Queries and Answers.

We shall be glad, in this department, to respond to calls for information bearing on pharmacy or any of its allied topics, and cordially invite our friends to make use of this column.

When sending for the formula of an unusual, patented or proprietary compound, the query should be accompanied with information regarding the locality in which it is used, its uses, and reputed effect. When it can conveniently be done, a specimen of the label used on packages of the compound should also be sent

Upon the unpulverized starch, placed in a convenient vessel. pour 1⁄2 pint of water, stir up the mixture and pass through a No. 60 sieve into a cast iron enameled kettle having the capacity of a gallon or more; add 12 ounces of water, then the flour and mix thoroughly, and apply heat by means of a sand bath until the plasma begins to form, stirring in the meanwhile constantly with a suitable pestle'; then take the vessel from the fire and stir as before, while the plasma forms, so as to evenly divide it; after a few minutes reapply heat, stirring briskly until the plasma has completely formed, and then set it aside to cool, stirring it occasionally. Now place 1 ounce of phosphorous in stick into a glass-stoppered bottle (wide mouth) containing 12 ounces of glycerin, by weight, place the bottle into a water bath, apply a gentle heat, and shake often and quick, when the phosphorous will be completely divided through the liquid. Take a portion of the plasma, mix it gradually with four ounces of water, and add about one-fourth of the mixture of phosphorous and glycerin (shake well before adding) at a time, until the whole is thoroughly mixed, which should be done very quickly and in the open air, the operator being careful to tie a cloth around his mouth and nose, so as not to inhale too much of the fumes that arise. The result will be a fine smooth paste in which the phosphorous is evenly divided. It should be immediately bottled in small wide mouth bottles. Such as morphine bottles answer very well, of which pharmacists have always more or less on hand.

Cream Camphor.-We are in receipt of a communication from Asa Jones, M.D., Philadelphia, in which he states that the formula for cream camphor or milk of camphor, as given in our issue of March 8, does not furnish the genuine article. He further states that the term 66 cream camphor" is his "private property by authority of the United States government" and concludes his note with "please correct your statement." As Dr. Jones' right to the title cream camphor" was not questioned or even referred to in the formula which gave occasion to this note we are at a loss to understand what has prompted Dr. Jones to seek a "correction."

Solution of Bromide of Gold and Arsenic. We are in receipt of a letter from E. M. Johnson & Co., in which they call in question the value of the formula for solution of bromide of gold and arsenic which was published in this journal for January 25, page 43, from Notes on New Remedies. It is claimed that this formula is chemically inaccurate, not representing the equivalency of tribromide of arsenic either in respect to bromine or arsenic.

It is further stated that the widest difference exists between the preparation made after this formula and that of Dr. Barclay, which it is presumably supposed to duplicate.

With a view of ascertaining the chief points of difference, if any, between the two compounds (Dr. Barclay's Solution of Bromide of Gold and Arsenic and that made according to the formula referred to), we subjected each to a number of tests.

Dr. Barclay's Solution of Bromide of Gold and Arsenic, which we shall hereafter refer to as "Sample A," and the preparation as made by the Notes of New Remedies formula, which shall be referred to as "Sample B," were each tested roughly for hydrobromic and arsenic acids by ferrous sulphate. The addition of this reagent to Sample A almost decolorized the solution, but did not otherwise affect it, while Sample B acquired a milky hue, which changed rapidly to a dirty green color, with the formation of a dense precipitate of ferrous arseniate Fe, (As O4)2.

This preliminary experiment was convincing that Solution A differed in chemical constitution from Solution A.

In order to avoid the imputation of arriving too hastily at a conclusion, additional tests for the detection of arsenic acid were made as follows: After the precipitation of the gold in Solution B by metallic zinc and passing chlorine gas through the solution in excess; removing the liberated bromine by carbon di-sulphide (the latter together with free chorine being afterwards expelled by heat) the solution was neutralized with aqua ammonia and the following tests were applied:

1. Test solution of silver nitrate. -This applied to the neutral solution (Solution B) yielded a white precipitate of chloride of silver which was thrown down imme. diately upon the application of the reagent; and lastly a dark brown precipitate of silver arseniate insoluble in aqua ammonia thus indicating the presence of arsenic acid.

2. Test solution of plumbic acetate yielded a white precipitate of lead arseniate insoluble in water.

3. Test solution of ammonium molybdate. When gently warmed with this solution a yellow precipitate of arsenomolybdate of ammonium is thrown down. 4. On addition of aqua ammonia, ammonium chloride and magnesium sulphate to the solution there is yielded a crystalline precipitate of magnesium-ammonium arseniate, MgNH,AsÕ, + 6H2O.

