“The number of candidates who presented themselves for examination was 103. Of these 66 entered for all the subjects, 37 for those subjects in which they had previously failed. With an experience of an examination conducted under your proposed rules and regulations, and more especially under that clause requiring that the written part of the work of the examination be examined and completed in the College building and before the examiners separate, we still feel this work can be better and more satisfactorily done at home, and would ask and suggest that such be allowed, and that the examiners be allowed a week in which to return the papers to the registrar; that a meeting of the Board be held before the final result is published, as we understand this is the usual method pursued by the examiners of the Medical College; that the regulation regarding the number and value of written questions be changed so as to read as formerly, and as appeared in the Journal, namely, that the written questions be not more than four-fifths, either in number or value, more especially in the subject of prescriptions, when the value of the oral examination bears directly on the ability of the candidate, and could profitably and justly be enlarged to at least 50 per cent in value.”
“The number of candidates who presented themselves for examination was 103. Of these 66 entered for all the subjects, 37 for those subjects in which they had previously failed. With an experience of an examination conducted under your proposed rules and regulations, and more especially under that clause requiring that the written part of the work of the examination be examined and completed in the College building and before the examiners separate, we still feel this work can be better and more satisfactorily done at home, and would ask and suggest that such be allowed, and that the examiners be allowed a week in which to return the papers to the registrar; that a meeting of the Board be held before the final result is published, as we understand this is the usual method pursued by the examiners of the Medical College; that the regulation regarding the number and value of written questions be changed so as to read as formerly, and as appeared in the Journal, namely, that the written questions be not more than four-fifths, either in number or value, more especially in the subject of prescriptions, when the value of the oral examination bears directly on the ability of the candidate, and could profitably and justly be enlarged to at least 50 per cent in value.”
Mr. Andrew Jeffrey gave the following notice of motion for amendment of By-law 12 to erase the following: “The professors of the College shall be ex-officio members of the Board of Examiners, and shall act as advisers, and that the latter clause of By-law 13, reading ‘The questions asked at the examinations shall be published, and approximate rating of the answers may be furnished to candidates, their parents, employers, or teachers,’ be struck out.”
On the motion of Mr. Watters the meeting adjourned at 3.45, to meet at 2 p.m. on the first Tuesday in February, 1890.
THE LONDON DRUG CO.
LONDON, ONTARIO.J. DOUGLAS, ManagerIMPORTERS OF——————Drugs and Druggists’ Sundries, FineChemicals, Perfumery, and all Goodsrequired by Chemists.——————MANUFACTURERS OFFluid Extracts, and Fine PharmaceuticalPreparations,Citrate of Magnesia, Etc.——————
We beg to intimate to the trade, and particularly to those who are commencing business on their own account, that we keep IN STOCK every requirement of a first-class Chemist and Druggist.
We carry full and complete sets of
LABELLED SHELF WAREDRAWER PULLSSHOW BOTTLES and VASESSCALES, WEIGHTS, Etc.
and everything necessary for the executing of an opening order on the shortest notice.
Correspondence in regard to Prices, Terms, etc. solicited.
MERCK’S PURE PEPSINE IN SCALES
We have taken a great deal of trouble to put before our friends and the Trade the excellent character of this preparation. It is offered at a reasonable price, and dispensing chemists should put before their Medical friends its well-known merits. It possesses high digestive powers, is perfectly solvent, and keeps well. We have it in 1 lb., ½ lb. and 1 oz. bottles.
The London Drug Co.,—ImportersLONDON, ONT.
It is always in order to talk about the deportment of clerks towards customers, says Geyer’s Stationer. Almost every person one meets has a theory on the subject which, on investigation, will be found more or less tinctured with selfishness. Admitting that clerks are not always as affable as they should be, it is just as true, on the other hand, that customers are often at fault in manners, and too frequently excite similar shortcomings in those who are serving them for the time being. Still, in the world of clerks, patience should never cease to be a virtue, and a good salesman or saleswoman will never show a ruffled temper even under the most trying circumstances. Next to affable manners a cool head is of vital importance, for who likes to deal with fussy, confused people, and when rapid work is necessary, as at the busy season in large retail stores, the man or woman with a rather short supply of nerves will generally come out ahead.
