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Meyer Brothers Druggist

PUBLISHED MONTHLY IN THE INTERESTS OF THE ENTIRE DRUG TRADE.

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In the Pharmaceutical Eye is Dr. Harvey Wash

ington Wiley, of Washington, D. C., Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry of the Department of Agriculture. He is chairman of the commission designated by the new Pure Drug and Food Law to make rules and regulations for the enforcement of the act. The doctor is a member of the A. Ph. A. and has attended some of the meetings. His new duties will bring him into prominence among all who are identified in any way with the drug trade.

DR. H. W. WILEY.

THEODORE FREDERICK HAGENOW.

Theodore Frederick Hagenow, second vice-pre dent of the N. A. R. D., was represented on t frontispiece of the MEVER BROTHERS DRUGGIST December, 1902, at which time he was president of t St. Louis College of Pharmacy, also of the St. Lou Association of Retail Druggists.

The British Medical Association does not forg that Canada is her own country and she occasional visits this continent. The last convention was he at Toronto in August of this year. The meeting w attended by a large number of physicians from th States, among them being several prominent St. Lou physicians. The proceedings of the convention we eminently scientific from the medical point of vie but, strange to say, the local daily papers found mu to occupy their attention in a popular vein. As an e

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ample, one of the English physicians read a very technical paper in which, among other things, he incidentally explained the physiological and pathological cause of cold feet. The local reporters who may have had "cold feet" up to that time as they listened to strange words soon warmed up to the occasion, and the morning papers surprised the scientific physicians with. their interpretation of the term "cold feet" which has a popular significance which we are not called upon to explain in these columns. The astonishment among the British physicians, who are generally supposed to be slow to see the point of a joke, was even greater than that of Dr. Osler when the associated press turned to the account of yellow journalism his essay on the most efficient working years of a man's life and his passing reference to the use of chloroform. Somewhat more serious in consequence was the address of another physician who, in answer to a toast, made a prohibition address worthy of the once celebrated John B. Gough. The temperance organizations were quick to make capital of the address while some folks were driven to drink to drown their chagrin. The local press handled the matter in a way which temporarily increased the circulation of the daily papers. The visiting physicians of eminence were the passive participants in another transaction which attracted the public attention. The University of Toronto conferred the degree of LL. D. upon fourteen distinguished members of the British Medical Association. Of course these

diplomas were stamped "honoris causa," but to the public mind this did not explain the wholesale distribution of diplomas. McGill University, of Montreal, very modestly cut its list down to four, but selected this quartet from those who had previously been clothed in sheepskin by the University of Toronto. The comments were numerous but no one thought to recall the statement of the great European surgeon, Dr. Lorenz, who was refused the right to perform a surgical operation in Chicago before he had passed an examination given by the Illinois Board of Health, but received from the Northwestern University the degree of LL. D. without as much as intimating that he had any use for such a title. In fact, the blunt Dr. Lorenz, in his frank manner, said that the State of Illinois doubted his word when he said that he was a competent surgeon and then turned around and gave him a diploma as a counsellor at law when he knew nothing whatever about the intricacies of the legal profession. In one respect the meeting of the British Association was very much like other medical conventions. It had an exhibit as a prominent feature and the British visitors, the Canadian physicians and even the doctors from across the line over in the states filled their pockets with a collection of samples of remedies reputed to cure all ills of mankind. Exhibits are no longer a feature of pharmaceutical conventions, but the average doctor would feel at a loss if not permitted to visit the exhibit hall.

The Essential Oil Market Has Advanced to a point which surprises the drug trade. Dealers are prepared

for sudden, unexpected and unexplainable changes in prices on a single article, but the upward tendency all along the line with volatile oils is an unusual experience. Perhaps the most rational explanation that has been offered is the fact of the new Pure Drug and Food Law which is forcing out of trade artificial, mixed and adulterated oils. The retail trade must be prepared to pay for pharmacopoeial oils. Perhaps in no other line of medicines has the tendency in the past been so great in favor of cheap goods. In addition to the above reasons for high prices on volatile oils, is the fact that labor is commanding a better price, almost the world over than for years past. Many drugs are gathered in foreign countries by persons who follow that occupation when nothing better presents itself. Our readers who live in districts where indigenous drugs are gathered can fully appreciate this statement.

