STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS

The Market Review is a practical feature of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST.

Detroit, Mich., August 24, is the place and date for the 1914 meeting of the A. Ph. A.

You Cannot Register in Missouri or take the examination without giving evidence of one year's high school work.

A Botanical Outing, September 7, by the New York pharmacists was an instructive as well as an enjoyable occasion.

Did Not Know Where it was manufactured? The government has fined a firm for advertising a cosmetic cream as a French product when it was manufactured in this country.

Flying Machines have not been introduced into the pharmacy delivery service. With a record of twenty-four fatalities in air flights in Germany in one week, the prospect is not every encouraging.

It Pays to be a member of your local association. Denver pharmacists found this out some time ago when the Denver R. D. A. secured a reduction of the Retail Tobacco Dealers Tax from $25.00 to $10.00.

The Canadian Ph. A. is now six years old. The 1913 meeting was the most successful in its history. The growth of the organization speaks well for the good judgment and enterprise of the Canadian pharmacists.

Incompatibility was discovered by the government when the label of a headache remedy combined the statement that it was harmless with the announcement that it contained acetphenetidin. A $25.00 fine was the result.

The Native Drugs of Java do not deserve their ancient reputation. So says Dr. Wysman. Why restrict this assertion to the drugs of Java? It applies as well to the drugs of the world, the exceptions being very few.

Night Schools are attracting attention in all of the larger cities. The night schools in St. Louis are very well patronized this year. We hope that pharmacy apprentices deficient in preliminary education are taking advantage of these opportunities.

Better Be a Drug Clerk. It has been determined that the average salary of 3,000 Methodist ministers is $500.00 a year. Evidently, it pays better to look after the ills of the body as a drug clerk than to administer to the souls from the Methodist pulpit.

Denatured Alcohol has not assumed the promi nent part in commercial affairs that was anticipated. It is now proposed to arrange so that farmers or fruit growers may manufacture denatured alcohol. Of course, this must be done under proper regulations.

A Miscalculation was made by the manufacturer who stated on his temperance drink that it contained less than one-half of one per cent of alcohol. The Department of Agriculture found 2.77 per cent

by volume and the manufacturer was fined $100.00 and costs.

An Enterprising Cigar Dealer in Philadelphia arranged a window display showing sixty different devices and accessories used by smokers. We do not have a list of the articles, but it is almost as long as the number of synonyms for some of the vegetable drugs.

Three-Cornered Poison Bottles.-San Francisco is considering a proposed ordinance to make the use of three-cornered bottles compulsory for the dispensing and selling of poisons. The pharmacists of that city are trying to find out whether such bottles are patented and whether the scheme is one of graft.

When is Cocoa Chocolate?-The government is now puzzled over the question of classifying cocoa and cocoa nibs deprived of a portion of its fat. If this product contains less cocoa fat than chocolate, may it be labeled chocolate? A public hearing will be given, November 7, at the Bureau of Chemistry at Washington.

A Dispensing Error was considered by the government to be mislabeling when a manufacturer advertised a preparation, which did not contain quinine which he claimed, but did contain 50.3% of alcohol, as "quinine whiskey," which fact was not declared on the label. Manufacturers should remember that an honest label is the best policy.

Fire-Proof Railroad Cars.-The Pharmaceutical Journal, of London, suggests that all railway cars or carriages, as they are called in that country, should be made of fire-proofed wood. Why not follow the example in the United States and build railway cars out of steel? Such cars, are not only fire-proof, but withstand accidents that would demolish cars of wood.

The Home of Pharmacy Wants the A. Ph. A. Home. The Philadelphia Branch of the A. Ph. A. at the October meeting received a motion to the effect that each branch be invited to name a committee to consider in what city the proposed A. Ph. A. headquarters should be located. This was promptly amended to instruct the committee to present the claims of Philadelphia.

A New Use for Camphor which is not likely to be mentioned in the revised dispensatories is announced by some who use automobiles in Europe. About one ounce of camphor is placed in five gallons of gasolin in order to improve the working of the engine. One motorist claims a 20% increase in the power of the gasolin. What will become of the price of camphor if his claim can be proven?

Historical Section.-Frederick T. Gordon, Secretary A. Ph. A. Historical Section, is preparing a scrap-book containing the reports of the Nashville meeting of the A. Ph. A. as they appear in the pharmaceutical press. This record will be presented at the Detroit meeting and become a part of the historical records of the association. The plan is an excellent one and should be continued each year.

STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS

Florida. For the first time in the history of the N. W. D. A., the meeting will be held in the far south. The 1913 convention occurs at Jacksonville, Fla., November 17.

Lithia Water, advertised as a natural product, but made by the addition of salts to ordinary water, resulted in a fine of the firm handling the same. It was misbranded under the Food and Drugs Act.

Capsicum Has Many Uses.-The Department of Agriculture has found that it is employed to make a poor quality of whiskey low in per cent of alcohol taste somewhat similar to a high grade of whiskey. A firm was fined $25.00 for misbranding such a mixture.

The Italian Earthquake raised the price of lemon oil so high that it became an incentive for violations of the Food and Drugs Act. The Department of Agriculture recently secured judgment against a shipper who was fined $200.00 and costs for misbranding lemon oil.

Removing Poison by Dialysis.-The latest method of treating cases of poisoning is the proposition to have the blood from a large artery flow through a circuit outside the body. By proper mechanical provisions poisons can be removed from the tube by means of dialysis.

Senator James Hamilton Lewis ran away from his home in Georgia when a fourteen year old boy and found a job washing bottles in a drug store. The proprietor, E. J. Kieffer, of Savannah, thirty-two years later, saw the senator in Washington recently for the first time since he was employed in his store.

Adulterated Turpentine. A firm has recently been fined by the government for shipping oil of turpentine containing 4% of mineral oil.

The domestic volatile oils are peppermint, spearmint, wormwood and tansy. Of course, many others are produced, but not in quantities to attract much attention.

High Schools for Pharmacy Apprentices.--The increased attendance at night high schools indicates that many regret having so soon given up the day school work. We hope that pharmacy apprentices who are deficient in preliminary education will get the spirit of the times and attend night schools before it is too late to take advantage of such opportunities.

Honest Advertisements. Last summer the advertisers of this country in convention assembled publicly proclaimed their belief in honest advertisements. By this was meant that it is good business policy to tell only the truth when wording an advertisement. Circus days and show posters are over for this year and we should be able to see the effects of the new resolution if it has really been put into operation.

Five and Ten Cent Stores in Iowa are having a hard time of it on account of ignoring the notice

given them by D. E. Hadden, of Alta, chairman of the Board of Pharmacy. Mr. Hadden discovered that toilet water and bay rum contained wood alcohol and other violations of the law were being made by this class of stores. After prosecution was started, one manager pleaded guilty and was fined $75.00 and costs. Other prosecutions will follow.

Are You Violating the Phenol Ordinance or state law? Perhaps you did not know that such a law was in existence. We suggest that you send to the secretary of your state for the state law and to the Department of Health of your city for the local ordinance. Recently, a quiet investigation in Cincinnati developed the fact that many local pharmacists were violating the city ordinance governing the sale of phenol. Timely warning prevented wholesale arrests. A word to the wise should be sufficient. Summary of Volatile Oil Statistics.-Statistics for the industry were first obtained at the census of 1859, when 45 establishments, employing 74 hands, reported products amounting to $124,317. The value of products shows an increase for each intercensal period since 1879.

The number of establishments reporting in 1909 was 68, with 408 persons engaged in the industry. capital $1,365,438, and expenses of $1,522,171, of which $184,495 was paid for salaries and wages and $1,255,478 for materials. The value of the products reported was $1,737,234. In 1904, 52 establishments were reported, with 237 persons engaged in the industry, capital of $723,004, expenses of $1,299,069, of which $109,713 was paid for salaries and wages and $1,110,470 for materials. The value of the products reported was $1,464,662. The average number of persons engaged in the industry during 1909 was 408, of whom 290 were wage-earners, 91 proprietors and officials, and 27 clerks, etc.; 390 were males and 18 females. No wage-earners under 16 years of age were reported.

The Repetition of Prescriptions calling for poisons is a problem which has been given consideration pretty much the civilized world over. England is now considering a bill which, if it becomes a law, will prohibit the re-filling of prescriptions calling for any of quite a long list of poisons. Italy, Germany and Hungary each have laws on this subject and some of them are explicit and very restrictive. In the United States, we have laws prohibiting the re-filling of prescriptions for cocaine and some other habit-forming drugs. The time will come when it will be difficult for a customer to obtain poisons even on prescription unless the intended use is legitimate. It will be equally difficult for habituates to procure a continuous supply of drugs on prescriptions. The time has not quite passed in some sections of the country where so-called physicians have as their principal occupation the writing of prescriptions for whiskey. Others are equally busy prescribing habit-forming drugs. The medical profession is anxious to eliminate such members and pharmacy should get rid of such dispensers.