Alertness and promptness are conceded requisites and obligingness a positive essential. But the faculty most valuable in a salesman is that of reading character, and if it is backed by ready adaptability and a mind sufficiently well informed to cater mildly to discoverable idiosyncrasies, so much the better.
A salesman’s business is, of course, to sell goods, but it is equally his duty to make the store a pleasant place for customers; and above all, to make them carry away a feeling of perfect satisfaction with the business they have transacted. This can be done without giving overweight or over-measurement, which are nothing less than a betrayal of trust, and as reprehensible as giving short weight and measure, the odium of which must, in the nature of things, fall upon the employer.
“Put yourself in his place” is an excellent guide to practice. A clerk who considers what qualities and qualifications he would like in employees were he, himself, an employer of men, and governs his conduct accordingly, will not stray far from the right course. An employer who can, in fancy, put himself behind the counter and view himself from the clerk’s standpoint, will be vastly wiser and more successful in his management, and customers who can imagine themselves in the salesman’s place, and can comprehend the thousand and one trials they are subjected to by careless and indifferent humanity, will, if they choose, be able to save both themselves and the clerks an infinite amount of wear and tear of nerve force, and at the same time, receive vastly more satisfactory service.
An English syndicate has subscribed $10,000,000 to establish extensive iron and steel works at Vallejo, Cal.
DRUG NOTES.
We would call the attention of druggists to the advertisement of Major’s Cement in our advertising columns. Major’s Cement has a deservedly increasing sale in the United States and is now extensively sold throughout the Dominion. Mr. Major is now giving away to druggists a handsome thermometer 24 inches long with orders for his goods. These cannot help of themselves to be quite an attraction and aid to business, and we would advise our subscribers to write A. Major, 232 William St., New York, mentioning theCanadian Druggist, for prices and terms.
The Stillman Remedies Company, of 58 West 55th St., New York, have opened a Canadian agency for the sale of their celebrated Garfield Tea at 28 Yonge St. Arcade, Toronto, Ont. The trade will be supplied with free sample packages and advertising matter by writing to D. Densmore & Co., 28 Yonge St. Arcade, Toronto, and mentioning theCanadian Druggist.
“You dirty boy” appears in our advertising columns this week. The sale of Pears’ Soaps is now something enormous, and the proprietors are spending their thousands in bringing and keeping them before the public. No druggist’s stock is complete without a full assortment of these goods. J. Palmer & Son, of Montreal, are the Canadian agents for Pears’ Soaps and carry a complete stock of them, together with a large variety of druggist’s sundries, toilet goods, sponges, etc.
Smith & McGlashan’s travellers are now on the road with samples of holiday goods in all materials and designs. An inspection of their samples will satisfy you as to the excellency of their goods.
We would draw the attention of the trade to Lyman, Knox & Co.’s advertisement (on the inside of cover opposite first page) of some of their specialties. This young and enterprising firm have made a place for themselves in the front rank of the trade, and we are pleased to say that they deserve the confidence and popularity so quickly gained.
The demand for Wilson’s Fly Poison Pads has been larger this year than ever before. This well-known article kills flies in large quantities, lasts a long time, comes in a very convenient and safe form, sells at sight, and pays the druggist a large profit. The trade should push it in their own interests.
A. B. Petrie, Guelph, is spending the summer on his island in Muskoka.
Correspondence
Short, timely articles upon subjects of interest to pharmacists are solicited for this department. In order to be in time for publication in the issue of a given month, they should be in the editor’s hands on the third day of the month.
Always send your proper name and address: we do not publish them unless you wish: if you do not, please use a distinctive nom-de-plume.
Write on one side of the paper only; and devote a separate piece of paper to each query if you ask more than one, or if you are writing about other matters at the same time.
EditorCanadian Druggist:
Dear Sir.—It has come to my knowledge that a druggist doing a large business in Ontario supplies a physician with his medicines at so much per year, the sum fixed being the average of three previous years to making this bargain. I am anxious to get hold of a shoemaker, baker, grocer or drygoods merchant who will supply my family on that basis. Of course my family is on the increase, but that is all right for me. What can an association do in a case of this kind.
A Member of an Association.