Taken all in all, the advance in prices of drugs is a natural result of the Pure Drug and Food Law and an incouraging indication for the just enforcement of the regulations.

The Holiday Season Will Soon Be Upon Us and we trust that the readers of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST will enter heartily into the festivities of the season and find that the past year has brought them much for which they should he thankful. The new year, with its new resolutions, looks bright for pharmacy. It should be an occasion of stock taking not only of goods in store but all conditions surrounding your business. The retailer, the wholsaler and the manufacturer can well afford to carefully study the influences which have determined their progress during the past twelve months and then decide upon a definite course to be pursued in 1907. The MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST extends to all of its readers the heartiest

greetings. A merry Christmas and a happy new year is an expression familiar from early childhood. We hope that each year will add a pleasant significance to the formal greeting.

Gambier and Catechu.-The reports made by various wholesale drug firms on the influence of the substitution by the Pharmacopoeia of gambier for catechu do not seem to agree. One jobber says, "our experience since the new Pharmacopoeia became official is that nearly all orders call for gambier in place of catechu." Another firm writes, "we have failed to notice any influence whatever on the relative number of orders for catechu and gambier since the latter became official." A third firm informs us that the drug trade orders for these goods is but a small fraction of the amount sold to tanners, dyers, manufacturers of boiler compounds, etc. The latter, of course, know nothing about the Pharmacopoeia.

One Cent Letter Postage was heartily endorsed by the A. Ph. A. and equally so by the N. A. R. D. It is one thing to endorse the movement and quite another thing for the government to decide that one cent letter postage is timely. We trust that Uncle Sam will try the experiment.

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STRAY ITEMS AND COMMENTS.

San Francisco Sufferers received assistance from the drug trade of this country to the amount of nearly a quarter of a million dollars.

Both Wise Men and Fools shake their heads over the danger of some other man handling a cold bottle, and Elbert James, of Enid, Okla., is a living example of the danger, as he suffered a four inch cut in his arm the other day from handling a pop bottle.

Poisoning From Oil of Tansy.—A physician writing on the subject to a medical exchange reports two cases and says that he has only seen the report of one other case although he has carefully watched the medical literature. Have any of the readers of the MEYER BROTHER DRUGGIST cases to report?

Holiday Greeting.-The MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST wishes its readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy

New Year. We trust that the next twelve months will be generous to each one of our readers. May you receive a fair share of all the good things that are afloat during 1907 and especially an abundance of good health and prosperity.

The Drug Market is commented upon in a very interesting manner by Prof. Edgar L. Patch, chairman of the Committee on Drug Adulterations of the A. Ph. A. We are pleased to give the introduction to his report and we direct the careful attention of the readers of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST to the expressions which it contains.

Sea Island Twine is Scarce.-In fact, the St. Louis jobbers early in November had sold out every ball and orders placed with manufacturers several months back remain unfilled. We learn that the cotton mills are so crowded with orders for goods on which they make a high profit that they are holding orders for sea island twine until more profitable goods have been filled.

The Holiday Season will soon be upon us. It is the time when all mankind feels more closely akin. The MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST wishes the profession all the good things that such a responsible and exacting calling deserves. We can say to our dear readers, with a rare old writer:

We greet you as a host;

Unfold the pages of our heart

And read therein your welcome.

Chinese Animal Drugs Admitted Free. The custom authorities have been over-ruled by the circuit court and importers of such Chinese animal drugs as dried lizards, medicinal snakes, spotted lizards, iguana, newts and Ge Ko are admitted under paragraph 548 of the act of 1897 as "drugs such as dried insects which are drugs and not edible and are in a crude state." We wonder whether the customer will be given the advantage of the duty-free price or will the Chinese pharmacist add this to his profit?

