1. The druggist is a wholesale dealer in drugs, which, in commerce,
embrace not only articles used or recommended by the medical
profession, but also spices, dye-stuffs, and paints. The commodities
of his trade are obtained from almost every quarter of the globe; but
especially from the countries bordering upon the Mediterranean Sea,
and from the East Indies and Spanish America.
2. The chemist looks to the druggist for most of the materials
employed in his laboratory; and from him the apothecary, physician,
and country merchant, obtain their chief supply of medicines. There
are, however, but few persons in the United States, who confine
themselves exclusively to this branch of business; for most of the
druggists are also apothecaries, and sometimes operative or
manufacturing chemists.
3. Medicinals, when they come into the warehouse of the druggist, are
usually in a crude state; and many, or most of them, must necessarily
undergo a variety of changes, of a chemical or mechanical nature,
before they can be applied in practice. The art by which these changes
are effected is called Pharmacy, or Pharmaceutics; and the books which
treat of pharmaceutical operations are denominated Pharmacopoeias, or
Dispensatories.
4. The operations of Pharmacy, which depend upon chemical principles,
are conducted chiefly by the operative chemist; but those which
consist merely in mechanical reduction, or in mixing together
different ingredients, to form compounds, belong properly to the
vocation of the apothecary.
5. The apothecary sells medicines in small quantities, prepared for
application. Many of the standing compound preparations which have
been authorized by the Pharmacopoeias, and which are in regular
demand, he keeps ready prepared; but a great proportion of his
business consists in compounding and putting up the prescriptions of
the physician, as they are needed by the patient.
6. In country places, where there are generally no apothecary-shops,
the physicians compound and prepare their own prescriptions; but in
cities, where these establishments are numerous, the medical
profession prefer to rid themselves of this trouble. In most cases,
however, they keep by them a few remedies, which can be applied in
cases of emergency.
7. In Great Britain, the apothecary is permitted to attend sick
persons, and administer medicines either according to his own
judgment, or in conformity with the directions of the physician. He
is, therefore, a physician of an inferior order; and, as his fees are
more moderate than those of the regular profession, his practice is
extensive among persons who, from necessity or inclination, are
induced to study economy.
8. The apothecaries in England, Scotland, and Ireland, are obliged to
make up their standing medicines according to the formulas of the
Dispensatories adopted in their respective countries; and their shops
are subject to the visitation of censors, who have authority to
destroy those medicines which they may consider unfit for use; so that
unwholesome or inefficient remedies be not imposed upon the sick. The
apothecaries' halls, in France, are also under the supervision of the
medical faculty.
9. In the United States, there is no censorship of this kind
established by the public authorities; yet the physicians are careful
to recommend apothecaries, in whom they have confidence, to prepare
their prescriptions. The professors in our medical schools are, also,
particular in naming to their students those druggists whom they
consider men of honor; and omit, at least, to name those who have been
detected in selling adulterated medicines.
10. We have, also, an incorporated college of pharmacy both in
New-York and Philadelphia, and in each of these, chemical and
pharmaceutical lectures are delivered by regular professors. These
institutions, although of recent origin, have exerted an important
influence in reforming and preventing abuses in the preparation of
medicines; and public opinion, especially in the cities, is beginning
to render it important for students in pharmacy to obtain a degree
from one of these colleges. Under the auspices of the institution at
Philadelphia, is published a quarterly journal, devoted to
pharmaceutical science.
11. A Pharmacopoeia for the United States was formed at Washington, in
1820, by a delegation of physicians from the principal medical
societies of the Union. A revision of this work is expected to be
made every ten years. Dispensatories, as they exist in this country,
are founded upon the Pharmacopoeias, and may be properly considered
commentaries upon them, since the former contain the whole of the
latter, together with more minute descriptions of the sensible and
real properties of the medicines, as well as their history and exact
mode of preparation.
[Illustration: The DENTIST.]