5. Test solution of cupric sulphate.-The grass green precipitate first formed upon the addition of this solution was dissolved in sodium hydrate solution and yielded a precipitate of cuprous oxide Cu2O.

The foregoing tests were applied to Solution A with indifferent or altogether negative results, and we may therefore conclude that the two preparations are not identical in composition. The results of these experiments would indicate that E. M. Johnson & Co. have discovered some hitherto unknown method of com

fl. ozs.

6 fl. ozs.

.4 fl. ozs.

..8 fl. ozs.

... pint ....2 fl. ozs. .......4 pints. before

Mix and macerate two weeks filtering.

Seiler's Solution. F. P.-A printer's oversight is responsible for the error referred to. The signii should read Oii.

Bottle Filler Wanted.-C. H. M. writes: "Please give the address of some one who manufactures a bottle filler in the shape of a percolator with a small opening at the bottom and a tube just large enough to fill the opening, with a spring on top to raise the tube to let the liquid pass out."

Perhaps some of our readers can supply this information.

Bibliography.

A SYSTEM OF INSTRUCTION IN QUALITATIVE_CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. By Arthur H. Elliott, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry and Physics, and Director of the Chemical Laboratory in the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York. Second edition. 1894: Published by the author, College of Pharmacy of the City of New York, $1.50.

The fact that the author has found it necessary to issue a second edition of this excellent manual so soon after the publication of the first affords an indication of the warmth of the welcome which the book has received at the hands of those for whom it was intended. Already it has been adopted as a text book for practical instruction in six teaching institutions and the work bids fair to take chief place among the indispensable manuals of its class. In our earlier review of the work we commented on the rather slow and tedious method which the author had given for the separation of barium from strontium and calcium. In the new edition we find an alternative method given which will commend itself to teachers and others as eminently practical and convenient.

As a text book for the chemistry classes of colleges of pharmacy the work is sure to find increasing favor. The book is clearly printed on good paper and excellent taste has been displayed in the binding.

THE LATIN GRAMMAR OF PHARMACY for the use of medical and pharmaceutical students. With an essay on the reading of Latin prescriptions, and reference vocabulary (enlarged). By Joseph Ince, F.C.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., Associate of Kings College, London; lecturer in pharmacy to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, etc. Sixth edition. London: Baillière, Tindall, & Cox, 20 King William street, Strand, 1894. In England and Scotland, where Latin forms an important subject of both the Preliminary and Minor examinations of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, Ince's widely known compendium enjoys a well deserved popularity. In point of practical usefulness as determined by the space given to Latin prescriptions and medical formulas it is not approached by any work of a similar kind. It is a work which we think might be inIcluded with advantage among the text books of American colleges of pharmacy as it contains just the explanations of the grammatical construction and descriptive character of the Latin language which stu dents of pharmacy need most. The vo

cabulary of the technical phrases with which the volume closes is remarkably full and will in itself prove of great value to students. We are enabled to present this notice of the work through the court. esy of the author, who, however, needs no introduction to American pharmacists, as his reputation as a teacher and author is widespread and not confined to Great Britain alone.

A CLASS COMPEND OF PHARMACEUTIC BOTANY, embracing an elementary treatise on the structural, morphologic, microscopic, physiologic and systematic department of botany, designed especially for students of pharmacy and pharmacists. By David M. R. Culbreth, Ph.G., M.D., Professor of Botany, Materia Medica and Microscopy in the Maryland College of Pharmacy, with a synopsis of the natural order that include the vegetable drugs of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, 1890. Il'ustrated. Baltimore, 1893 Published by the author.

The author both by education and experience is well fitted for the task which he has undertaken, and in the practical nature of the work and in its general scope the influence of his experience as a pharmacist is visible.

There is no doubt but that the volume will be of much value in aiding the pharmaceutical student to master a somewhat neglected portion of the curriculum.

THE PHYSICIAN'S WIFE; AND. THE THINGS THAT PERTAIN TO HER LIFE. By Ellen M. Firebaugh. With portrait of author and 44 photo-engravings of original sketches. In one crown octavo volume of 200 pages. Extra cloth, $1 25 net. Special limited edition, first 500 copies numbered, and printed in photo-gravure ink on extra fine enameled paper; bound in half leather and vellum cloth, $3 net. Philadelphia: The F. A. Davis Co., publishers, 1914 and 1916 Cherry

street.