Eighty-Eight Pharmaceutical Institutions are

known to be actively at work in the United States at the present time. The United States Commissioner of Education, however, found but sixty-three when preparing his recent report. These institutions turned out 1,308 graduates last year, or about 29% of their stud

ents.

The Medical Societies of London have decided to unite in one organization. An idea of what this means can be gained from the following list of London Medical Societies:

1. Anæsthetic; 2. Balneological and Climatological; 3. Clinical; 4. Dermatological; 5. Diseases of Children; 6. Electro-Thera

peutical; 7. Epidemiological; 8. Laryngological; 9. Life Insurance; 10. Medical; 11. Neurological; 12. Obstetrical and Gynæcological; 13. Odontological; 14. Ophthalmological; 15. Otological; 16. Pathological; 17. Surgical; 19. Therapeutical.

Quinine and Opium Importations.-These are probably the most important medicines used throughout the civilized world. Some idea of the amount consumed in the United States is gained from the following statistic.

The Quantity of Quinine and Opium Imported into this Country. June 30, 1905 to June 30, 1906.

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4,750,792 ozs. $740,313

Opium, Smoking, value.......... $1,296,539
Quinine, sulphate of........

Quinine, sulphate of, value

Quinine, Cinchona bark............ 4,076, 573 ozs.
Quinine, Cinchona bark, value.... $383,726.

A Peculiar Lid.—Our readers are familiar with the Missouri Lid resurrected by Governor Folk and placed on the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sunday. For fifteen years France has been endeavoring to fit a lid, and very recently adopted a law which forbids work on Sunday. Of course, there are exceptions and these exceptions would cause the anti-lid society of St. Louis to smile and the Governor to thank his lucky star that he is not a governor in France. The new French law exempts from the list of Sunday closing, hospitals, dispensaries, drug stores and saloons. The fact that France had one saloon for every fifteen adult males may explain why an effort was not made to place a lid upon them.

The Lloyd Library Recognized in England.—The late surgeon general of England, James Pattison Walker, gave the Lloyd Library, of Cincinnati, his entire library of books and manuscripts and placed $30,000.00 in cash under the control of the library, the interest to be used for a specified purpose. We trust that this wise generosity will be emulated in our own country. The Lloyd Library is purely a work of love on the part of John Uri and Curtis G. Lloyd. It is strictly pharmaceutical and is a useful library for pharmaceutical writers and teachers as well as all who are interested in historical pharmacy. We make use of this opportunity of urging the readers of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST to send their pharmaceutical periodicals, pamplets and books to the Lloyd Library in place of giving them to individuals, selling them to second-hand stores or, as is most frequently the case, consigning them to the waste basket or furnace.

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.

Missouri Legislation Needed.-I desire to call your attention to some much needed legislation that might be had by an united effort of the drug trade, assisted by the physicians. The drug business is being ruined by the peddling outfits, and the practice of medicine hurt by them.-[C. W. PATTON, Sampsell, Mo.

is no manufacturing I don't have anything to do, unless there are extra prescriptions. [O. A.. BRADRICK, Fulton, Mo.

Buying to an Advantage. In reference to article ap

pearing in the October number of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST (page 308), by Mr. Stanley B. Simpson, entitled "Buying to an Advantage," I would state I heartily indorse same, having had both wholesale and retail experience, I am in a position to fully appreciate what it means to the retail pharmacist. It would be a good idea if the jobbers would have reprints sent to the retail trade. Many retail druggists not having these difficulties and suggestions presented to them in the right light, does not realize them. I am sure they will make better business men by reading same. While the article is written from a jobbing standpoint, yet everything in it is rich with thought for the retailer. I may sometime later write you an article from the retailers' ståndpoint, showing that some jobbers can improve in their methods of doing business; also the little business

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D. J. FINK.

