abbreviated word Rec. (Recipe, take thou,) usually commences every formula;* but in French prescriptions the letter P., or the word Prenez (take thou,) is generally substituted.

2. Designation of the ingredients to be employed (materiæ designatio.)-Two points are worthy of consideration here: firstly, the order in which the ingredients are to be taken; and secondly, the mode of writing them.

a. With respect to the order in which the ingredients are taken, it may be observed that

1. Each ingredient should have a distinct line. 2. The basis should be placed first, then the auxiliary, afterwards the corrective, and lastly the vehicle.

B. With respect to the mode of writing, the following points should be kept in view :

1. The writing should be plain and legible.

2. The orthography should be that which is customary, "to avoid the sneering of an apothecary or his man," (Gaubius.)

3. Abbreviations, though admissible, must be cautiously used, to avoid the possibility of

error.

4. Symbols or signs must be carefully made.
5. The ingredients should be designated by their
Latin names. (In some cases the barbarous

Latin name is to be preferred to the scientific

*For some remarks on this symbol, see the chapter on Symbols.

Latin name, when there is a possibility of mistake on the part of the compounder.)

6. The quantities indicated should be expressed in Troy weights* and imperial measures;

and the numbers should be stated in Roman numerals.

3. The directions to the compounder.-The directions to the apothecary or compounder as to the form, manner of preparation, and method of use, constitute what Gaubius calls the subscription (subscriptio.) They are always written in Latin; for example, “misce; fiat bolus."

4. The directions to the patient.-These constitute what Gaubius terms the signature (signatura.) This part of the prescription declares the dose, method, and time of administration; the proper vehicle, regimen, &c..as far, at least, as relates to the sick patient and his attendants. It is sometimes preceded by the letter S., or the word Signetur (i. e. "let it be entitled.")

This part of the prescription is sometimes written in English (see p. 20.)

5. The patient's name. This is always written in English.

6. The date.This is written in Latin. The day of the month is generally put in Roman numerals, and the year of the Christian era frequently in common or Arabic figures: e. g. "Novembris IV°. 1850."

7. The sign-manual or signature.-Physicians usually

In the Dublin Pharmacopoeia for 1850, avoirdupois weights are directed to be employed.

sign their initials* only to a prescription, except when they prescribe for members of the Royal Family, when it is etiquette for them to sign their names in full. Surgeons usually put their surname at length, but only the initials of their baptismal name.

CHAP. IV.-Language used IN PRESCRIPTIONS.

IN Great Britain, as well as in Germany,† prescriptions are usually written in the Latin language. In France, and some other countries, the mother tongue is employed.

There are several reasons for preferring the Latin to the vernacular language in prescriptions,-at least, for the designation of the ingredients to be employed, and for the directions to the compounder.

If not spoken, it is written and understood throughout the civilized world; and that cannot be said of any other language. An invalid travelling through many parts of Europe might die before a

By the Apothecaries' Act of 1815, it is enacted that if any person using or exercising the art and mystery of an apothecary shall refuse to compound, or deliberately or negligently, falsely, unfaithfully, fraudulently, or unduly make any medicines, compound medicines, or medicinable compositions "directed by any prescription, order, or receipt, signed with the initials, in his own hand-writing," of any physician licensed to practise physic by the president and commonalty of the faculty of physic in London, or by either of the two Universities of Oxford or Cambridge, such persons shall forfeit for the first offence £5, for the second offence £10, and for the third offence shall forfeit his certificate or license to practise as an apothecary!

See Phoebus's Handbuch der Arzneiverordnungslehre, 3tte verbess. Ausg. ler Th. S. 99.

prescription written in English could be interpreted."* Moreover, Latin professional terms are concise and definite. Furthermore, the Latin names for drugs and chemicals are the same, or nearly so, all over Europe; whereas the vernacular names differ for each nation,-nay, sometimes for each province. Lastly, it is sometimes necessary or advisable to conceal from a patient the precise nature of the remedies which are employed.

These reasons, however, do not equally apply to the use of the Latin language for writing the directions to the patient; for as these are intended for the use of the patient or his attendant, and as, sooner or later, he must have them in English, there does not appear any advantage to be gained in practising a temporary concealment by writing them in a dead language. On the contrary, there are several weighty objections to this practice, such as the embarrassment which some prescribers† feel in giving in good and intelligible Latin the requisite directions for the patient; the imperfect or limited acquaintance with the Latin language possessed by many dispensers or compounders of medicines; and lastly, the difficulty, and in some cases impossibility, of finding concise and intelligible English words which are the exact equivalents of many Latin professional terms‡ not unfrequently used

* Paris's Pharmacologia, 9th ed. p. 105, 1843.

† I once heard an eminent hospital surgeon confess his inability to write in Latin the directions to the patient.

For example, larynx, fauces interna, fauces externæ, jugulum, abdomen, hypogastrium, hypochondrium, pervigilium, accessio cr accessus, &c. Many Latin terms in frequent use are vague and

in prescriptions. By throwing on the compounder the responsibility of expressing in appropriate language, and in the brief compass of a label, the exact intentions of the prescriber, in a language which the latter did not use, we greatly augment the risk of errors and mistakes.*

In writing Latin prescriptions, the student should endeavour to imitate the style of Celsus, "our greatest and almost only authority in every thing relating to medical Latinity:" for no physician would think of writing a prescription in English terms derived from Shakspeare, Milton, Johnson, Scott, or Byron; nor a prescription in Latin terms drawn from the works of Roman poets or historians. The correct use of medical terms can only be obtained in the works of standard medical authors.

All the medical Colleges formerly published their pharmacopoeias in the Latin language. But the French Codex,† and the American, Greek, Edin

ambiguous: as pro re nata, urgente dolore, urgente tussi, &c. The apothecary of Her Majesty Queen Charlotte, consort of George III., was on one occasion much embarrassed how to translate into intelligible and decent English the phrase "urgente borborygmo,” which occurred in a prescription written by the late Sir Francis Millman.

*On this subject, see some pertinent observations by Mr. Donovan, in the London Medical Gazette for Sept. 1, 1848.

Codex Pharmacopée Française rédigée par ordre du Gouverne ment par une commission composée de MM. les Professeurs de la Faculté de Médecine et de l'Ecole spéciale de Pharmacie de Paris. Paris. 1837. 8vo.

The Pharmacopoeia of the United States of America. By Authority of the National Medical Convention held at Washington, A. D. 1840. Svo.

? Ελληνική Φαρμακοποιΐα. Ἐν Αθηνις, 1837.-Pharmacopa Græca. Athenis, 1837.