Only a comparatively small percentage of the medicine manufactured is actually taken by patients. Much is lost from one cause and another while still in the hands of the manufacturer. The warehouses of the wholesale druggists are fairly packed with medicine that has spoiled, is out of date, unpopular, etc. A good part of the retailers' gross profits are represented by similar articles, and last, but not least, almost every family has a medicine chest which, in spite of frequent"cleaning ups,"contains the remains of many prescriptions usually representing the poor judgment of the prescriber. The custom of prescribing in quantities too large has many objections. The patient is put to unnecessary expense; the unused portion remains as a monument to the doctor's error, for it is usually an error to prescribe more than a patient needs. The patient feels that if the physician had understood the case he would not have prescribed two or three times more than was necessary. It may be used in subsequent sickness with unfortunate results, in that or some other family, or either by its aid or in spite of it the future patients recover without a consultation and the doctor is deprived of a legitimate fee.

In many instances even where a considerable quantity of the agent will be used it may be advisable to prescribe comparatively small amounts on account of possible deterioration, as in the case of certain syrups in warm weather. The quantity should usually be such as the prescriber feels reasonably sure the patient will require before deterioration occurs or a change is necessary or a cure is effected. As examples:

In prescribing an ointment of yellow mercuric oxide for the eyelids, 1 drachm is usually all that is necessary. In any event it is enough to order, as the possibility of dust from the atmosphere, dirt from fingers, etc., makes it desirable not to use the same package too long. For a case of scarlatina where it is desired to prescribe a cold-cream application for the skin during desquamation, a half-pound or pound may be ordered at one time to advantage. To break up a cold one dozen capsules may be more than enough, while in prescribing ferrous carbonate for chlorosis a prescription for less than 100 doses will probably be putting the patient to unnecessary trouble and expense.

As a rule in conditions of more or less chronic character, where the patient is under observation and the necessity for change possible, from seven to ten days' treatment is a convenient amount. If a liquid is being administered in teaspoonful doses three times a day, three or four fluidounces would be the amount indicated.

Sometimes, as in prescribing tonics, it is advisable to order enough to have some effect, particularly if the patient may not be under regular observation. A twenty- or thirty- day treatment may be justified.

A study of almost any prescription file shows a distressing number of 16-dose tonics and 64-dose headache mixtures.

The prescriber should always remember that too great a discrepancy either way between the needs of the patient and the amount of his order shows a lack of grasp of the situation and may well shake the confidence of the patient. With regard to having the patient frequently refill small prescriptions the prescriber should remember that the druggist justly makes a charge for his time, and usually four two-ounce prescriptions will cost the patients two or three times as much as one eight-ounce prescription calling for the same ingredients.