Missouri Pharmacists and the Pure Food and Drugs Law.-From recent rulings it appears that should the National Pure Food Law be adopted in this state, a large part of druggists' stock would become unsalable and it would be impossible to dispense prescriptions containing morphine, cocaine, alcohol, etc., without stating the contents on labels. To the medical and pharmaceutical profession this would be very objectionable, and the general public and legislators do not realize what a long time it takes to work off a stock of patent medicines-two years is a very short time. I believe the next legislature will be very eager to adopt this bill, and the Missouri drug-points the retailer overlooks in his own business. gists should now look after their interests.-[ALBERT N. DOERSCHUK, Kansas City.

The Educated and Bright Boys do not Enter Pharmacy. I am in favor of a rule requiring one year of high school work before registering as an apprentice. If an apprentice is to finally become a registered pharmacist, he should be of sufficient age and have enough general education to be able to profit by his training in the drug store or school of pharmacy, and this seems little enough if he expects to successfully and satisfactorily complete his course of study and training. Unfortunately the long hours required in most drug stores drives the best educated and brightest boys into some other line of business, and it also, induces the best graduates to seek other lines. Hence we have difficulty in securing the right sort of apprentices and a great scarcity of good clerks.-[T. H. PATTERSON, Chicago, Ill.

Life as a Hospital Pharmacist.-My job is easy but very tiresome, as there is so much time that I have nothing to do, but still I have to be aroun:h e building. My hours are from 7:30 a. m. to 11:00 a. m. and from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p. m. At 7:30 a. m. I start over the wards to gather up bottles which are to be refilled. I have twenty-five wards to make which takes me until about 8:30. I make the refills and by that time the doctors are in from making their rounds, and if they write any new prescriptions I fill them and then deliver them all. I generally get through with my work by 10:00 o'clock. Then in the afternoon I do my manufacturing if there is any to do-don't do much as I buy most everything already prepared. If there

[D. J. FINK, Holdrege, Secretary Neb. Bd. of Ph.

A Fund for The Board of Pharmacy.-I make a few suggestions and see what your readers think of them. The Missouri Pharmaceutical Association might send a letter to every druggist in the state and ask him to send $1.00 to the association for the purpose of prosecuting men over this country that are running drug stores that are not registered and have no registered clerks. Tell them that information will be filed at once against every druggist that is not registered.

I believe that every druggist in the state who is a registered man will gladly send a dollar. Now I have

a case in mind where a drug store is run by a man that knows nothing about the business except just what he has picked up. I would like to hear from your readers in regard to this plan. I will ask you not to use my name in regards to anything that might be done along this line, I believe that our association should go right after this matter and see that the standard of our profession is raised beyond what it is at present, and I know that we can do it if we will go after it, and go after it hard and at once.-[An M. Ph. A. member.

Editorial Comment.-A few years ago, an effort was made to raise a fund to assist the board of pharmacy in enforcing the law. Fifty dollars was the total amount collected and covered the expense of a single prosecution which was brought to a successful conclusion. The board of pharmacy is doing the best it can under present conditions. If the pharmacy law is amended this winter so that re-registration is required, the board will have sufficient funds at its disposal to enforce the law.

QUIZ DEPARTMENT.

Read This Before You Ask a Question.

Many questions are thrown in the waste basket each month on account of the correspondents failing to give name and address. The editor has a large basket for such questions. Write questions on separate sheets and on but one side of the paper. No questions will be answered by mail. Spell out in full every word; never abbreviate the names of medicines.

Wall's Lessons in Latin (155).-I am studying pharmacy alone and wish some book as a guide in Latin.

Answer. You will find Wall's Lessons in Latin just the work. The price is $1.50.

"Journal of Microscopy" (156).—At one time several such periodicals were published in this country, but the last one suspended more than a year ago. The Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, London, England, is the leading publication of the kind in the English language.

To Prepare for the Mo. Ph. Bd. Examination (157) we advise you to study Wall's Pharmacognosy Notes and Beal's Pharmaceutical Interrogations. Unless you become familiar with the recognition of common drugs, pharmaceuticals and chemicals, you must not expect to pass the examination.

