Lessons on prescriptions and the art of prescribing / by W. Handsel Griffiths.

  • Griffiths, W. Handsel (William Handsel), 1846-1877.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lessons on prescriptions and the art of prescribing / by W. Handsel Griffiths. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/200 (page 7)
    The Superscription requires no other comment than that which Ave have already accorded to it, but I have to call your attention to some important points in con- nection with the Inscription. The ingredients of a typical prescription are supposed to have a representative of the following ; {a) The Basis, or active ingredient. (b) The Adjuvant, or the auxiliary. ij) The Corrective. (d) The Vehicle. I cannot adduce a better example of the foregoing principles than the Pharmacopceial representative of the ordinary “ black draught,” thus Superscription . . ^ . I Magnesise sulphatis, uncias quatuor Pasts. Tincturse sennse, uncias duas cuna semisse Adjuvant. Inscription . . .' Tincturae cardaniorai compositse, drachmas i decern—Corrective. Extract! glycyrrhizse, semi unciam. \ Infusi sennse, ad uncias viginti— Vehicle. Subscription . . Misce, fiat mistura. I Cujus capiat seger cochlearia duo magna bis Signaiure . . . . j terve in hora, donee adsit catharsis. Patient's Name. Date. i Initials. Now, you are not to suppose that every prescription must of necessity have an adjuvant and a corrective as well as a basis and a vehicle. It was tlie habit of our ancestors to prescribe a multitude of substances with an heroic disregard of compatibility, whether chemical, physical, or therapeutical, in the hope, it is surmised, that some one of the multifarious ingredients would hit off the disease, whatever that might be. Now, how-