This work is evidently intended as a companion volume to Cathell's "Book on the Physician Himself." The authoress, who writes in a pleasing and chatty strain, acknowledges having perused the latter with "great gusto,' and we are given to understand that she conceived the idea of enlarging a pamphlet to the dignity of a book from the example of the writer named She has made diligent search among the works of the ancient medical writers for references to the physician's wife," but from what we can gather has been most unsuccessful in her quest. The work will perhaps find favor with the wives of country doctors, to which, the authoress tells us, it relates especially, but it can in no sense be compared to the admirable work of Cathell, which has now reached a tenth edition, and is published from the same office.

THE MODERN CLIMATIC TREATMENT OF INVALIDS WITH PULMONARY CONSUMPTION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. By P. C. Remondino, M D., Member of the American Medical Association; American Public Health Association; ex-VicePresident California State Medical Society; Member of the State Board of Health of California; and President of the Board of Health of the City of San Diego, etc., etc. 12mo, paper, pp. 126; price 25 cents. [Physician's Leisure Library Series.] Geo. S. Davis, Publisher, Detroit, Mich. 1898.

Dr. Remondino is a charming writer and an authority of some repute on climatology; he has given the subject much thought, and his little work will repay a perusal by every one interested in the climatic treatment of tuberculosis of the lungs.

QUININE HISTORICALLY.-A paper read at the twelfth annual meeting of the Virginia Pharmaceutical Association, September 14. 1893, by Robert Brydon Danville, Va Reprinted from the proceedings of the Virginia Pharmaceutical Association.

This pamphlet contains 26 pages of interesting statistical and historical information pertaining to cinchona and the cinchona alkaloids with especial reference to quinine. Its compilation must have entailed unusual labor and necessitated considerable research, and the author will

receive the thanks of all interested for presenting in convenient form for reference so much information of value on so important a drug.

MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES, calen dar year 1892, by David T. Day, Chief of Division of Mining Statistics and Technology. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1893. This is the ninth volume of the series of reports issued under the same title begun in 1882. It contains much matter of in. terest and of great commercial importance. Among the most interesting of the papers contained in the volume is the report of George F. Kunz on precious stones. Seventh Annual Report of the Nebraska State Board of Examiners of the State Board of Pharmacy with abstract of State Pharmacy Register and Pharmacy Law, 1893. M. E. Schultz, secretary, Beatrice, Neb.

This contains a list of the registered pharmacists of the State and some interesting decisions of the Attorney-General on the Nebraska Pharmacy Law.

Books, etc. Received.

THE WILSON Tariff Bill as presented to the House of Representatives together with an alphabetical list showing proposed new duty. New York and Philadelphia: F. B. Vandergrift & Co. PROCEEDINGS OF THE TWELFTH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NEBRASKA STATE PHARMACEUTICAL AssoCIATION, held at Nebraska City, Nebraska, June 6-8, 1893.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA. Special Announcement of the College of Pharmacy of the Department of Medicine.

PROSPECTUS OF THE ST. LOUIS COLLEGE OF PHARMACY, Twenty-eighth Annual Session,

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICHIGAN STATE PHARMACEU

TICAL ASSOCIATION, held at St Clair Flats, June 19-22, 1893.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE MINNESOTA STATE PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION, at the ninth annual meeting held at Hotel St. Louis, Lake Minnetonka, June 13 and 14, 1893.

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE SEVENTH DECENNIAL REVISION OF THE PHARMACOPOEIA OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. By George M. Beringer, A.M., Ph.G. Reprinted from the American Journal of Pharmacy. Pp. 47.

LECTURES ON AUTO-INTOXICATION IN DISEASE, or SelfPOISONING OP the IndividuAL. By Ch. Bouchard, Professor of Pathology and Therapeutics, etc, Paris. Translated, with a Preface by Thomas Oliver, M. A., M. D., F. R. C. P., Professor of Physiology, University of Durham, etc. Phi'ade phia: F. A. Davis & Co., 1894. Pp. xvi, 302. [Price, $1.75.]

CATALOGUE DES PIÈCES D'ANATOMIE humaine. d'anatomie comparée at d'anatomie botanique, Mars. 894. Maison Emile Deyrelle Les Fils D'Emile Deyrolle, Naturalistes, Successures, Paris, 46, Rue du Bac (Téléphone). IMPORTANCE to the SURGEON OF A BACTERIOLOGICAL TRAINING. By Hunter Robb, M.D., Associate in Gynecology (Abstract of an article read before the Clinical Society of Baltimore, December 1. 1893). Reprint from the Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, No. 36, December, 1893.

MAINTENANCE OF AN ASEPTIC TECHNIQUE IN GYN coLOGICAL OPERATIONS OUTSIDE OF HOSPITALS. By Hunter Robb, M.D., Associate in Gynecology. Read before the Medico-Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland at Annapolis, November 22, 1893. Reprint from the Johns Hopkins Hospital Bulletin, No. 35, November, 1893.