IN BRIEF

Do you preserve your pharmaceutical journals? Will coffin-shaped bichloride tablets become the rule?

Licorice is growing in Arizona, but not of a commercial value.

The St. Louis College of Pharmacy will be fifty years old in 1914.

Electricity is now used in maturing cheese. We knew it was something strong.

W. W. Westgate, Seattle, Wash., was a prize winner at the state meeting this year.

Did you weigh the ice cream you sold last year? If so, how do you like selling by weight?

The business element in pharmacy should not be neglected even by ethical pharmacists.

The civilized world is working in order to suppress the illegitimate sale and use of narcotics.

B. Brown, Seattle, Wash., received a prize for a paper read at the state meeting this year. Pennsylvania requires four years' practical experience from those applying for registration.

Too much legislation is a common expression, but the mills of the law-makers continue to grind.

The International Pharmaceutical Congress held its eleventh meeting at The Hague, September 17-21. According to Roland T. Lakey, a business course is needed in order to prevent pharmacy from going backward.

The breeding of leeches is a practical question in India, but does not bother pharmacists in the United States.

Do not allow strangers behind the counter. It is bad enough to have your friends make themselves at home.

The National Association of Drug Clerks is investigating violations of pharmacy laws in state institutions.

The work of setting the U. S. P. in type will soon begin. When it will be finished is quite another question.

The question of price regulation perhaps will some time be regulated, but just at present it is a knotty problem.

Diachylon means composed of juices and was originally applied to an ointment made up of vegetable juices.

The only way to increase membership in a state association is to employ an organizer. That is the only effectual way.

The Ohio Board of Pharmacy has withdrawn from the N. A. B. P. on account of local complications with the Ohio law.

In 1912-13, a deputy food inspector added over one hundred new names to the Mo. Ph. A. That shows what can be done.

The real evil of price cutting is discussed by an exchange, and the editor decides that it is not good business principle.

Dispensing physicians of Ohio are disturbed by the prospect of inspection under the direction of the dairy and food commissioner.

Dispensing in public institutions is frequently under the direction of unregistered men. Boards of Pharmacy please give attention.

Charles E. Vanderkleed addressed the Philadelphia Branch of the A. Ph. A. at the October meeting on the A. Ph. A. Commission on Patent Medicines.

An idea of the progress in photo-engraving can be gained by comparing the pharmaceutical journals of today with those of a quarter of a century ago.

The records show no falling off in either the number or the quality of the technical papers submitted at the annual meeting of the British Conference.

The report on Progress of Pharmacy, issued by the A. Ph. A., constitutes the most valuable library of any single series of publications pertaining to pharmacy.

The income tax under the proposed law is likely to take a slice out of the income of such organizations as the N. A. R. D. This is unjust as well as unnecessary.

Dirt seems to be the main adulterant of chewing gum. We refer to the gum as it enters into the trade and not that found on the bottom of chairs or on bedsteads.

The highest wind velocity ever recorded was 186 miles an hour at Mt. Washington, January 11, 1878. In the language of the day, that was certainly "going some."

Dr. Henry L. Taylor claims that the pharmaceutical syllabus is not "Taylor" made and points to the committee of more than a score who have the work in charge.

The Board of Health, of Cincinnati, has prosecuted a number of pharmacists for using soap bark foam in soda water. Whether or not it is actually injurious is another question.

The Delaware candidates for examination in October numbered 13. Seven were unlucky. This proves that thirteen was not the unlucky number nor seven the number of charm.

If you are a Kansas pharmacist, have you stamped your stock remedies, "On hand, June 30, 1913"? Remember that goods received since that date must comply with the state law.

Frank H. Wyeth, who died recently at the age of seventy-six years, began the drug business in Philadelphia, fifty years ago. The firm became one of the pioneer manufacturers of pharmaceuticals.

Henry Biroth was a very modest man and would perhaps be just a little annoyed by the attention given his autobiography entitled, "Tolerance in Religion." It is an interesting volume and remarkable as an autobiography.

Miss B. Olive Cole, of Baltimore, won a gold medal in a class of thirty-three at the Maryland School of Pharmacy. While a marked distinction, she is only one of a number of women winning similar prizes at the schools of pharmacy during the past several years.

STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS

"Keep up Your Stock," is a command which we have frequently given. It is sometimes embarrassing to be out of goods. It was particularly so for the pharmacist of the Pacific Coast who was called upon by a firm for a list of assets and liabilities. He promptly informed the financial agency that he did not carry such things in stock.

Commercial Pharmacy has its defects and critics in England as well as in the United States. The Chemist and Druggist suggests that one of the decidedly commercial dealers might advertise:

"End of the Season Sale. Ruinous Reductions in Hot Water Bottles."

"Chilblain Liniment Positively Given Away." Habit-Forming Drugs attracted the attention of pharmacists long ago and to that calling is due the credit of making an early effort to control the sale of such substances and prevent illegitimate traffic. The Beal Model Anti-Narcotic Law, adopted by the A. Ph. A., and the work of pharmacists in the various states have led up to a world-wide movement against the wrong use of habit-forming drugs.

The National Health Insurance practitioners in Scotland are instructed by the commissioners to distinguish between proprietary medicines of secret composition and those the composition of which is publicly disclosed. Physicians must not prescribe the former, but may order the latter, "provided the prescriber regards them as possessing recognized advantages over non-proprietary preparations."

Not a Pharmacopoeial Name. However, pharmacists, and particularly those preparing for boards of pharmacy or college examinations, will be attracted by the definition which a correspondent of the Scientific American gives for the length of a parcel post package. He says that the length, no matter how irregular such a parcel may be, is equal to "the length of the smallest circumscribed rectangular parallelopipedon."

Crude Rubber Stealing is a long established and extensive practice. The rubber is stolen by workmen in factories and taken in small parcels. Just how it gets back in large quantity into the regular trade is a problem now under investigation. Evidently, some rubber manufacturers are as careless as was the proprietor of a retail drug store whose clerk accumulated a considerable stock for a store of his

government is preparing to prosecute any misbranding of mineral waters.

Pharmacy is Necessary.-A. V. Pease, Fairbury, Neb., Chairman Commercial Section, A. Ph. A., in his annual address said:

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Our

"The outlook for a pharmacist who is a merchant as well as a professional man is very rosy. public is always willing to pay for real service. business is just as necessary as that of a grocer or blacksmith. If general business conditions become untoward, the pharmacist can cut his overhead expense as quickly as his fellow merchant and rely upon his professional training for his profit."

If the Burbank Potato adds seventeen million dollars a year to the nation's wealth, who shall place a price on the value of an understanding of these methods and their applications to us-to us, who have done more in two generations to advance science, invention, transportation and general well-being than the one hundred and thirtyeight generations before-to us, who, for all our accomplishment, have come down through a line of ancestry so short that Adam is our common grandfather only one hundred and forty times removed? [The Luther Burbank Society.

Alcohol in Official Disguise. Dr. Oliver T. Osborne recognizes the time-honored compound tincture of lavender as alcohol. In commenting on the "This preparation he says:

very elegant tincture or cocktail (about two-thirds of its bulk being alcohol) for the esthetic treatment of hysterical conditions and nervous indigestions should not be dignified by officialization in the next Pharmacopeia. These patients could be given small doses of any good cocktail and the result would be the same. Let us

not cater to such aromatic, alcoholic fallacies. We should be honest with ourselves and remember that such treatment is treatment by alcohol."

The Yellow-fever Mosquito is a Strong Flier.Nevertheless, it does not fly very far and, as has been already pointed out, is rarely found away from houses. It apparently never flies very high and is found by preference in the lower stories of houses. There is conflicting evidence regarding the effect of a strong current of wind on this species, and it is recorded that strong air currents produced by a mechanical ventilator had no effect upon flight. Other observers have searched for it in vain in situations exposed to the wind.

The distance of flight has an important bearing upon the distance at which ships should be anchored from fever-infected ports, but with vessels anchored at given distances it is most difficult to determine whether yellow-fever mosquitoes which may be found on board have flown from the shore or have been carried by boat parties visiting the vessel, perhaps concealed under coat collars or hidden in other parts of clothing. There is no positive evidence that vessels anchored more than half a mile from the shore will be visited by the yellow-fever mosquito by natural flight.

PUBLIC EXPRESSIONS

Read This Before You Write.

Contributions on subjects of interest to the pharmaceutical profession are always welcome. Write upon but one side of the sheet and spell out in full the names of medicines; never use abbreviations. The editor pays no attention to anonymous communications.

