In the Pharmaceutical Eye is Frank H. Carter of Indianapolis, Ind. He was local secretary for the 1906 meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association in that city. He is president of the local branch of the A. Ph. A., was active in arrangements for the recent meeting of the N. A. R. D. in Indianapolis and is one of the substantial retail pharmacists of the United States. Many are those who look forward with pleasure to renewing acquaintance with Mr. and Mrs. Carter at the 1917 meeting of the A. Ph. A. FRANK H. CARTER W. S. DENTON. W. S. Denton of Beardstown, president of the Illinois Pharmaceutical Association, was represented on the cover of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for November. In extending the compliments of the approaching holiday season, he urges members to prepare for the 1917 convention. Compliments of the season to all readers. Will You Win a prize? See page 100 of December issue. Watch the Market Review in the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST. Market Review, Page 384. Patent Medicine Price List, Page 3. Board of Pharmacy Secretaries, Page 97. Meyer Brothers Druggist Prize Contest, Page 100. Board of Pharmacy Examination Questions, Page 376. Editorial The Drug Trade Is Responsible for the Harrison Antinarcotic Law. The drug trade has from the early history of the A. Ph. A. in 1852 been interested in establishing standard quality of drugs imported and regulating the sale and use of narcotics and other substances of a habit-forming nature. The Drug Trade Conference, supported by drug interests in general, consummated the enactment of the Harrison Antinarcotic Law. The drug trade of the country was quick to respond to the call for the enforcement of the law and in spite of the expense and inconvenience, the trade in general has accepted the act in good faith and lived up to the same in spirit and to the letter. Discouraging decisions have been rendered from time to time by the courts and ridiculous rulings have been rendered by the department in control of the enforcement of the law. This, however, is the history of other laws and should be taken as a matter of course. What does not come with good grace is the continued practice of casting reflections on the drug trade and holding the same responsible for the usual abnormal use of narcotics. Just at present, the State of New York is a timely example of what is liable to happen at any time in any other section of the country. New York State has a narcotic commission which is attempting to solve the problem of the illicit handling and use of narcotics in the. Empire State. Meantime, some of the local papers and even counsellors at law are pointing out the drug trade as the willing producers and distributers to the "underworld." The Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter says, "Reckless and unprovable charges of underhand participation by narcotic manufacturers and wholesale druggists in illegal drug selling should be stopped." Of course, it should be stopped, but this cannot be done by attempting to discuss the matter with faddists and self-advertising philanthropists. should be done is to educate the public at large to an understanding of the self-sacrificing manner in which the drug trade of this country has labored for more than half a century in an effort to combat the narcotic drug evil. This should be done not merely as a matter of protecting self-respect for the drug trade but the co-operation of the public by obtaining its sympathy and moral support will do much towards bringing about the better condition which the Harrison Antinarcotic Law is intended to accomplish. Meantime, we must not be surprised if the condition in New York State is duplicated in other sections of the country. These outbreaks, like the smallpox, are likely to make their appearance at any time or place. The Long-Suffering Pharmacist.-The pharmacist has long been subjected to various indignities at the hands of the public. He is accused of charging ex What orbitant prices for his goods. He is often looked upon as a public servant and his store made a free bureau of information. Wilhelm Bodemann, through the N. A. R. D., has about eliminated the free telephone nuisance and the postage stamp vending machine gives pharmacists the opportunity of discontinuing stamps as a regular article of trade. When the post office sells stamps, the party buying them takes care of them, the best he can. The druggist is expected to sell stamps at cost, lick a few of them and place them on letters for the customer and wrap the others in paraffin paper. Added to the burden placed on the pharmacist by an aggressive and unappreciative public comes the work of the highwayman, who in the larger cities seems to have selected the drug trade as an easy mark. Butchers are visited by highwaymen because the refrigerator is a convenient receptacle into which the proprietor can be forced and locked up while the shop is being robbed. Just why drug stores are frequently visited by highwaymen is more than we can explain. It is interesting to note that occasionally the highwayman meets his match. This was demonstrated in St. Louis recently when a drug clerk who, by the way, is a junior student in the school of pharmacy, refused to take a passive part in the hold-up scene. While facing a revolver in the hands of a highwayman, he managed to dodge, grasp a revolver which was being kept in the store and open fire on the highwayman. He hit the intruder four times out of five shots. Just what a person will do under similar circumstances cannot be told until the occurrence is a matter of record. We hope, however, that the example of this apprentice will be followed wherever opportunity presents and with equal success for the drug clerk. Where Will Medical Education Stop? This