A NEW SPIGOT ATTACHMENT TO FACILITATE ASFPSIS. By Hunter Robb, M D.. of Baltimore, Associate in Gynecology, Johns Hopkins University. Reprint from the Annals of Surgery, February, 1894.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYING ANESTHESIA IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF INTRA-PELVIC GYNACOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. Demonstrated by an analysis of 240 cases. By Hunter Robb, M.D., Associate in Gynecology, Johns Hopkins University. Reprint from the Johns Hopkins Hospital Reports, Vol. III, Nos. 7, 8, 9, Baltimore, Md. TWENTY-SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NEW YORK ORTHOPEDIC DISPENSARY AND HOSPITAL, 126 and 128 East 59th street, 1894.

SHALL THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE AND THE PRACTICE OF PHARMACY CONTINUE DISTINCT AND SEPARATE? Read in the Section on materia medica and pharmacy, at the Forty-fourth Annual Meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association. By J. M. Good, Ph.G., St. Louis, Mo.--Reprinted from The Journal of the American Medical Association, January 6, 1894.

Quiz Box.

This series of questions will be continued each week. The answers to each series of questions will appear in the issue for the third week following their publication. All of our readers are invited to compete for the prizes named below.

Replies must be in our hands within two weeks after the appearance of the questions. The names of all making an average of 75 per cent, will be published each week.

Address Editor Quiz Box, 37 College place, New York.

FIRST PRIZE.-A new Dispensatory, latest revised edition, will be awarded to the person who makes the highest general average of answers for the entire series of questions as published from March 22 to June 28, 1894.

SECOND PRIZE.-Copies of Harrop's " Mcnograph on Flavoring Extracts" will be awarded to the three persons who make the next highest general average for the entire series of questions.

THIRD PRIZE. A copy of Heebner's Manual of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Chemistry will be awarded to the person sending in the most satisfactory replies to any three sets of questions, but who does not win either of the other prizes.

FOURTH PRIZE. A copy of Lloyd's Elixirs" will be awarded to every person who sends in an answer to every one of the questions published in the series, making an average of 66 per cent.

Mineral Acids in Vinegar.-The Chemiker Zeitung recommends the following test. A cubic centimeter of the vinegar is placed in a capsule and one drop of an alcoholic solution of rosaniline hydrochloride (25 gr. fuch-in in 100 Cc. 90 per cent. alcohol) added. If the vinegar is pure the liquid will retain a reddish violet color; if mineral acids are present, even to the extent of one per cent., the liquid becomes dirty yellow. The characteristic color of fuchsin is again restored after neutralizing with alkali.

Phenocol. The melting point of the purified base in the hydrated condition is stated by Dr. Francesco Nicola to be 113° instead of 95°, as usually given, and the anhydrous base melts at 99.5. When phenocol is heated somewhat above its melting point, ammonia is given off, and the residue dissolved in water gives a fine red violet color when a few drops of ferric chloride solution are added. The hydrochloride, which has hitherto been de scribed as anhydrous, crystallizes with one molecule of water. Nicola confirms Fischer's statement that phenocol dissolved in 20 parts of water at 15°.5 to 16°. The salt melts with partial decomposition at 254° beginning to cake together at 200°, and becoming slightly brown at 230°. The residue after melting, dissolved in water, and mixed with a drop of ferric chloride solution, gives an intense reddish violet color, which is considered by Nicola to be a useful means of identification(Annali di Chimica e di Farmacologia).

Business.

Under this head will be conducted a department on the promotion of the business interests of the retail druggists in all their aspects, including that of advertising.

Our readers are invited to offer suggestions, to submit specimens of advertisements and to send inquiries on any points in which they are interested.

Written for the

American Druggist and Pharmaceutical Record. How to Advertise.

BY B. O. KYSETH,

Of Kyseth & Tolleson, Lansing, Mich. This is a question which is of greater importance to the druggists than a great many seem to think it is. Some

CUT

ALL TO PIECES.

That's what's the matter with prices at our store. Times are hard, we want to keep busy, therefore we will clear out all our fancy goods stock at-well, we don't want to sell them at a loss, but some of them will have to go at less than cost.

We don't keep old goods-we sell them before they get old. We don't keep old drugs. If we can't sell them fresh we burn them up or throw them away.

That's why our store is popular. Fresh goods, fresh drugs, all of the best quality.