A Pharmacist in Paradise. If any of the pharmacists of St. Louis wish to evade the intense summer's heat or the cold winter's blast of that section, they could not do better than buy a homeseeker's ticket to Corpus Christi, which are on sale the first and third Tuesdays of each month. Here we have very mild winters and the constant sea breeze in summer eradicates the intense heat. We have hunting and fishing in all their varied phases.-[A. C. Blake, 1020 Staple St., Corpus Christi, Texas.

Satisfied Customers constitute the only really valuable kind. I suggest the following for slips to be wrapped up in each package of goods or to be used as an address label. It is not copyrighted and your readers are at liberty to use it:

"We appreciate the favor extended to us by purchasing these goods from us, and we trust that everything in this package will be entirely satisfactory to you. If, however, you are not entirely pleased with your purchase we will be glad to have you return the goods and get your money back. We cannot afford to have a dissatisfied patron, for we desire to have the pleasure of serving you again, just so often as you will permit us to do so."

What do you think of it?-[H. G. Posey.

In Love with California.-I am on the seacoast in southern California and find the climate more beneficial than medicine. This is a beautiful, quiet health resort, twelve miles from Old Mexico and four miles from San Diego. The citizens of San Diego, 85,000 in number, are making great preparations to share equally with San Francisco in the World's Fair of 1915. A 14,000 acre park has been reserved for the purpose. The temperature here varies only eight degrees during twelve months. This is certainly a great automobile country, where the roads are good 365 days in the year. This is the first town of any importance in the United States nearest the Panama Canal.

Nearly every kind of fruit grows here and the same may be said of the vegetables. I advise my pharmaceutical friends to take a vacation and visit this section of the world.-[H. L. Roberts, Nation City, Cal.

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Examinations in the Philippines.-Paul Stangl's article in your September issue goes to show how really educated men believe in common sense. Mr. Stangl is an exceptional man in many ways. was a mighty good hospital steward of the army, he is a linguist of remarkable attainments, a bacteriologist who has earned some reputation, especially in cultivating grasshopper disease in the Philippines, and he is a pharmacist of the best type. Consequently, I was glad to see him take up the cudgel in defense of "safe and sane" examinations.

The examination he mentions reminds me of the one I took. Both of them are somewhat thrown in the shade by the "star" question on record in Nebraska. The best I have heard is, "What would you keep in a cigar case?"

It was in July, 1903, that the first examination for registration was given in Manila under the American law. That morning I had taken a cholera patient to the emergency hospital, and, though late, I concluded to try the examination. There were two Filipino members on the board, and one American, a Mr. Werts, who worked in the English Pharmacy on the Escolta. Of the Filipino members, one was Dr. Albert, probably the leading botanist in the Orient, and the other was the editor of a Tagalog paper. It was in the printing office that we took the examinations-three of us, two Americans and one Filipino. We were the only ones to take the examination in the year 1903.

The native members of the board prepared their questions in Spanish and Mr. Werts, his in English. They had interpreters of doubtful ability to translate them. Consequently, I shall always consider that I got my money's worth, if it did cost ten dollars. Some of the questions I could read and some I could guess at. Mr. Werts, not being present, I could get no help on questions that had been incorrectly translated. However, I want to give Dr. Albert credit for preparing the most scholarly examination in Botany that it has ever been my pleasure to pass. For instance, here are samples:

a. Describe the essential difference in cell structure between monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. b. What is the name of the Botanic Family to which the mushroom belongs?

c. What are cryptogams?

d. Give several illustrations of panetal placentae.

It had been ten years since I had crammed a smattering of High School botany into my cranium. By some fortunate circumstance it had stuck, and to this fact I believe I owe my ability to pass this examined in the land of "Mañana" (tomorrow)..

Considering that this was the first examination under the new law, and the examiners were unused to preparing such questions, I had little fault to find. I had heard, however, that the questions had been made more practical of late, but Mr. Stangl's article does not indicate any tendency toward simplicity.

In just thirty days after the examination, Certificate number 270 was issued to me. What would happen to your State Board if they took a month to grade three sets of papers? My number being 270, indicates that nearly that number had been granted registration without examination, either because they had been practicing or had diplomas or certificates that were recognized by the board.-[E. A. Searson, Benson, Neb.

A GOOD WORD from a physician often goes far with a customer. See that you deserve the confidence of the practitioners in your neighborhood and you will receive their support.