The Vinita weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1905, 1903-10-08
HUMoR OF THE PHARMACY
There Is oftentimes Comedy in Or
dering Prescriptions and Some
Tragic sequels.


From funny to serious and from
merely troublesome TO dangerous are
the mistakes made In asking for drugs
lndedniteness Of statement. careless
ness In giving the order. total ignor-
ancs Of what is wanted. inaccuracy in
medical terms. sending OF children.
sending written orders with all de-
grees of misspelling, misconception of
terms, oftentlmes reluctance TO admit
what the purchase is for. are Of such
common occurrence that nine out OF
every ten orders. according 10 a prom
inent pharmacist. have to be supple
mented or corrected, or revised, OF
guessed at. says the Chicago Tribune.
In collection OF written orders.
chiefly marked by illiteracy. something
evidently intended for an EFFORT at pre-
scriptlon form and abbreyiation was
often followed For instance. liquid
ammonia was written L. quid am
monia. Mercurial salve was given az
Merry corrali Sal Certain drugs we're
also particularly prominent as STUN
bling blocks Corrosive sublimate was
rendered In many ways. among them
kerosins sublime and corrosive suple-
ment EPSON salts was Ibsom salt and
Espen's saltz
Eloquent OF tootache. ls not correct.
was "P--'s thoot wacks." while
equally suggestive OF the meaning In
tended we're "HelItrup clone. absorb
Inc cotton" "a bellows to inject bed
bug powder "Brudder Sehmldts
drops" and please send me some salts
to take" Less easy to interpret was
fall azorth." the meaning to which the
druggist finally found by repeating II
fast. which gives the key An attempt
was made at ipecac and boracic acid.
which read "Apeleaet" and "boreeet
asset"
OF the mistakes generally made IN
asking for drugs, the confusion OF
powdered licoriee" with compound
licorlee powder Is Of frequent occur
renee Two mixtures with different
uses. naphtholine and ehloro naphtho-
lsum are almost invariably requested
AZ something resembling naDhtha"
The yaguest idea Of solution also
prevails. and requests for clear horaclc
acid. when investigated. are often
made with a view 10 use as an eye
wash. Indehniteness oftentImes has no
more serious consequences than hav-
ing TO refill the order by the clerk who
usglects the precautionary questions
Linseed and haxseed meal. as dlstIn-
guished from llnseed and haxsssd. are
rarely specified until the package has
been taken home. while the commonest
Of all purchasers Is the yoeng lady who
asks when paying for her giyoerln. "of
course you put roae water into II
didn't your"
Empty capsules are oftenest request.
ed as two grain qulnine capsules"
The vague request for chocolate tab.
lets. Of which there are over 800 kinds.
some Of them poisonous. Il also a fire.
quent order than can b. alled only Al
the discretion OF the druggist.
The mistakes most guarded against
are those growing out OF the customer
attempting to give the medical form.
"BichloFide Of mercury" ls a frequent
mistake made by those intending to
ask for calomel or chloride Of mer-
curry" mistake not without dangers
as the largest dose ever given Of tho
former IL one.half grain. Another
powerful medicine was sold recently ss
hair wash BY a customer asking
for "blearbonate" instead Of car
Donate Of potash" Chlorate Of zoe
ash, one of the commoaesi ii bgr.
ehases. is seldom asked for correctly.
though the mistake IL LEES likely n DO
harm, as the bIehlorIdes ard chlorides
generally substituted are chemiesly
rather than drugs