EditorCanadian Druggist:
Dear Sir.—What is meant when a druggist says I am selling at cost. Does he mean that he sells at invoice price or does he add rent, taxes, insurance, printing, freight, breakage, waste, tickets to shows, public subscriptions, required by being in business, (not charity) salaries, including a fair salary for himself, a small amount for sundries, also interest on capital invested, making in all from 18 to 25 per cent. on the invoice price of all goods. That is, an article costs in the wholesale house $1. Its cost price when handed to customer is $1.20. Would like to hear how others figure this up and if my cost is too high, and if I must reduce expenses. Yours very truly,
Druggist.
A correspondent, writing from Herrington, Kansas, sends the following prescription recently filled by him. We are assured by a local connoisseur that the mixture is considered as “powerful good for snakes,” when spiritus frumenti can be obtained:
One ounce of hors horn,one Ounce Alker Hall oneonse sweate Owl A smaleLump Of cam For Gum.—[Nat. Druggist.
One ounce of hors horn,one Ounce Alker Hall oneonse sweate Owl A smaleLump Of cam For Gum.—[Nat. Druggist.
One ounce of hors horn,one Ounce Alker Hall oneonse sweate Owl A smaleLump Of cam For Gum.—[Nat. Druggist.
Who can do business without advertising? In this advanced age, when competition is so great, he that runs the race without advertising eventually gets left. It is considered one of the most important branches of a business man’s education to know how to advertise judiciously, and to do it so as to attract attention, and place it where it will do the most good. It is looked upon as much a part of contingent expenses as rent, insurance, etc. A certain percentage out of the profits of each year should be decided on to be expended for the next year’s business, and the sum increased in proportion to the increase of business. To do business, a business must be advertised.—[Manufacturer.
“How can I buy best?” is a question that agitates more than one mind in the commercial world, and one that very seldom is solved to the perfect satisfaction of the querist. I propose to go into some of the phenomena of the art of buying in this issue and, if possible, portray some of the obstacles in the way of the non-successful purchaser. There are two prominent classes of successful buyers, which are subdivided into many, but I intend to treat of these two only at this time, first among these, and the most favoured is the one who has intimate knowledge of that which he intends to buy, and who is thoroughly informed as to the best goods to purchase; the prices; where they are from, etc. The second best buyer is he who makes a great plunge among those from whom he intends purchasing and endeavours to impress them with his importance as a buyer, and his pretended knowledge of the subject on hand. This last fellow is styled the bulldozer. As to which one of these two classes of persons buy the closest and best there can be no dispute, the person of knowledge is free and unfettered because he is on an equal or superior footing to him from whom he intends buying, inasmuch as his information gives him the necessary leverage. The second is in the power of the seller because if a misstatement of fact is made, the purchaser is at a disadvantage in not knowing whether it is fact or not, and he has to rely upon his powers of depreciation and arraignment of the goods to carry him to success.
I remember once being in a merchant’s store and his tactics and manners on that occasion created the impression, which has lasted up to the present time, that he was the best buyer, or at least one of the best, I ever met. I will tell you what he did and you can then see for yourself. I walked in and awaited my turn; as soon as he was at leisure he came to me, and telling me his name, asked me if I wished to see him personally. I answered him I wished his attention,and told him my business. He said he was exceedingly busy and would like me to call again. I specially requested his time for a short space, and he gave me five minutes. I pulled out my watch and taking it off the chain laid it upon the counter, open. I commenced to tell him about my goods, and as fast as I could, dealt out the points respecting them. As the minute hand crossed the point, and my time expired, I was in the middle of a sentence, but I stopped abruptly and informed him “time was up.” He said he was sorry he could not grant me a longer interview as he had an engagement “but” said he, “I am interested in the information you have imparted, and I want you to come and see me when I have time to listen.” I promised I would, and did so. I went into all the details. I gave him all the knowledge I had amassed by months of study of that one object, and when I left him it was with a feeling of satisfaction that I had been partly repaid for my labour in informing myself of the subject, and that man at least knew enough to buy of that commodity intelligently.