The Missouri Pharmacy Law (158).-A St. Louis daily paper reports fines for violating the Missouri Poison Law. Has this section of the pharmacy law been changed since March 26, 1881? That is the date of the law which I have in my poison register.

Answer. The pharmacy law has met with many changes during the past twenty-five years and your copy is decidedly out of date. We are publishing the revised law in this issue of the MEYER BROTHERS DRUGGIST.

Discounts on the U. S. P. (159).-You cannot buy the Pharmacopoeia in small quantity to an advantage as you can the National Formulary (see MEYER BROTHErs Druggist, August 1906, p. 228). The following rule governs the sale of the U. S. P. VIII.:

Discounts. The agent shall allow a discount of 25 per cent from the full retail price, on all orders for 100 copies or more (of any one style of issue or of an assortment of several styles) purchased at one time; 20 per cent on orders for 25 copies or more, but less than 100, and 15 per cent on orders for less than 25 copies. Single copies they may sell at full retail price.

In no case shall the agent charge more than the full retail price of the book, or refuse to sell single copies if the amount is tendered to them in current funds.

Hydrocyanic Acid Gas to Kill Household Insects (160).-The Division on Entomology of the United States Department of Agriculture has issued Circular No. 46, second series, giving details of experiments made and directions for carrying out the most practical methods of killing household insects with hydrocyanic gas. It seems to have been fully demonstrated that this is the most certain and practical method of killing insect

pests when they are present in large numbers in different sections of the house. The only drawback is the extremely poisonous character of the gas, and the directions must be carefully followed, or serious results will follow. The same gas is used in killing insects found in granaries. The gas in no way effects the grain, as far as its use is concerned. Among household pests to be exterminated by this gas may be mentioned cockroaches, bed-bugs, clothes moths, ants, white ants, house flies and other soft-bodied insects. The bulletin to which we have referred gives the following directions for manufacturing and using the gas:

"Recent experience indicates that in order to destroy the household insects mentioned, one fluid ounce of commercial sulphuric acid, diluted with two fluid ounces of water, to increase the bulk of the liquid and insure complete chemical action, and one ounce of high-grade (98%) cyanide of potassium must be used for every 100 cubic feet of space.

"Before performing the operation the house must be vacated, and it is well to do this just before nightfall. It is not necessary to remove any of the furniture or household belongings, unless of polished nickel or brass, which may tarnish a little. Liquid or moist foods, as milk or other larder supplies that are not dry and might absorb the gas, should be removed from the house. All fires should be put out, for, while the gas will not burn under ordinary conditions, it is as well

to take no risks.

"On the floor of each room should be placed a large porcelain wash basin, and into each wash basin should be poured the proportionate amount of water and sulphuric acid. It may be well to place under each wash basin a thick layer of newspapers, in order to avoid damage to carpet or rugs by the possible spattering of the acid acting upon the cyanide. All windows must be closed, and if they are not tight they should be calked with thin paper or cotton batting. Then the operator, beginning at the top of the house, drops the proportionate amount of cyanide of potassium, previously weighed out into thin paper sacks, into each wash bowl, running rapidly from room to room and instantly closing the door behind him, descending ultimately to the ground floor, or even to the cellar, running finally into the open air through the open door, which is instantly closed.

"Hydrocyanic acid gas is lighter than air, and consequently rises. Therefore, the operation must be be

gun at the top of the house. The next morning the operator returns to the house, opens the last door, allows a certain amount of airing, then enters hurriedly and opens the windows of the first room or floor; then, after the thorough airing of this one, another in turn, thus gradually airing the whole house. The fumes quickly overcome and are fatal to human beings; hence the necessity for the utmost care and greatest speed in the initial operation and in the subsequent airing and the undesirability of performing the experiment alone. The house should not be re-inhabited until all trace of the odor of the gas has disappeared. This odor resembles that of peach kernels."

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