Z. Taylor Clark.

BAYONNE, N. J.

say, advertise through the local papers, while others seem to think that show bills, dodgers, etc., are the best.

or

When we pick up our newspapers we find sometimes whole pages devoted to some clothing or dry goods firms' advertisement, or to that of some patent medicine house, lauding their sarsaparilla or nervine, but we fail to find any retail druggist's advertisement, if there is any it is in some out of the way place, or in such a shape that it would not attract attention. Without doubt, the best way to reach the public at large is through newspaper advertising. Newspapers are to be found in nearly every house in this country and when we advertise in them our advertisement is spread far and wide throughout the land.

The large dry goods firms claim that it pays to use printers' ink;

why should it not pay for the retail druggists as well, if it's used in the right way. I believe the greatest trouble with many of us druggists has been that we did not know how or else did not try to advertise our business to advantage and in a profitable way, and have therefore thought that what we paid out for advertising was just so much money thrown away.

66

I thought that way myself until I found that I was entirely mistaken. I find (especially among the country druggists) in many places, that when they have an advertisement in the local paper, which will read something like this: 'John Jones & Co., dealers in drugs, medicines, paints, oils, brushes, stationery, wallpaper, druggists' sundries, perfumes, putty, glass, etc," and then it's left in that shape until John Jones & Co. retire from business, or fail. Now, I believe that kind of advertising is just about that much money wasted. The people will probably read it once, and that is all. They get tired of looking at it.

I have been reading the "tips on advertising" in THE AMERICAN DRUGGIST AND PHARMACEUTICAL RECORD and can say for myself. that it has been the most profitable knowledge that I have ever gained from any drug journal.

When I found the way that other druggists advertised their business, I began to think that I did not know anything about how to advertise, but I at once began to give that part of my business more attention. We pay a certain amount for a space in our local paper, and have the privilege of changing it every week if we wish to do so. I don't believe in running an "ad" in the paper more than once or twice without changing it, and I always put it in such a shape that the readers' attention will be called to it at a glance. I put in some attractive head line and after his attention is called to it the reader will, in most instances,read the whole advertisement, if it is gotten up in a business like form.

We don't try to advertise everything we keep in the store at once, but take one line at a time, and advertise it only in its season. When it is the season for cough medicines we advertise them, and when it is the season for cholera remedies we give them a push. We have a specialty in the cough syrup line (Dr. Moore's Arabian honey) which we always make a point to bring into our "ad" during the cough syrup season, and we have found that it pays to do so,as we have sold more of this cough syrup alone than of all the other cough medicines we handle put together, and I can't see any other reason for it than because we have advertised it and pushed it in its season.

I believe in druggists putting up a few

of their own specialties to push at the different seasons of the year.

In the prescription department the greatest advertisement we can make is the neatness and accuracy of our work, and which gain the confidence of the people. I would never cut on the prices of prescriptions, because if I did the people and the doctors would then think that I was using poor and inferior drugs in the compounding of prescriptions, and in place of gaining trade I would lose it.

I always impress upon the minds of our customers that the best of drugs are none too good for our prescription case; that this is the only kind of goods we use; that we positively will not use an inferior

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25252525252525252525252

quality of drugs, and that the price of a drug does not cut any figure with us when we buy our goods. It will sometimes do in other lines of business to handle cheaper grades of goods, but when a customer brings in a prescription to be filled he always wants the best of medicines that can be had, regardless of price. Prescriptions are something that the people at large don't know anything about, and when they go to a drug store to get it compounded they leave it entirely to the druggist's honesty and skill, and for that reason it is necessary that we gain the people's confidence.

A TEXAS IDEA.-From Printers' Ink.

It is sometimes a good idea to give a brief history of the medi189 cal properties, doses, etc., of one of our most commonly used drugs, also its different preparations with their doses, etc., and

then tell them it can be had at our store and that we guarantee absolute purity.

From an advertisement of this kind the people will gain the idea that you are well posted upon medicines, and as they read it for what knowledge they can gain from it they will look for your next "ad "

I do not take much stock in circulars, but sometimes the right kind of a "dodger" may do some good. We have one of which we have a supply laying on our counter (where we can reach it without much effort) which we inclose in every package that goes out of our store, and I believe it has done considerable good; besides they are a cheap way of advertising.

And after all this is done through the printer's ink I believe in keeping your store neat and clean, handle pure and reliable goods, be honest and truthful, wait upon the poor as politely as the rich, greet your customers with a pleasant look, and always attend to your own business.

"Well bought is half sold. Read the "trade notes" and market review every week.

We mentioned not long since a very simple form of bookkeeping as practiced by a New York pharmacist. This consisted in keeping a series of slips on one of which each customers' account was kept. These slips were arranged alphabetically and were destroyed as the accounts were paid. One of the readers writes us of a somewhat similar method pursued by a busy Brooklyn pharmacist. This gentleman has a slip of paper on his desk at the head of which the day of the month is written All charges are entered on this slip as they would be in a blotter. At night these entries are copied on strips of paper, there being a separate strip for each customer's account. These strips are then placed on ordinary wire bill files of which there are a sufficient number to allow of an alphabetical arrangement. When a bill is paid the slip is receipted and turned over to the customer.