is a question that some people are asking on account of the immense sums which are being used in promoting Hopkins University Medical School startled the counmodern medical education. A few years ago, Johns try with its high requirements and extensive equipment. Harvard University not only put up the finest buildings in America devoted to medical education but outfitted them in a manner which was pronounced the "last word" in medical education. Then came Washington University, with its new buildings, reorganized faculty and almost unlimited financial resources. A few days ago, the Chicago University in connection with the Carnegie Foundation gave publicity to a plan which, if matured, will give Chicago a medical school with educational facilities unequaled elsewhere. Now comes Columbia University of New York City, which proposes to set aside $12,000,000 as an endowment for a medical school which will present the most complete working plant of the kind in the world. If money can make doctors, there is no question but that America will soon be turning out the most expert physicians on the face of the earth. Now, in regard to the question, "Where will medical education stop?" it is not likely that it will ever stop as long as the present human race is on earth. Education in all lines and departments is advancing. We need only compare the public school of today with that of a generation ago to see the general trend of education. The Submarine Disturbance and the Anilin Dye Situation. From the time the war broke out, down to date, the anilin dye situation has been presenting curious and perplexing situations. One of the more recent is due to the arrival in this country of the submarine Deutschland with a second cargo. Just what came over in the first cargo and the exact nature of the second shipment is the subject of speculation. Wild statements were made as to the extent of the anilin dye cargo when the submarine made its first visit. It was claimed that the dyes were in a concentrated form and the figures given indicated a concentration beyond chemical possibility. The statements might be compared with glycerin 140 per cent pure. It seems that all of this mystery and wild rumors are due to commercial speculation. Advantage of the situation is being taken by those who have reserved a stock of anilin dyes and are anxious to unload them at high prices and under the impression that they came over in the Deutschland. Some of the parties most vitally interested accuse the Secretary of Commerce and also the Secretary of the Treasury of at least conniving in the general scheme being carried out by commercial interests. The retail drug trade is not greatly inconvenienced by the anilin dye situation, but wide extended industries of this country are affected. The Price of Paint and Varnish Will Advance unless all predictions are unreliable. The National Varnish Manufacturers' Association and the Paint Manufacturers' Association of the United States have been in conference and found little consolation to be derived from trade conditions. The supply of basic material is inadequate and prices abnormal. The natural result will be an increased price on the finished paint and varnish products. Some idea of the conditions which exist can be gained by studying the following list of articles necessary in the manufacture of paint and varnish for which the price has advanced since the war, as indicated: the custom to prepare for the examinations and wait until sufficient preparation is almost certain before trying the test. The present method of taking the first examination in order to become acquainted with. the methods is an expensive procedure. As far as we can judge, very few who go before the Board for the first time really expect to pass. The few who have self-confidence but are unprepared bitterly criticize the Board for giving what are considered unreasonable questions or being partial in the grading. Boards of pharmacy members must be regular pachydermata in order to remain indifferent to the unjust criticism coming from disgruntled candidates. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. These words are not new and in fact are quite commonplace at the season of the year which we are now approaching. The sentence, however, is one of the most impressive in the English language and echoes with equal force throughout Christian nations. While it is venerable with antiquity, if not hoary with age, it is annually new and sparkling with the best expressions of life's work. The wishing of Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year carries with it many memories of hearthstone reunions and acts of charity. It evidences peace and good will and engenders joy and happiness. The U. S. P. IX Sidestepped Whiskey, and as a result of prohibition in Washington, pharmacists of that northwestern State have voted to ask for legislation which will take away from pharmacists the right to handle liquor even on prescriptions. As we have pointed out on previous occasions, prohibition and even local option bring undesirable conditions for law-abiding pharmacists. In the State of Washington, the "blind pig" has become a public jest associated with the name of the drug trade. Just what will be the outcome of this transaction in the liquor traffic is more than we can predict. Warn Yourself, Your Clerks and Your Customers against accidental fires during the holiday season. The unusual decorations, the rush of trade and the excitement of the season combine increased fire hazards with a tendency to carelessness. Keep constantly in mind the unusual fire risks during the holiday season. These risks are greater than usual, not only in your store but also in your home, in case you have a Christmas tree. The A. Ph. A. will convene at Indianapolis in 1917. The attendance should