tube, containing glass beads moistened with the absorbent liquid, may be connected to (F). Under severe tests this tube has never failed.—Chem. News., May 11, 1906, 213.

Apparatus Support-Simple Device for Clamping Base Plate to Table. -Franz Hugershoff provides the base plates of retort and the other appa

FIG. 36.

FRANZ HUGERSHOFF LEIPZIG.

Apparatus Support.

ratus supports with a slot into which a clamp may be fitted, and the base firmly attached to the laboratory table-top as shown by the accompanying cut (Fig. 36.) -Pharm. Ztg., 1, No. 98, (1905), 1033

Prescription Filling-Rules.-E. Fullerton Cook, after discussing some of the numerous expedients suggested from time to time for the prevention of error in prescription-filling, offers the following:

Rules Governing Prescription Filling, in the hope that with probably some modifications to fit them for the individual requirements they may prove of use to pharmacists in general:

1. Consider the prescription, as a whole, including dose, incompatibilities, solubilities and method of filling.

2. Remove from the prescription case and place together on the counter, all shop bottles or containers needed in filling the prescription.

3. Compound the prescription, transfer the product to a suitable container, and make a memorandum on the prescription of any required additions or of any point of special interest.

4. Write the label.

and

5. Have the label checked by reading it off to a competent attendant, considering the number, date, name, directions and doctor's name, then check the ingredients of the prescription.

6. Finish the package for delivery, capping all bottles, wrapping and attaching a delivery card bearing the price to be paid.

7. Return all shop-bottles and containers to their proper places.-Proc. Pa. Pharm. Assoc., 1905, 116-118.

Prescription Labels and Boxes-Duplicate Numbering.-In the course. of an interview on practical subjects connected with the conduct of his business, Mr. Jacob Diner explained an excellent idea which is followed. out in the numbering of prescription labels. This consists in numbering both sides of the label, the practice having been suggested by one of Mr.

FIG. 37.

Rough Sketch of Mr Diner's Stand
for Stamping Numbers on

Pill Powder Boxes.

Prescription Labels and Boxes.

Diner's junior clerks after long and vain efforts to make out the number of a torn label on a bottle brought back to be refilled. With the number on both sides of the label, if the outside of the label is badly worn, all that is necessary is to look through the bottle at the back of the label. Similarly, the prescription number is also stamped on both sides, bottom and top, of all pill and powder boxes. Using square boxes, a small contrivance like the one illustrated by Fig. 37 is used to place the box on when the stamping is done. *-The Apoth., March, 1906, 186.

Label or Pill Cabinet-Construction from Cigar Boxes.-F. W. Marshall has constructed the cabinet shown by Fig. 38 from cigar boxes fitted loose in a wooden box or case, which has proven useful for storing labels, pills and other small package goods. Each cigar box is covered with

A series of oblong square blocks of hard wood and of different sizes have been found a convenience for this purpose-the square surface answering for pill boxes, the oblong surfaces for the powder boxes.-REP.

marbled paper and lined on the inside with white paper, the lids being left on the boxes, which are stacked on top of each other in the case. A

small brass ring is put in the end of each box, and a label affixed denotes its contents.-Amer. Drugg., Sept. 25, 1905, 170.

Label Rack-A Novel Device.-W. J. Smith has solved to his satisfaction the problem of keeping labels handy to reach, so arranged that the name may be seen instantly, that the labels can be picked out one at a time quickly without disturbing the rest, and to prevent gummed labels from curling, by the device shown by Fig. 39. A sheet of zinc, tin, or, better still, aluminum, about one inch wide, and a little longer than the

16

Label Rack.

label it is intended for, is pierced with small holes at the four corners. The strip is then bent to the shape illustrated in the drawing, the upright part 5% to 3% inch, the lateral bottom inch, and the narrow section at the bottom also about inch. This is fastened to the edge of the shelf immediately beneath the bottle containing the articles indicated, using short wire nails in the lower and stout pins or longer and thin wire nails in the upper holes, observing that the lateral bottom part shall slant slightly inward and downward, so that it throws up the label in front a little higher

than the others, enabling one to be picked out conveniently without disturbing the rest. By keeping the holder fairly full it will be impossible for gummed labels to curl. Obviously these label-holders may be arranged in groups on a vertical surface, while the dimensions can be varied to accommodate labels of different sizes.-Drugg. Circ., June, 1906, 198.

Shop-Labels-Indestructible Coating.-J. W. Sturmer makes some practical suggestions on a kind of varnish, or coating, for the paper labels on shop-bottles, such as are required on the prescription counter, etc. He uses for this purpose a warm aqueous solution of gelatin (about 20 per cent.), which must have about the consistency of honey, so that it may be spread easily with a brush. The label having been pasted on the bottle in the usual way, and allowed to become dry, a coating of collodion is first applied, and then a coating of the gelatin solution. Then, after this has set, but before it has become hard, the gelatin surface is painted. over with formaldehyde solution (full strength), when, in the course of half an hour or so, the gelatin surface assumes a glassy hardness, and becomes practically indestructible, remaining unaffected by the action of water, alcohol or acids. To maintain this condition, a fresh application of formaldehyde is made from time to time.-Proc. Indiana Pharm. Assoc., 1905, 22.

Labels on Tins-Method of Securing Adhesion.-Prof. J. W. Sturmer finds the simplest and best method of securing the adhesion of labels on tins, to consist in first painting the surface with an alcoholic solution of a resin-tincture of benzoin, for instance. The label may be then pasted on with dextrin, acacia, or tragacanth mucilage, and will adhere nicely.— Proc. Indiana Pharm. Assoc., 1905, 23.

Corks-Method of Paraffining.-Albert E. Ebert recommends the following process for preparing corks that will resist the action of iodine and most corrosive liquids; melt together one part of paraffin and four parts of petrolatum, and digest the corks in this melted mixture at a temperature of about 140° to 150° F. for a length of time sufficient to thoroughly impregnate them. After being wiped and cooled, the corks are ready for use. Meyer Bros. Drugg., May, 1906, 127.

Bottle Seals-A New Idea.-Andrew E. Prier has secured a patent (No. 809011) on a new form of bottle seal, which promises to be available in many directions, and, particularly, to solve the troublesome problem of returns. As shown by the accompanying cuts (Fig. 40), reproduced from the patent specifications, the essential feature of the patent consists in two slides fitting into slots on opposite sides of the neck of the bottle. These slots have projecting flanges which retain the slide in place. The interior of the slide is provided with a notch which engages a hook on the end of a metal strap which reaches across the top, confining the cork. The slides being wedge-shape cannot be pushed upward, and the slot en

gaging the hook on the end of the strap prevents their being shoved downward without breaking the projecting glass flanges on the neck of the bottle which retain the slot in place. The result of this is that the bottle is practically non-refillable. The seal being a portion of the strap which reaches across the top of the cork must be cut in order to open the bottle,

and even when this is done the slides will be retained in place, unless they are forced out by breaking the retaining flanges. When this is done the bottle is no longer available and the customer cannot fail to see that the seal has been tampered with.-Amer. Drugg., Febr. 26, 1906, 100.

Collapsible Tubes-Simple Apparatus for Filling.-Eschenburg suggests the construction of a simple and inexpensive apparatus for filling collapsible tubes with salves, pastes, etc., by the aid of a small tincture press. It consists of a tinned iron cylinder having a diameter to fit snugly around the plunger of the press closed at the bottom, and provided with a small outlet tube extending horizontally immediately above the bottom. The salve or paste having been introduced into the cylinder under the plunger, it is