The Vinita weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1905, 1904-08-25
HuMoR OF THE PHARMACY
There IL oftentimes Comedy in Or
dering Prescriptions and Some
Tragic ssquelA

From funny to serious and from
merely troublesome to dangerous are
the mistakes made In asking for drugs.
Indefniteness OF statement. careless
ness In giving the order, total ignor-
ance OF what Is wanted. inaeeuracy In
medical terms. sending Of children,
sending written orders with aA de-
gress Of mIsspelling. misconception OF
terms. oftentimes reluctance 10 admit
what the purchase IL for. are OF such
common occurrence that nine out OF
every ten orders. according 10 q prom
inent pharmacist, have to be supple
mented or corrected. or revised, or
guessed at. says the Chicago Tribune.
In a collection OF written orders
chiefly marked by iiiiteracy. something
evidently intended for IN effort at pre-
scEiption form and abbreviation was
often followed. Fer instance. liquid
ammonia was written l. Quid am
monIa. Mercurial salve was given as
Merry Corrali Sal. Certain drugs were
also particularly prominent as STUN
bling blocks. Corrosive subllmate was
rendered In many ways. among them
keroslne sublime and corrosive suple-
ment EPSON salts was Ibsom salt and
Espen's saltz.
Eloquent OF tootache. is not correct,
vas "P--------'s thoot wacks." while
equally suggestive Of the meaning in-
tended we're "Heliirup clone. absorb
Inc cotton" "a bellows 20 inject bed
bug powder" "Brudder schmidt's
drops" and please send me some salts
to take" Less easy 10 interpret was
fall azorth," the meaning to which the
druggist finally found by repeating e
fast. which gives the key. An attempt
was made at ipeeae and boraeie acid.
which read "Apelcact" and "borecet
asset"
or the mistakes generally made in
asking for drugs the confusion Oi
powdered lieorice" with compound
llcorlce 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 a solution also
pyeYails. and .Esanests for clear horaole
acid when investigated. are often
made with a view TO Use as an eye
wash indedniteness oftentimes has no
more serious consequences than hay-
ing TO refill the order by the clerk who
eglects the precautionary questions
Linseed and fiaxseed meal. as distia-
.ulshed from linseed and faxseed. are
-arely specified until the package has
been taken home. while the eommonest
= al purchasers ls the young LADY who
ll.s when paving for ser gIycerln. "of
Nurse You put rose wafer into A.
didn't youf''
Empty capsules are oftsnest request
ed az tive grain quinine capsules
The Tagne Request for chocolate tab.
lets. OF which there are over 800 kinds
some Of them poisonous. h also fire.
quent order than can BE- hlied 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.
"Biehloride OF mercury" II q frequent
mistake made By those intending to
ash for ealomel or chloride Of msr-
eury. a mistake not without dangers.
As the largest dose ever given Of the
former il one-half grain. Another
powerful medicine was sold recently az
3 hair vash hy 3 customer asking
for "biearbonate" instead OF "car
Donate Of potash" Chlorate OF POI.
ash. one Of the eommonest Of pur-
ehases. l. seldom asked for correctly
though the mistake is less likely 10 do
harm. ~ the bichlorides and chlorldea
generally substituted are chemicals
rather than drugs