be particularly large at a point so near the center of the population of the country. The N. A. R. D. has not decided on the location of the 1917 meeting. The place will be selected by the Executive Committee. Examination Questions are published in each issue of MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST. Are You Saving the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for binding? Are You Getting Ready for the holiday trade? STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS The Elms Hotel, Excelsior Springs, will be the home of the Mo. Ph. A., the week of June 12, 1917. Remember Your Friends in Pharmacy in the new year by presenting them with subscriptions to the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST. St. Louis Is Becoming Recognized From Coast to Coast as the greatest drug market in America. The facilities for supplying the trade are appreciated over an immense territory. The Kern-Doremus Bill is intended to remedy vital objections to the present postal regulations governing the mailing of poisons. The bill, if it passes, will clarify the situation and safeguard the public. Does the World Applaud You? The world applauds and bows before success and achievement; it has little thought for those who fall by the way, sword in hand; and yet it takes most courage to fight a losing fight.-[Edward L. Trudeau. One Hundred Dollars in Prizes will be distributed among subscribers to the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST who are successful in the prize contest which was announced on page 100 of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST for November and appears on page 100 of the December issue. Due the Patient.-The day has come when the physician should look upon the patient, not as an ignorant child, but as a human being endowed with more or less natural intelligence, as one, in fact, who has the right to demand an explanation of the way certain effects follow certain causes. [Lawrason Brown. Are Your Prescription Prices Right? When we say right, we mean from the standpoint of justice to yourself and business. Do you realize a living profit on your investment and work? Statistics show that the average pharmacist is very careless about pricing prescriptions and usually errs in the direction of too small a charge. lodine was discovered in 1812 by Courtois, a soda manufacturer of Paris. It is obtained from certain marine vegetables, particularly the fuci or common seaweed, which have long been its most abundant natural source. It has been detected in some fresh water plants, among which are the watercress, brookline, and fine leaved water hemlock; also in the ashes of tobacco. Automobiles Among Pharmacists are numerous and the trade is generally interested in the developments which show that gasolin pumps do not always deliver the full quantity of gasolin for which the automobile owner pays. It has been shown that in the state of Illinois alone gasolin users have been mulcted hundreds of thousands of dollars by means of falsifying pumps. Better use the old can as a measure than depend on an ingenious pump. Pharmaceutical Activities Recorded in the Government Health Reports.-The Public Health Reports, published by the government, have now reached Vol ume No. 31. Of late, considerable attention is being given to pharmaceutical affairs. We note in one issue, an interesting description of the pharmaceutical exhibit of an historical nature made by the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the Alumni Association. The bringing together of medicine and pharmacy along these lines is very encouraging. There is One Field in Which Germany Has Been Pre-Eminent.-Prussian porcelain for chemical work has heretofore never been aqualled. Her Royal Berlin porcelain has been the standard of high quality. To make this she has had to import clays from different countries because of certain peculiar qualities necessary to the production of this porcelain. When our supply of German porcelain was cut off with the outbreak of war in Europe our chemical industries, and especially our chemical laboratories, were hard hit. Today, however, American pottery manufacturers are producing in their own works, through their own skill and ingenuity, porcelains the equal of any produced in Germany. Color Chemistry Near Solution.-Color chemistry, which was such a vital question when the European war broke out, is in a fair way of being solved. After two years, we are manufacturing five times the supply of dyestuffs that came from the American chemical works in 1914, and this is said to be about one-half the domestic demand. If we continue at the present rate, in two more years we shall be independent in this branch of industry. It has been stated that the annual importation to this country was only six million dollars. To the ordinary business man it would not seem a very difficult matter to fix a tariff on this amount that would cover the necessities of the case. One of the most encouraging features of the affair is that the United States possess nearly all the raw material needed to supply our own demand for dyestuffs and probably for other countries as well.-[Charles Gibson, president N. W. D. A. Do You Study Business as a Science? The haphazard methods of doing business in the past are gradually being replaced by carefully studied scientific methods. This was brought out in an address by Harry B. Mason, before the Ill. Ph. A., at the 1916 meeting. In discussing the subject, Mr. Mason said: "You have been told many times that costs are steadily rising, that the standards of living are likewise ascending, and that it is year by year growing more difficult to extract a satisfactory measure of profit from one's business. As competition has increased in severity, the situation has become more acute, and it is bound to become increasingly so as the years roll on. It is no longer possible to run a retail, a wholesale, or a manufacturing business by ruleof-thumb methods and come out right at the end of the year. Business men are studying business these days as a science. Every factor is searchingly investigated. 