and he took up and explained a number of devices that he had found of value in the conduct of his business, such as cabinets, counter-closets with sectional shelving for holding fluid preparations, a card-index system for keeping account of stock, prescriptions and accounts with customers, and some handsome window display-cards. Mr. Alpers did not claim credit for originating these devices, but said he had found them very useful in his business. He received the applause of his audience when he had finished.

HINTS FOR DISPENSING AND PHARMACEUTICAL BOOK-KEEPING.

BY WILLIAM C. ALPERS.

A description of a system of all clerical work necessary in pharmacies seems to be well worth the attention of this Section, and to make it the more effective I have brought small models of all the apparatus that I use in this system. Under the name of clerical work I comprise a full system of book-keeping, prescription filing, physicians' records and stock indices, all of which I will successively explain to you. Part of this work, namely, the prescription filing, I have shown before this Association some years ago. For the sake of completeness I beg leave to mention it again here, especially as I have introduced some improvements since then. Before entering on this subject, permit me to say a few words on window display, which also seems to come under the heading of practical pharmacy.

Like all advertising, a proper window display requires thought, time and labor, and without these the window will be but poorly dressed and work more harm than benefit. As the space in the windows represents a certain amount of rent, and therefore a constant expense, its use should not be given to any one without proper compensation. I never exhibit anybody's goods in my windows unless I am paid for it, either in cash or in a special discount. Nor do I believe that the promiscuous exhibit of a great variety of goods is advisable; the passer-by glances over such an exhibition in a dazed, uncertain way, there is no central point of attraction, and before he can fix his eye on any particular object, he has passed the store without retaining any recollection of it. The display should therefore represent but one thing, or one collection of things centered around a uniform idea. A very effectual exhibit can be made by displaying all the pharmaceutical uses of one plant, for instance, cinchona. If possible, have a cinchona plant in the centre, or a picture and preserved parts of it. Put up a percolator, making Tr. Cinchona Co., have jars with the various barks, complete, unbroken and powdered, show the alkaloids, the extract, the pills and capsules of various sizes, and put in the background a picture of a cinchona farm. Each article should be neatly labeled. If it is your custom to issue monthly pamphlets to your customers, tell them about cinchona in a popular way, at the time when the exhibit is shown. Besides these somewhat scientific but popular exhibits, your windows should

show your own preparations, the results of your own laboratories, articles that you can conscientiously recommend and of whose pharmaceutical elegance you have a right to be proud. Always accompany such an exhibit with a sign, not a carelessly scratched card, but a sign of neatness and elegance, devised and written for the purpose. I always put these signs in a frame, made in easel form with a movable back, so that a change of signs can easily be made. (A frame and sign were exhibited by the writer.) It is true exhibits of this kind require some thought, labor and expense; but it is well worth while to spend all this, the returns fully justify the outlay.

Coming now to the clerical work of the pharmacy, I will say that after trying a number of various systems I have come to the conclusion that the card system is best adapted for pharmaceutical work, and I have therefore adopted it in all its details. Let us take the filing of prescriptions first. Cards of convenient size, 8x61⁄2 inches, are kept ready, each numbered three times with the same number, one for filing, one on perforated flange at the bottom for the customer, as a check, and one for the identification of the package. For the details of these prescription files I refer the reader to our Proceedings for 1897, p. 237, etc. The new feature that I have since introduced consists in one renewal card for all prescriptions of the day, instead of a separate one for each prescription. It is arranged as follows:

The number of this card is not stamped, but is written in the left upper corner, and is always the first number of the day. The card remains on the desk during the day, and is filed with the other cards at night, while the card with the same number is removed. The various headings explain themselves. On the back of each card whose prescription is renewed, the number of the renewal card is written. This renewal card is an advantage over the former system, as from 10 to 20 cards are thus saved a day, and the renewals kept separate from the new prescriptions.

Let me now show you two neat little devices that tend to promote order and give the store a neat appearance. The shelves for the stock bottles, tinctures and salts, etc., are generally broader than the diameter of the

bottles, and unless great care is exercised the bottles are apt to stand in a somewhat irregular line. By putting a second board on the shelves, as far back from the front as the diameter of the bottles that stand before it, all bottles will always stand in a perfectly straight line; for it is only necessary to shove them close up to this second board. This board also serves another purpose a second row of bottles may be placed on it, containing either extra stock or articles that are but rarely used. This little device adds greatly to the neat appearance of the store.

