Am.  Jour  Pharm.)  file  £)ru  agist  and   Tltb  CV  Clllosis .  267 
June,  1909.       |  <b<b  / 
after,  taking  the  liquid  in  the  same  way,  would  be  very  likely  to 
swallow  some  of  the  germs. 
Then  again,  if  the  thrifty  housekeeper  sends  a  bottle  so  con- 
taminated to  the  drug  store  to  be  filled  with  another  prescription 
for  a  non-infected  patient,  and  the  apothecary  fails  to  thoroughly 
clean  su-  'i  ^a  bottle,  tuberculosis  is  passed  on  to  the  unfortunate 
victim.  The  housekeeper  should  carefully  destroy  or  completely 
sterilize  bottles  used  by  patients  having  tuberculosis  or  any  con- 
tagious or  infectious  disease,  and  the  apothecary  should  never 
trust  an  old  bottle,  but  should  make  assurance  doubly  sure  by 
washing  thoroughly  every  bottle  that  has  been  used. 
In  fact,  the  habit  of  drinking  whiskey  or  other  liquid  by  passing 
the  bottle  around,  as  is  often  witnessed  on  railroad  trains,  is  a 
bad  habit  which  should  be  discontinued,  if  for  no  other  reason  than 
the  possibility  of  transferring  the  tuberculosis  germ  from  one 
person  to  another. 
The  pasting  of  a  new  label  on  top  of  an  old  one,  possibly 
reeking  with  germs,  a  practice  quite  common  in  some  neighbor- 
hoods, should  be  discontinued,  and  the  public  should  refuse  to 
accept  medicine  dispensed  in  this  way.  The  act  of  washing  off  the 
old  label  will  be  pretty  sure  to  result  in  the  washing  of  the  bottle 
and  the  disposing  of  the  germs. 
In  conclusion,  it  might  be  stated  briefly  that  the  druggist  might 
aid  in  this  crusade  by  keeping  in  mind  the  possibility  of  contagion 
and  the  spreading  of  the  source,  as  has  been  pointed  out,  and 
that  he  can  serve  the  public  and  get  at  least  some  financial  return 
by  becoming  an  agent  for  the  sale  of  sanitary  appliances,  particu- 
larly those  recommended  by  experts.  He  should  certainly  dis- 
courage the  sale  of  proprietary  remedies,  which  are  now  known 
to  be  not  only  worthless,  but,  by  raising  false  hopes  of  cure  on 
extravagant  claims,  delay  or  prevent  the  patient  from  procuring 
relief  through  the  sources  which  are  now  known  to  be  most 
effective  in  combating  the  "  white  plague." 