'Efficiency' has become a modern slogan." STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS St. Louis has in its amply-endowed Missouri Botanical Garden (Shaw's Garden) the finest institution of its kind in all the world. It contains over 100,000 specimens of different forms of growing plant life. Be Prompt in Renewing Your Certificate of Registration as a pharmacist. There is no cash discount for payment by the 10th of the month, but nevertheless give prompt attention to your notice from the Board of Pharmacy. A Diploma Is Not a Certificate of Registration, no matter what college of pharmacy grants the document. In those states like Missouri where diplomas from certain institutions are recognized a graduate may register without examination. It is, however, necessary to register. A House of Merriment is better than a house of mourning and at this season of the year every effort should be made to prevent conflagrations. The holiday season brings the Christmas tree with its inflammable trimmings and the store with its easily ignited decorations. Give them both careful attention. Lightning and Trees.-Keep away from poplars and oaks during thunderstorms. With German thoroughness the question of what tree is most frequently struck has been carried in that country to the point that the trees attain these percentages: Oak, 32.1; larch, 9.5; fir, 3.8; pine, 1.8; scotch fir, 0.9; birch, 1.4; beech, 9.3, and alder, 9.0. Do You Make Full Use of the Price List in the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST? Of course, you turn to this source of information at the critical moment when a customer is waiting. You should also look over the list at your leisure and become familiar with the prices of articles you have in stock. Our list is carefully revised by experts in the work. A Fine Orange Vinegar has been manufactured on a small commercial scale which promises to find a market, though a limited one, because it costs more to produce than the usual product. The determination of the composition of California oranges with reference to season, climate, soil, location, and methods of cultivation has been completed and the results are being prepared for publication. Steps in Thought.-Observation, comparison, deduction and trial the success or failure of which inspires and directs further observations which form the starting point of a new and wider cast of his net into the sea of the unknown, these are the successive steps in the discipline of thought which has slowly and inevitably led man from helpless dependency on the caprice of nature to the present day when his words travel with the speed of light and his instruments pierce the depths of interstellar space. [T. Brailsford Robertson. Medicinal Plants in the Missouri Botanical Garden Economic House (St. Louis, Mo.): Aloe vera. Liliaceae. Aloe. Anamirta Cocculus (Cocculus indica). Menispermaceae. Casearia glomerata. Samydaceae. Snake root. Cerbera Tanghin. Apocynaceae. Poison ordeal-tree. Bind weed. Cinnamomum Camphora. Lauraceae. Camphor tree. Piper angustifolium. Piperaceae. Soldier's herb. Do Not Harness the Metric System up with the stumbling English system of weights and measures. An article in Science which points out that business men want the metric system discusses the reasons why the metric system is not popular with school children and students of pharmacy and medicine. The writer says: "Since the schoolbooks necessarily present it in relation to its equivalents in English weights and measures, it means no more for them than a new instrument of mental torture. Learned for itself alone, it would offer no more difficulty than the American money system gives the boy who learns it in a day, and almost without trying. Harnessed to the old English equivalents, its true simplicity is not revealed. From this poor start in school days, the American public appears to continue in amazing ignorance of the metric system's real value." Are You a Drug Clerk Making Two Common Blunders? In an address before the graduating class in pharmacy, at Valparaiso University, Harry B. Mason, Editor of the Bulletin of Pharmacy, had the following to say in an ever timely warning: "But let me warn you; nine out of ten will tell you that this advice is all tommyrot. If you watch them closely, however, you will see that they are the nine failures in every crop of ten men--and it is the failures who make the most noise and who are unfortunately listened to the most frequently. It is this type of man who is always crying out that he isn't paid what he is worth, that he isn't appreciated, that he is being 'worked' and that he does not propose to kill himself until his employer does the square thing. It is this very man who makes two fatal mistakes-mistakes which I warn you will become your Scylla and Charybdis if you commit them. One of these blunders is to adopt the attitude of the average man who, when asked to do something a little unusual, replies: "That isn't my work.' stupid and fatal error is to say: for my employer until I get it.' who commits these follies is lost. from refusing to do something outside of his own cut-and-dried line of work, the ambitious man should welcome, with great joy, an opportunity to get out of the rut. Opportunities are the steps of success. They comprise the ladder on which we climb upward. Opportunities should be seized with hungry avidity before they escape us and get into the grasp of other and wiser men." The other equally 'I won't earn more The young man He is gone. Far |