Read the "trade notes" and the market review every week if you want to keep posted.

The following is a rather unusual "reader " run by a Bridgeport, Conn., druggist in his local paper:

The necessity of having a prescription compounded by a thoroughly competent person is being realized more and more every day. It might be a question of "life and death" when the prescription is in the hands of the druggist. Cyrus, the druggist, Fairfield avenue, foot of Courtland hill, has received diplomas of examination from Sweden, 1835, Massachusetts, 1888, New York, 1889, and Connecticut, 1893.

There are scores of business men who when told that the circulation of a trade paper is 3,000 to 4,000 are inclined to ridicule its claim as an advertising medium, not knowing that a single edition of a trade paper, having a circulation of 1,000 copies reaches more persons whom they wish to reach than the issue of a daily paper of 100,000 copies. Those who may be surprised at this statement and imagine that the figures are incorrect may easily convince themselves of their error by referring to the commercial agency reports. To reach the consumer of general merchandise the daily papers are a valuable medium; to reach those particularly interested in trade, the trade papers alone cover the field.-Journal of Building.

"Well bought is half sold." Read the "trade notes" and market review every week.

The Apothecaries' Guild of
Boston and Vicinity.

The foundation for this Guild was laid at the meeting of the Massachusetts Pharmaceutical Association, held at Springfield in 1892, when, after a discussion of the pros and cons of local organization $200 was appropriated for the purpose of forming local organizations throughout the state. The matter was intrusted to the charge of an efficient committee composed of Henry Canning, chairman, and William C. Durkee, Geo. W. Cobb, Fred. L. Carter, and W. F. Sawyer.

As a result of the deliberations of this committee it was decided to inaugurate the movement in Boston and this was accomplished by securing the services of a paid agent to canvass the trade. The results proved this step a wise one, for in nearly every instance the druggists called upon and found in signed the petition for

N. W. STYLES.

President of the Apothecaries' Guild of Boston and Vicinity.

a meeting for the purpose of organization. By this method over 200 signatures were secured, and then Mr. Canning issued a vigorous call, and the Guild became a certainty on January 30, 1893. The officers elected at that time were: N. W. Styles, president; C. P. Flynn, vicepresident; C. A. Bartlett, secretary, and Geo. W. Cobb, treasurer. Executive committee, S. A. D. Sheppard, W. C. Durkee, C. A. Charles, C. A. Miller, A. L. Wyman, H. S. Garcelon, G. W. Flynn, C. A. Brown and J. W. O'Mealy. Subsequently Secretary Bartlett resigned and F. W. Reeves of Cambridge was appointed to that arduous position.

With this single exception the officers above mentioned were re-elected at the annual meeting of January last.

Here is the preamble, constitution and by-laws which were adopted and under which the body has since acted.

PREAMBLE.

The members of this association declare its object to be the advancement of the mutual interests of its members.

CONSTITUTION.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION 1. This association shall be known as "Apothecaries Guild" of Boston and vicinity. SEC. 2. The officers of this association shall consist of a president, vice-president, secretary, treasurer, and ten directors, who shall constitute an executive committee.

SEC. 3. The secretary and treasurer shall make a report at each regular meeting.

SEC. 4. Any retail druggist recommended by the executive committee may become a member of this association by the payment of $2 and signing the constitution and by-laws.

SEC. 5. Any amendment of the constitution or by-laws shall be put in writing and remain on the table until the next regular meeting; a vote of twothirds of the members present shall be necessary for its adoption.

BY-LAWS.

ARTICLE I.

SECTION 1. The regular meetings of this association shall be held on the first Thursday of each month at 2.30 P.M. Special meetings may be called by the president and secretary, and shall be called on the written request of ten members.

SEC. 2. Ten members shall constitute a quorum. SEC. 3. All questions of parliamentary law shall be decided according to Cushing's Manual.

ARTICLE 11.

SECTION 1. The regular meeting in January shall constitute the annual meeting for the election of officers.

SEC. 2. The officers of this association shall be elected by ballot. At the regular meeting in December a nominating committee composed of five members shall be chosen by the house, they to report at the annual meeting in January.