The proper arrangement of a great number of bottles containing tablets and pills of various manufacturers, so that each one can quickly be found, is a difficult problem in many pharmacies. This is my solution of the problem: Provide the inner side of the door of the pill-closet with small shelves, wide enough to hold a bottle of 500 pills, and fasten an iron or wooden strip about one inch above each shelf, running across the door, so that the bottles cannot fall off the shelves on opening or closing the door.

In the closet, at a proper distance from the door, put another set of swinging doors, made of plain boards provided on both sides with similar shelves and bars behind these put another set, and continue this as far as the depth of the closet will allow. Each set of doors must be hinged to upright studs projecting a few inches over the corresponding parts of the doors, in front of them, so as to allow the doors to swing open as far as a right angle. In this way hundreds of pill bottles can be put into one closet, and the face of each can be read with the greatest ease. No dust can get near the labels and the stock can be overlooked at an instant. small model of such a pill cabinet was exhibited.)

(A

a number of practical devices for the clerical work necessary in each pharmacy. Let us first speak of the stock cards. One of the greatest mistakes that the average pharmacist makes, is his inability to control his stock, that is, to be able at a minute's notice to give a full account of the purchase, price, sale and disposal of each article in his store. And yet nothing seems to be of greater importance than the careful and continuous watch over the price of each article. I solve this problem in the following manner. A stock card is kept for each article in the store-I have now over 8,000-size 8x61⁄2 inches, arranged as follows:

The different headings and entries explain themselves. Whenever an invoice is presented, the junior clerk, who generally does the unpacking in company with the porter, checks off each article, confirming simply the correct delivery. The invoice then passes to the stock cabinet. In small stores, the proprietor, particularly if he is a beginner, should now make the entries; in larger stores, where a strict subdivision of labor is necessary, the cashier may attend to this work. The card for each item on the invoice is taken from the cabinet and the proper entry made, first the date, the amount of the purchase, the house from whom it is bought, and the price with discount, are entered. The retail price is generally the same. The last two columns, "inventory," are filled out at certain periods, once in six or twelve months. If this work is done systematically, it is very easy to take a correct inventory. But the card serves many other purposes. Whenever an advance of price is made, it is discovered at once, and a note can be sent to the jobber. If goods have been found to have spoiled in an unduly short time, the cards tell where and when they were bought. If complaints are made about the quality of goods, the card shows us where to find redress. A pharmacist who carries on this work systematically will always get "bottom prices" and best quality. He will impress his wholesaler with his system and order to such a degree that he will be treated with the greatest consideration, and his complaints, backed up by dates and facts, will be heeded. As to the time necessary for this work, I must say that this is generally overrated. It is true, a considerable amount of work and time is required to begin these stock cards; but when once completed, they will not require more than 15 or 20 minutes a

day, even in large stores, to keep them in order. I have these cards arranged in a cabinet of eight drawers, five of which are taken up by them, but ordinary stock drawers could easily be arranged for them. The benefit derived from them, particularly for beginners, cannot be over-estimated.

In the same cabinet I also have a set of "Doctor's Cards." The name of each doctor for whom a prescription is received, is entered on a card, and a record kept of the prescriptions.

Number. Date.

JONES, J. C., 176 W. 49th St. 9-12; 2-4.

11

Price. Number. Date. Price. Number. Date. Price.

In small towns where the number of physicians is limited, such a record seems unnecessary. Not so in large cities. I have the names of more than 1000 physicians on cards and know at a glance how many prescriptions I have received from each one. I can therefore arrange my advertising efforts accordingly. But the cards serve another useful purpose. It happens often that customers wish an old prescription to be renewed; they know neither number nor date, but they always remember the doctor's name. Instead of instituting an almost hopeless hunt for the lost prescription, I at once take the doctor's card and thereby reduce the number of prescriptions to be examined to a small figure. With the aid of these cards I have always, without one exception, been able to find an old prescription.

The last set of cards that I wish to show are the "Debtor's Cards."

They almost explain themselves. Every evening (or next morning) the