The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1883-04-11
A Little Latin.

An EFFORT ~ DelnB Illtto W ihu"uo w"
tors to stop writing their prescriptions III
Latin and use United States language.
So many inonensive sick people have
been killed by druggist putting up |
lobciia and other dangerous drugs. III
place Of some mild and gentle pllrgative,
which the system requires ut this time oil
year, on the Latin prescription OF aphys-
ician that society ut the East threaten
to take the law into their own hands ana
put u stop to it. Asa usual thing the
physician vino graduates with high hon
ors at some high toned morGuc, does not
know ANY more about the common Eng
fish branches Than is good for him, and
his handwriting is the mcrest goose
tracks, sort OF dcliriun trcmeps on pa
per. Now, when you come to put sncll
writing us that into Latin, to be read by
n sleepy prescription clerk who has been
routed ont of bed mt midnight IN ms
shirt sleeves, there can only bo one result
The patient will Inc worse the next day.
A sleepy drug clerk is only human. and
when hc strikes one of those ingredlcntsl III
the prescription where II tells him 10 put
! III tmcc saw-iccth OF pOdOphyNUR. and
the word looks more like pcnnyroyal
than il docs like poiophyltnW, and
more like peppermint than like either
one Of them. he is liable to trust good
deal to luck and PIT in that which Is the
least injurious. No drug c4srk cares to
lose good position Wy not being able to
read a stroke Of lightning, and the result
is he puts up something, and then
charges enough more To make up Tor
what he doesn't know. There are forty
nine millions Of people i'll this country,
whose lives to n greater or less extent
rest on prescription clerks, and the east
crn society who have flung their banner
TO the breeze and sounded the death 81
the dead languages will he cmbalmed II
the hearts of grateful postcrity. The!
arc doing noble work. Dead language
are all well enough for dead people, bl
they are eminently ont OF place III I'm
age of animated things. OF course tn
Topping off Of the cXcrcsccnce Will brlil
doctors down to level with ordlnar,
mortals, and they will have to take theI
chances. II may he claimed by the doc
tors that they will he unable TO comman
the respect and confidence Of the CON
munity, if their remedies and things ar
not locked up in Latin. We Will SUI
pose that man has eaten n hearty mei
Of arsenic, and he begins to feel dlStreS
nj the stomach. \ doctor Is sent for an
he comes and prcscrihcs. a few mn
utcs later another doctor comes (whcn
man has been poisoned every dOc,I
E within ten miles IN sent ior). The la
doctor asks the first one what he III
" given the man, and the first doctor al
:, swers that he las prescribed "hJdrdte
. s1Squi-oridc GcI2Um." The secol
3 studies n moment, with his finger to h
forehead, aud says he approves OF u
!, remedy, and the friends of the patiel
u feel that he would he a fool if he didn
! rs the name is nearly two inches lon
/ Wei. the hycirdicd ScSq"i-oridc Of II
Il ram is nothing hut iron rust, such as c
y he scrapcd OF of old nails, hut ii the dc
:, tor had told his brother professional Il
u he was giving the patient iron rust, n
~ the other physician had approved OF
), the probability il that the paticn
NJ friends would have bounced both doct
~ and sent for one that knew spmcthli
II Doctors have everything to contc
II, against, not only the ignorance OF tn
lu patients and the patients friends,
nS their own us we'll IL is estimated Il
" two.thirls of college course IL dcyo
NC to learning the liatinnamcs and apply
s. them. and the other third TO the stud,
no how 10 cure people, The percentage
''t too great, but physician must INK
an stand all the technical terms, rs he IL
ro' bic 10 be called as witness III CO
sometime and il he should use any I,
no that the jury could understand Il
W. il no telling what the conScqnel
hG might be. -Pcck'S MiwdULcC Sun.
ID. '"Io ~