The great difficulty in the way of most merchants becoming good buyers is because they are not satisfied to expend from three to five minutes with a salesman when he comes into their stores in finding out his prices, goods, etc., so that when the next one comes along if his prices are below he can take advantage of it, but at any rate, I would suggest the following to all merchants: Treat the salesman coming to your store with courtesy, politeness, and consideration, and you may be sure you will receive in return information that will repay you for the expenditure. I am sorry to say a great many business men forget that a compliment to their credit is paid to them when a man enters their stores to solicit their trade. Then remember the “goods well bought are half sold.”—[Review.
JUST RECEIVED
A FRESH SUPPLY
Carlsbad Sprudel Salts
Small, per dozen, $7.00.Large, per dozen, $14.00.
Carlsbad Sprudel Waters
Per case of 50 bottles, $15.00.Per dozen, $4.00.
Æsculap Water
Per case of 25 bottles, $12.00Per dozen, $6.50.
Davis & Lawrence Co., Ltd., Montreal
SOLE AGENTS FOR CANADA.
I was chatting a few days ago with a downtown stationer on the subject of filling orders. Strange as it may appear, this merchant held the opinion that the most pernicious, if not the most damaging, habit in daily business was the lack of promptness in supplying what was ordered. “To secure an order,” said he, “some men will promise anything and everything. You may ask as a favor to have your order filled on the day agreed upon, and he will promise faithfully that it shall be done. You then make your arrangements and find that you cannot execute them. The worst of it is that some of the men who make these promises are of business repute. They mean well, no doubt, but I contend that they should show more regard for their word and respect for other people’s business.”
These are somewhat severe words, yet they are probably warranted, although the breach of faith complained of is not common. Business men, as a rule, while anxious to obtain an order, are equally as anxious to fill it, for the very obvious reason that the motive governing them in the one case is the same which governs them in the other. The truth is that in these competitive times everyone is desirous of doing all he can, and hence he accepts orders with the belief that, barring accidents or other unforeseen circumstances, he will be able to redeem his promise. Of course the wilful promise breaker and his business, too, regulate themselves, for if a man’s word is not to be generally trusted, depend upon it his goods will not find a very extensive patronage for any length of time.—[Stationer.
Some business men do a vast amount of work without any apparent effort; they are rarely, if ever, rushed, and are seldom compelled to seclude themselves from their friends on account of the pressing demands of their business. Other people, who really accomplish very little, are always in a hurry; they seem to have a dozen things to do at once, and the result is, they are in a state of almost perpetual confusion, and the little they accomplish is only done by the greatest difficulty. In a very small country store perhaps a merchant can get along without any system or method in conducting his business. He knows where everything is in his stock, and can lay his hands on it at a moment’s notice, and if a customer calls for it he can serve him without any very great amount of trouble; but, on the other hand, if he is at the head of a vast business, some great establishment, perhaps, in which there are a hundred departments, it would be utterly impossible for him to keep track of things without the most methodical arrangement throughout the concern with which he is connected. Our great merchant leaves the details of his business to subordinates, who are accountable to him that everything goes right in the departments over which they are placed. Some of the great establishments in our city employ thousands of men, yet so perfect is the system that every man can be located at a moment’s notice, and the closest watch can be kept upon the work which he is doing. There is a system for receiving and shipping goods, a system for keeping track of stock while in the hands of the producer or dealer; there is a cash system, a system of bookkeeping by which a mistake of a penny can be detected at the close of every day’s business.It is only by these wise and sensible precautions that a great business can be carried on successfully. Thousands of losses, little and great, are averted that would certainly occur did not this watchfulness prevail in every department.
A writer in the Detroit Free Press said not long ago that “there are some occupations which compel those who follow them to be orderly and methodical. There are none in which these qualities, where they have been neglected, can not be cultivated to good advantage. Deficiency in them is far from being a token of genius. It signifies something of indolence and much that is slipshod. Every man knows whether or not he is as orderly and methodical as he should be. If he is not, unless he is too old to attempt the task, he should endeavour to improve in these respects. There is no danger of his carrying it to that excess which marks persons who have a passionate love of order, but there is a likelihood that he will materially lighten his work, or find that he can do much more than he has been in the habit of doing.”
It seems to the Criterion that this is the keynote of a business man’s success. No man who conducts his business in a slipshod manner can expect to achieve desirable results. He should determine to be orderly and methodical at the very commencement of his career. Order soon becomes a habit with a business man, and by its observance he is enabled to do a hundred things that it would be impossible to accomplish if he did not go at them in the handiest and most effective manner.—[Grocers’ Criterion.