Volunteer canvassers immediately came forward, and they were divided into districts, and in this way many more sig. natures were secured, until now the Guild has the magnificent membership of 331. Its membership, as its name suggests, is not confined to Boston, and druggists from Cambridge, Somerville and Malden are included in its ranks. Money is a prime necessity in organization of this character, and the rule has held good in the present instance. A dollar of every two received has been forwarded to the officials of the Interstate League for membership in that body, and the affairs of the home organization have, of course, entailed an expenditure of cash.

As soon as the Guild assumed definite shape druggists in other sections of Massachusetts and other States became interested in the movement, and as a result of many inquiries Mr. Canning and the officers of the Boston organization soon found themselves in receipt of a voluminous correspondence. Messrs. Canning, Cobb and others were also importuned to visit different cities to further local organization. This has been done as far as practicable, but at great personal sacrifice to the Boston men, and as a result we find flourishing organizations in Lowell, Worcester County, Springfield and Rhode Island, and in consequence of seed previously sown other eastern cities are ripe for harvesting.

Secretary Reeves has just finished an important canvass, during which he visited about twenty towns in the vicinity of Boston and called upon 440 retail druggists; of this number only 15 refused to subscribe to the League plan which was adopted at the New York meeting.

C. A. Charles of Malden has just organized Brockton, and the signers from the latter city have forwarded their membership money to the League officers. Mr. Charles has also visited Salem and Lynn in the interests of the League. President Styles of the Guild, William C. Durkee and many others have done yeoman service in the interest of organization. These gentlemen have all generously contributed their time and money to this praiseworthy effort. In Secretary Reeves' case, for example, a great amount of labor was involved in his canvass, and how well he accomplished his purpose is shown by the

result. That the Guild disbelieves in shading its light under the proverbial bushel is seen in its action in sending Mr. Canning to Chicago to attend the Interstate League meeting. It has also sent delegates to New York to organize that city, and it was represented by three delegates at the Feb. 6 meeting held in this city. Messrs. Canning and Cobb stopped at New Haven, on their returning from New York, to attend the meeting of the Connecticut Pharmaceutical Association, and as a result of their efforts, that association voted the sum of $200 for the purpose of organizing that State.

In Rhode Island there is but one organization, the "Mortar and Pestle Club," and its formation was partly due to an ingenious scheme which at present is being elaborated upon in other sections. It was accomplished by invoking the aid of the drummer, who, if anyone, is always in touch with the retailers, and Irving W. Smith, representing George L. Claflin & Co. of Providence, was the man who did this work most creditably.

President Canning recognizes the influence of the drummer and is endeavoring to perfect arrangements whereby the trade may be largely organized with this basis. What Mr. Smith accomplished in Rhode Island, other traveling men can bring about in other States, and, as our New England wholesalers are heartily supporting this idea, it seems to be an assured certainty in this section.

In pursuance of this plan, President Canning of the Interstate League has had a large number of blanks for obtaining signatures prepared which he proposes to send to every State in the Union; they are not for the exclusive use of drummers, however. The first is a petition for a local organization the is as follows:

We, the undersigned apothecaries, favor the formation of an association of retail apothecaries, for this city or county, to form a branch of the Interstate Retail Druggists' League, and will do what we can to make it a success.

The following blank is to be signed with the above, and forwarded to President Canning:

We, the undersigned apothecaries, believing the League plan is a practical method for the maintenance of fair and legitimate prices, hereby petition the makers of proprietary goods to adopt that method of selling their preparations, and we agree not to sell directly or indirectly, products, the makers of which agree to adopt the League plan, at less than the prices recommended by the "Apothecaries' Association" of this vicinity.

In brief, the League plan requests proprietors to sell their goods to the jobbing drug trade only, requiring the jobbers to sell to retailers at uniform prices, regardless of quantity.

This agreement to take effect when 80 per cent. of the retail apothecaries of this vicinity have signed this agreement, and adopted a schedule of prices.

EXTRACT FROM DETAILS OF LEAGUE PLAN.

We, manufacturers, desire to have retail dealers fully protected in obtaining the regular prices, and ali selling agents will refuse to supply all recognized and voluntary cutters of prices of any proprietary articles, whether wholesale or retail dealers.

Furthermore, whenever the retail trade of any city, town or county, have organized a league or Association, embracing 80 per cent. of such dealers located in such city, town or county, and have establisded a schedule at which proprietary articles shall be sold by its members, and such facts shall be reported to you, either by such organization or by the undersigned, then you shall not supply our goods to any dealer in such city, town or county, who sells proprietary articles in violation of such schedule so established, except at full retail prices.

Before closing, mention should be made of the self-sacrificing work which is being given to this movement by our eastern men. Some of the principal workers, both in the League and in the Guild, would be least benefited by the success of this effort, as the personal business of those alluded to is confined, more particularly, to other lines than the handling of patents.

