose  benefit  alike  we  should  labor.  No  where 
could  the  matter  be  better  introduced  than  in  the  columns  of  the 
Journal  of  Pharmacy,  where  it  will  be  at  once  brought  before  the 
public  bar,  and  where  it  will  especially  meet  the  immediate  ver- 
dict of  the  proper  opinion.  In  our  profession  we  stand  before 
the  tribunal  of  scientific  criticism  and  of  commercial  intercourse  ; 
and  every  false  theory,  or  every  deviation  from  honest  dealing,  is 
subject  to  the  public  judgment.  It  burthens  us  therefore  with 
sorrow  when  we  are  called  upon  to  chronicle  the  shortcomings  of 
professional  brothers  who  would  seek  to  further  there  own 
gains  at  the  expense  of  their  neighbors  ;  or  who  would  sink 
themselves  to  the  level  of  genteel  beggary. 
