Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1904-10-05
PHARMAcY's HuMoR.
Comedy in Ordering Prescriptions, but
sometimes the Sequel Is Tragic.

Comedy in Ordering Prescriptions, but
sometimes the Sequel Is Tragic.
FROM funny to serious and from
merely troublesome to dangerous are
the mistakes made in asking for drugs.
Indehniteness of statement. careless-
hess in giving the order. total ignor-
ance CT what is wanted, inaecuracr in
medical terms. sending Of children.
sendinS of written orders with an de-
srees of mlsspelling, Instrumentation of
terms, ortentimes reluctance TO admit
what the purchase is for. nee of sncb
common occurrence that nine ont of
every ten orders. according 10 i pro'niA
Lent pharmacist. have 20 be snpD'e-
mented or corrected, or revised or
guessed at.
In Il collection of written orders.
chiefly marked by illiteracy. something
evidently intended for an effort ut pre-
scription form and abbreviation was
often followed. For instance. LIQUID
ammonia was written L. quid ammo
MIA. Mercurial salye was given as
Merry Corrali Sal Certain drugs were
also particularly prominent as STUN
bling blocks. Corrosive sublimate was
rendered in many ways, among them
KEROSENE sublime and corrosive supple
ment. EPSON salts was Ibsom salt
and Espen's saltZ.
Eloquent of toothache, if not cor
rect was P-'s thoot wacks." while
equally suggestive of the meaning in
tended We're "Helitrup clone" ''abso-
bine cotton," IA bellows TO inject bed
bug powder 'Brudder Schmidts
Drops and please send some salts to
take" Less easy to interpret was
fall aZorth,' the meaning to which
the druggist finally found by repeat
ing it fast. which gives the key. An
attempt was made Mt ipecac and bora
cic acid, which read: "Apelcact" and
'bOrecet asset"
OF the mistakes generally made in
asking for drugs, the co-fusion Of
powdered licorice" wita compound
licorice powder is of frequent occur
renee. Two mixtures with different
uses, naphthOline and chloro naphtho-
leum are almost invariably requested
as something resembling naphtha."
The vaguest idea of solution also
prevails. and requests for clear boracic
acid, when Investigated. are often
made with q view TO use as an eye
wash. Indefiniteness oftentimes has
no more serious consequences than
having to refill the order by the clerk
who neglects the precautionary ques-
I OS,
distinguished from linseed and flax
seed are rarely specified until the
package has been taken home. while
the commonest of all purchasers is the
young lady who asks, when paying for
her glycerin. ''Of course You put rose
water into it, didn't you:"
Empty capsules are oftenest request
ed as two grain quinine capsules"
The vague request for chocolate tab
lets, of which there are over 500 kinds,
some of them poisonous is also fire.
quent order that can be filled only at
the discretion of the druggist
The mistakes most guarded against
are those growing out of the customer
attempting to give the medical form.
"BichIoride of mercury is Il frequent
mistake made by those intending to
ask for calomel or chloride of mer-
curry" a mistake not without dangers.
as the largest dose ever given of the
former is one-half grain. Another
powerful medicine was sold recently
as a hair wash by customer asking
for "bicarbonate'' instead of carbon
ate of potash" Chlorate of potash.
one of the commonest of purchases. is
seldom asked for correctly, though the
mistake is less likely to do harm, as
the bichlorides and chloridcs general
w substituted are chemicals rather
than drugs.