"Well bought is half sold.' Read the "trade notes" and market review every week

Boston.

Isaac E. Emerson.

The subject of this sketch, whose picture above will be readily recognized by a large number of very warm friends, is Mr. Isaac E. Emerson, president of the Emerson Drug Company, Baltimore, Md., the proprietors of Bromo-Seltzer, who was born at Chapel Hill, N. C., in 1855. He was educated at the University of North Carolina and after his graduation he acted as assistant demonstrator in the chemical laboratory of his college for two years. Then came to Baltimore, where he entered upon his career as a retail druggist and his practical experience in this line led him to the compounding of the celebrated remedy referred to.

While Mr. Emerson gives the strict attention of a shrewd and energetic man to his affairs he finds time for diversion from the stress as a member of the Athenæum and Pimlico driving clubs. He is also the owner of a four-in-hand tally-ho and of the gunning yacht "Susquehanna," anchored near Havre de Grace in; the vicinity of the Maryland ducking shores, where he frequently entertains his friends.

Mr. Emerson is known among his associates as a liberal minded, open-handed good fellow, and in all his social relations in the city of his success his acquaintance is sought after and his friendship highly valued. [For this sketch and illustration we are indebted to The Club.]

treasurers of local bodies, county executhe Interstate League. tive officers and the executive officers of

Among those present were: Albert O. Hull, Central Falls, R. I.; E. K. Gridley, Pawtucket, R. I.; James Duggan, Norwich, Conn., and G. F. Soule, Manchester,

N. H. Massachusetts pharmacists noticed
were: James H. Manning, Pittsreld;
Thomas B. Nichols, Salem; G. C. Brock;
Lowell; J. Allen Rice, Milford; A. R.
Bayley and F. W. Reeves, Cambridge,
H. S. Garcelon, Somerville; G. W. Cobb,
Newton; and N. W. Styles, C. P. Flynn,
Reuben L. Richardson, Fred L. Carter
and John W. O'Mealey, all of Boston.

Secretary F. W. Reeves of the Apothecaries' Guild of Boston and vicinity has been doing some missionary work in Cambridge and Somerville, and as a result has secured the signature of every druggist in these cities to the plan of the Interstate League. A meeting of these signers was held in Raymond Hall, Cambridgeport, on the afternoon of March 15, at which an organization was completed to be known as the Cambridge and Somerville Druggists' Association. Following a collation a business meeting was held, at which the following officers were elected:

President, Dr. A. R. Bayley, Cambridge; vice-president, Charles H. Crane, Somerville; treasurer, W. R. Achison, Cambridge; secretary, Fred. W. Reeves, Cambridge; directors, Messrs. J. H. Hubbard, George H. Cowdin, Albert E. Lynch, E. H. La Pierre and H. S. Garcelon.

A committee on by-laws and schedule of prices was appointed. It is expected that the prices will be as follows: 85 cents for $1 articles and full prices for 50 and 25 cent goods, with possibly a few exceptions.

A social gathering of the members of the Alumni Association of the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy with lady friends took place at the college building on the evening of March 13. The evening was passed in social conversation and in listening to a musical entertainment, which had been provided by the officers of the association. Music was furnished by "Caswell's Pharmaceutical Orchestra, and there was singing by Miss Alice Clark and Mrs. and Miss Denton of Wellesley. President Tailby has completed arrangements for another meeting of the A. A. for March 28, when the Rev. Mr. Benner, of Wellesley will deliver a lecture upon the Yellowstone National Park, which will be illustrated by stereopticon views.

Charles H Bassett, Ph. G., 169 Tremont street, doing business under the name of Joseph T. Brown & Co., is financially embarrassed. Emery Grover has been appointed assignee and at a recent meeting of the creditors he gave out a statement showing the debts to be $18,571.21, and the assets were estimated at $13,352.73. No offer was made at this meeting, and Mr. Bassett was given time to make one.

are

A movement is in progress which will soon crystallize in the formation of an association of Berkshire County, Mass., druggists. Haverhill pharmacists becoming interested in local organization. Geo. W. Cobb has visited Pittsfield and Haverhill recently and he is largely instrumental in interesting the craft these cities in the league movement.

New York.

in

The engagement is announced of Geo. B. Luks, the well known artist of Truth, to Miss Vorrath, and Mr. Luks is receiving the congratulations of his many friends in the drug trade, where he is deservedly popular. Mr. Luks is a son of E. C. Luks, the pharmacist of Royersford, Pa., and received his training in early life as a pharmacist in his father's store. His artistic inclinations were so marked, however, that he was sent abroad to study art and his brilliant success as an artist and illustrator shows this to have been a wise