The art of dispensing : a treatise on the methods and processes involved in compounding medical prescriptions.

Date:
1888
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The art of dispensing : a treatise on the methods and processes involved in compounding medical prescriptions. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of round labels, one of which shows the utility of the type- writer :— The foregoing examples show several styles of handwriting. The ability to write neatly is a very important requisite for the dispenser. Bad penmanship is too easily accepted as a sort of natural defect, and a good many people even pride themselves on it. Some perseverance, however, is all that is necessary to make a bad writer into a good one, and the youth who will not take the trouble to cultivate that first branch of his art had better abandon any thought of fitting himself to become a dispenser of medicines. Labels should always be neatly trimmed by carefully cutting off with a pair of scissors the surplus paper at the margin. Many pharmacists omit to do this, although it adds greatly to the ' finish ' and elegant appearance. The rare, but not unknown, practice of placing a fresh label over an old one to save the trouble of removing it should on no account be permitted. Apart from the slovenliness, such a habit may produce mistakes from the accidental removal of the top label and exposure of another unlike in nature or dose. It is often advisable to re-label. The old label can be quickly removed by damping with water and holding it over the gas flame or before the fire for a few seconds. This softens the mucilage, and the label may be removed with ease. * Poison,' ' Shake the bottle,' and other adventitious labels are best placed at the shoulder of the bottle. If placed at the