A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries

A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries

The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses
Committed by Apothecaries, by Christopher Merrett This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses Committed by Apothecaries As well in Relation to Patients, as Physicians: And Of the only Remedy thereof by Physicians making their own Medicines.
Author: Christopher Merrett
Release Date: May 27, 2005 [EBook #15910]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FRAUDS BY APOTHECARIES ***

Produced by Paul Murray, Richard Cohen and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. This file was produced from images generously made available by the Biblioth��que nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at http://gallica.bnf.fr.

[Transcriber's Note:
+ Hyphens splitting words across lines have been removed.
+ Original spellings have generally been retained, but the Errata from the Second Edition (at the end), and a mistake in the Errata (!) have been corrected silently. The original text can be found in the HTML version.
+ The Latin epigraph translates as: "They all represent themselves as Doctors--The Uneducated, The Priest, The Nurse, and The Barber, The Apothecary, The Old Woman." ]

Imprimatur, Novemb. 13. 1669. SAM. PARKER.

A SHORT VIEW OF THE FRAUDS, and ABUSES Committed by APOTHECARIES;
As well in Relation to PATIENTS, as PHYSICIANS: AND Of the only Remedy thereof by PHYSICIANS making their own MEDICINES.
BY CHRISTOPHER MERRETT Dr. in Physic, Fellow of the College of Physicians, and of the Royal Society.
----Fingunt se Medicos omnes, Idiota, Sacerdos, Nutrix, & Tonsor, _Pharmacop?us_, Anus.
The Second Edition more correct.
LONDON, Printed for James Allestry, Printer to the Royal Society, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Church-Yard, 1670

A Short View of the Frauds and Abuses committed by Apothecaries, as well in Relation to Patients, as _Physicians_; and of the only remedy thereof by Physicians making their own Medicines.
Doubtless it will seem strange to most men, that after 30 years not unsuccessful practice in this great City, I should now at last forbear sending my Bills to the Apothecaries, knowing that hereby a whole Company of men interested in the World (who by their number, noise, and tricks, may be able to decry any Physician) will become my implacable adversaries, and by their private whispers of untrue tales, will endeavour to their utmost, either to keep me from any new, or shuffle me out of my fixed imployment. But not fearing the utmost their malice can invent, or proclaim; I shall publickly assert what I privately practice, preferring the publick good, and the honour of my profession before my own private profit. And although I have had some experience what their groundless anger can do, when they some years since proclaimed me in their publick Hall their Enemy, for acting the College Interest, and of late for saving my Patients lives and purses, by dispencing gratis my Medicines. Yet I hope no indifferent person, when he knows that I have thus long slighted their weak endeavours, will believe I can now at length have so poor an end as revenge; especially when they shall consider on the one hand, the universal and daily complaints of both Patient and Physician, the great cause they have to do so, and the little hope of a remedy, and on the other, besides that general obligation all men have of doing their Country-men good, and the particular necessity I have of justifying my actions, by leaving the World their judg upon the account I shall here deliver of them. And lastly, that which will leave my Enemies not any objection, I take upon me not only a great trouble, but charge, without any other design then doing mankind good, by endeavouring to restore my profession to its ancient and deserved honours. And had I none of these inducements, I am sure the vulgar excuse of friends importunities may be satisfactory to all persons for my publishing what I here do, when I must acknowledge that many of my Collegues and other Practisers in several parts, upon reading these papers furnished me not only with some bad practices of their own experience, but thereupon enjoyed the publishing of them. So that in these papers I do but speak the common language of all Physicians, and of very many Patients. Neither are all their frauds and abuses here inserted, the rest (perhaps more in number) being reserved to another opportunity. I shall only add by way of preface; that the last year a Book was printed on the same argument, by an inquisitive person, now Dr. in Physic, which might have spared me this labour, but that