The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-11-17

You remember Sawyer, late Nocemorf.
in the Pickwick Papers. don't you, and
the rows Of empty drawers with their
gilt labels? Well, there are some OF
that sort, have no doubt, in this city.
Young men. fresh from the schools Of
pharmacy, want to start in life for them
selves. and most generally begin on 6
capital ludicrously disproportioned to
their wants. A drug store is not like
grocery. 1t needs finer and more elat'
crate fittings, and thus by the time the
young man has made his shop presenta-
BILE his money is SO nearly exhausted
that he can buy but little or no stock.
Then his temptations begin. He is deal
ing mostly with ignorant people, and
seeing how easily he can impose upon
them he does it persistently, and soon
becomes an adept in adulturatiOn and
substitution. Meanwhile, the honest
druggist in the same neighborhoOd
suffers. To put up good drugs he must
charge good prices. But he lives in
spite of his cheaper fellow-tradesman.
for somehow the people sooner or later
discover that he sells what they call
for. Then the ambitious, but cheap.
young druggist puts up his shutters and
decamps.
"Once in while one feels like taking
bottle of citrate of magnesia. and it is
a good thing if one buys it at the right
place. But it is not pleasant to know
that some of the druggists make it out
of EPSON salts, which can be bought for
a mere trife. The process is very
simple one. They dissolve the salts in
water, add little citric acid to give the
necessary sour taste. and throw in the
bicarbonate of potassium to produce
efferyescence. There you are! prime
article of citrate of magnesia; and l will
venture to say that this decOctiOn is
daily palmed off on the public by men
who would disdain to pick your pocket.
l don't know that there is any ire
mendous profit in this preparation, for
most of those who use it get it from
druggists of established reputation; but
am certain that it is quite extensively
made.
lone of the commonest and most
profitable of the tricks practiced by the
druggists is the manufacture of so-called
fruit sirups from acids. Vanilla you
will generally find pretty pure, for it is
hard to initiate, and raspberry, straw
berry, pineapple and lemon are also gen.
orally pure. although citr.c acid makes
a very good imitation of lemon strip.
Ginger is also genuine, possibly because
it is cheaper to use the root than to inn
itate its peculiar pungency. Orgeat and
nectar are two of the most popular
sirups, and yet it is safe to say that in
the majority of instances they are made.
not from the kernel of the bitter and
sweet almond, as they should be, but
from the oil of almond. which contains
a considerable infusion of prussic or
hydrOcyanic acid. l do not say these
sirups are highly injurious-in fact. do
not think they are-I only mention them
to show the ease with which flavors are
| initiated.
pineapple, banana, pear, apple,
strawberry and raspberry sirups can be
very readily made from the artificial
fruit essence, which is composed of a
combination of fusil-oil, sulphuric acids
and acetate of potash. By varying his
proportions, the clever manipulation
produces the sirup he requires, and so
skillful has he become that he can at
will give his strip the flavor of the ber-
gamot or jargonelle pear. the sweet
taste of the strawberry. or the slight and
peculiar acid of the pineapple. There
is, in fact, no end to his ingenuity.
"Digitalis, made from the foxglove,"
said an oculist, "is used as heart Sc
dative, but instead of making it by in
fusion of the leaves Of the plant, in
which the full power and freshness OF
the remedy are preserved, some drug
gists make it from the extract. This is
sometimes, however, the fault of the
patient, who dislikes to wait for the
hour or moro that the making of the in
fusion requires. When have to pre-
scribe podophyllin Ohe resin of the
May-apple), which is used as cathar-
tic as well as liver stimulant, always
write for an eighth of a grain if know
that the patient patronizes first-class
druggist. If, on the other hand,
know that he gets his drugs from q
druggist who is not strictly AL,
double the amount. The powder OF
podophyllin is less expensive than the
resin, and not so effective, and is often
substituted for it. Chlorine water,
which is largely used. should have a
strong odor, but it is often served with
out any odor at all. 1t should always
be fresh, and am careful in prescrib-
ing it to know who the druggist is
who puts it up. More than once
have prescribed boracic acid as an
astringent, but have found it to expand
the pupil like atropia. do not know
what was substituted for it in these
cases. 1 believe many druggists look
upon borax as a good substitute fol
boracic acid. Philadelphia Times"
AlfOns0's Halter Duke.