One secret of success in business—the secret, in fact, of success on a large scale—is to conceive of it as a matter of principles, not merely as a series of transactions. There are great merchants as there are great statesmen, and there are small merchants as there are small politicians, and the difference is very much the same in both professions. The small politician works by the day, and sees only the one small opportunity before him, the small merchant does the same thing—he is looking for the next dollar. The statesman, on the other hand, is master of the situation, because he understands the general principles which control events; this knowledge enables him to deal with large questions and to shape the future. The great merchant does the same thing, his business is not a mere money-getting affair, not a mere matter of barter, but a science and an art; he studies the general laws of trade, watches the general condition of the country, investigates present needs, foresees future wants, and adapts his business to the broad conditions of time and place. He puts as much brains into his work as does the statesman, and he ends by being not a money getter, but a large minded and capable man. An eminently successful business man, of statesmanlike quality, said the other day that the more he understood of life the more clearly he saw that it was all done on business principles. By which he meant, not only that the universe stands for the dollar, but that the universe is governed by unvarying laws, that promptness, exactness, thoroughness and honesty are wrought into its very fibre. On these business principles all life is conducted, if not by men, at least by that power which is behind man. It ought to be the ambition of every young man to treat his business from the point of the statesman, and not from that of the politician.
August 10, 1889.
Business for summer months has kept up very well, and for the past month there have been no notable changes in value.
Quinine is dull; there is a strong impression that quinine will not be any lower; an upward move seems probable.
Morphia and Opium, slightly advanced.
In Camphor there is a large demand and a further advance probable.
We were in error regarding duty being taken off tannic acid, it is only free when imported by manufacturers for manufacturing purposes.
Cubebs are dear and scarce, supplies are smaller every year.
Cascara Sagrada has gone back to old prices.
Pot Iodide and Bromide are unchanged.
Fair demand for Insect Powder: prices unchanged.
Mercurials are all higher.
Oil Anise will probably be higher as the bulk of it has passed into the hands of three holders. The basis of the speculative movement is owing to the probability of a stoppage of the shipment owing to a disagreement between the producers in China and the importers here.
Balsam Copaiba will probably be lower; the high price was caused by the crop last year not being marketed by the South American natives. The result was high prices which stimulated the natives to great activity in gathering and forwarding the balsam, and stocks have accumulated rapidly, so that at present there are 40,000 lbs. in first hands in European markets.
Golden Seal Root is unsettled and the tendency is to higher prices. Senega is in about the same position. Serpentaria continues to advance.
Coca Leaves reported advanced.
Caffeine and Salts are cheaper.
Glycerine unchanged, but there has been a sharp advance in crude.
In Gallic and Tannic Acids the reports of short crops from China are confirmed. Galls have gone up 10 to 15 per cent., and we may soon have to ask more money for Gallic and Tannic acids.
In Sulphonal the extremely keen competition between the eight or ten manufacturers has resulted in a decline in price. As things are it seems advisable to order only for immediate wants.
Oil Sassafras is likely to be dearer.
Opium, cuttlebone, quicksilver, anise oil, golden seal root, senega root, serpentaria root, shellacs, star anise, cassia, cloves, allspice have advanced.
D. S. Sage, Brantford, is doing the Continent. Mr. Charles Miller is looking after his business.
C. H. Moderwell, formerly of Stratford, now with Caswell, Massey & Co., New York, was visiting old friends in Stratford and vicinity.
If there is a Druggist in Canada who is not selling them we say to him, You are losing money every day, you are losing opportunities of selling your customers goods which will give complete satisfaction, and bring them back to your store.
No other Fly Poison has ever had the same sale in Canada, or given the same satisfaction.
PRICE PER BOX OF 50 PACKETS, $2.50, OR THREE BOXES FOR $7.00. RETAIL PRICE, 10 CENTS.
Archdale Wilson & Co.
WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS,— —HAMILTON, ONT.
CANADIAN DRUGGIST PRICES CURRENT.
CORRECTED TO AUGUST 10, 1889.
The quotations given represent average prices for quantities usually purchased by Retail Dealers. Larger parcels may be obtained at lower figures, but quantities smaller than those named will command an advance.