'^"'Fcris^Bo"™'}  ^^he  Apothecary  s  Apprentice  Fifty  l^ears  Ago.  67 
lamp  light,  between  the  calls  of  customers,  we  had  the  privilege  of 
reading  "  Cox's  Dispensatory,"  "  Turner's  Chemistry,"  "  Ure's 
Chemical  Dictionary,"  and,  once  in  a  quarter,  the  welcome  "  Journal 
of  Pharmacy." 
It  is  not  to  be  wondered  that,  after  the  labors  of  the  day,  one  found 
it  difficult  to  keep  awake  throughout  the  long  winter  evenings.  And  I 
well  remember  how  I  sat,  with  book  in  one  hand  and  a  pound  weight 
in  the  other,  so  that  the  dropping  ^to  the  floor  of  the  weight,  in  case  of 
my  being  overcome  with  drowsiness,  might  arouse  me. 
We  did  a  large  prescription  business  (for  that  day)  and  in  looking 
over  the  well-preserved  books,  containing  the  prescriptions  from  the 
year  1830  to  1855,  "^7  n^ind  is  sadly  impressed  with  the  fact  that,  so 
far  as  I  know,  not  one  of  the  well-known  physicians  in  this  city,  in 
1832,  is  now  in  practice,  and,  I  believe,  all  but  two  or  three  have 
passed  away.  Those  old  formulas  are  interesting  to  behold.  Sugar- 
coated  pills,  fluid  extracts,  highly  colored,  deliciously  flavored  elixirs, 
and  a  host  of  other  medicaments  were  all  in  the  womb  of  the  future 
when  these  doses  were  prescribed.  Infusions  were  much  in  vogue, 
larger  pills  and  greater  doses  were  swallowed  in  those  days. 
Allow  me  to  present  one  or  two  prescriptions,  taken  at  random,  from 
"Book  1832  :  " 
R    Pulv.  rhei, 
Pil.  rufi,        .  .  .  .  .       dd  3ss 
Sapo.,     .....  grs.  viii 
01.  carui,     .....        gtt.  iii 
M.  ft.  pil  xii. 
What  would  our  fastidious  patrons  of  the  present  time,  who  object  to 
an  elegantly  gelatin  or  sugar  coated  pill  of  two  grains,  say  to  these  six 
grain  fellows,  as  they  lift  them  from  their  bed  of  Pulv.  Glycyrrhizae  I 
Take  another  : 
R    Sulph.  magnesia,  ....  Zni 
Calomel,    .  .  .  .  ,  .  ^i 
Tart.  Antim,     .  .  .  .  .       gr.  i 
M.  ft.  pulv.  viii. 
And  two  days  after,  for  the  same  patient  : 
R    Sennae,  .....  ^vi 
Mannae,      .  .              .              ,              .  ^\\\ 
Sem.  foenic,  .               .              .  . 
Cream  tartar,  .              .              .              .  3i 
Sig. :  Infuse  in  one-half  pint  of  water  two  hours,  and  take  a  wine-glass  full  at  a 
dose. 
