EDITORIAL 
187 
Pharmacy  in  New  York. — After  carefully  reading  over  the  following 
anonymous  article,  which  originally  appeared  in  the  New  York  Daily  TimeSy 
we  are  at  a  loss  to  decide  whether  it  was  written  by  a  dissatisfied  drug 
clerk,  or  a  critically  disposed  physician,  for  there  is  too  much  knowledge 
displayed  to  attribute  it  to  an  uninitiated  person,  at  the  same  time  that 
there  are  several  points  which  indicate  a  want  of  information  hardly  attri- 
butable to  a  regular  pharmaceutist,  and  we  should  think  no  well  disposed 
member  of  the  fraternity  would  use  the  columns  of  a  newspaper  to  discuss 
the  subject,  however  deserving  of  exposure,  in  the  manner  it  has  been 
done  in  the  Times.  The  story  about  jalap  is  rather  fishy,  as  the  substitute 
is  far  milder  than  the  article  directed,  and  has  less  tendency  to  produce  de- 
lirium than  the  quinine  that  preceded  it.  The  statement  in  the  seventh 
paragraph  about  the  influx  of  spurious  drugs  into  New  York  will  hardly 
be  admitted  by  Dr.  Bailey  as  applying  to  the  Custom  House,  and  perhaps 
relates  more  to  past  times  than  the  present — unless  there  is  some  "under- 
ground railroad  "  sort  of  way  of  introducing  them.  In  alluding  to  the 
remedy,  the  writer  in  recommending  an  examination  of  the  apothecaries 
makes  no  allusion  to  the  New  York  College  of  Pharmacy,  which  has  long 
been  employing  its  influence  for  good  in  that  direction.  There  is  so  much 
truth  in  some  of  the  statements,  when  applied  to  this  city,  that  we  give  the 
article  a  place  for  the  benefit  of  those  concerned,  both  medical  and  phar- 
maceutical. 
Startling  Abuses  in  the  Retail  Drug  Trade. — The  Remedy.— There  is  no 
business  whatever  in  which  the  public  ought  to  feel  more  interest,  and  to 
which  they  pay  less  attention,  than  the  retail  drug  trade.  If  a  man  wants 
a  dose  of  medicine,  he  thinks  it  sufficient  if  he  get  it  out  of  some  store 
with  a  projecting  window  with  a  big  red  and  blue  bottle  in  it.  It  never 
occurs  to  him  to  consider  whether  the  druggist  is  acquainted  with  his  busi- 
ness, and  a  judge  of  the  quality  of  the  medicine  which  he  dispenses. 
To  qualify  a  man  to  keep  a  drug  store,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Latin 
is  requisite.  He  should  know  at  least  the  rudiments  of  the  Greek  language, 
and  be  practically  acquainted  with  Chemistry  and  Botany.  He  should  have 
such  an  accurate  acquaintance  with  medicine  as  to  be  able,  at  a  glance, 
to  detect  impure  and  spurious  drugs.  How  few  of  all  those  in  the  business 
are  so  qualified  ? 
Too  often,  the  drus;  business  affords  a  refuge  to  those  who  have  failed  in 
other  businesses.  Men  who  {<  burst  up"  in  dry  goods  have  succeeded  in 
drugs,  and  got  rich  on  their  little  quackeries  and  nostrums.  All  these 
gentlemen  stick  M.  D.  to  their  names,  and  will  11  undertake"  anything, 
from  the  manufacture  of  "refined  liquorice"  to  the  "  embalming  of  the 
dead,"  whom  they  will  warrant  to  keep  until  the  general  resurrection. 
These  pretenders  foist  off  molasses  and  water  as  a  blood-purifier,  under 
the  name  of  sarsaparilla.  They  are  the  sole  inventors  of  some  wonderful 
remedy  for  coughs  and  colds.  Their  cholera  and  colic  mixture  is  quite  in- 
fallible, while  their  venereal  remedies,  which  they,  delicately,  style  "  vege- 
table elixirs."  were  never  known  to  fail  in  effecting  a  speedy  cure. 
Many  of  these  empirics  have  stores  in  the  meaner  districts  of  the  city, 
and  it  is  astonishing  what  sums  they  receive  for  their  "  advice"  from  the 
poor.    They  lie  in  wait  for  thoughtless  sailors,  and  reckless  California 
