Life — February 4, 1892 — page 10: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# The Practice This cartoon satirizes prescription medicine practices. The central circular vignette shows two men examining bottles, labeled "Confounding the Prescription." Below are three prescription notes listing various ingredients—including items like "Powdered Starch," "Sugar," "Rose Water," and "Carbolic Acid." The caption "What the Doctor Wrote" contrasts with "What We Mean It to Be" and "What the Patient Put Up," suggesting confusion or deliberate alteration between what physicians prescribed and what pharmacists actually dispensed. The background landscape with a carriage and figures appears to show a broader scene, possibly a country estate. The satire critiques either pharmaceutical incompetence or intentional substitution of ingredients in prescriptions—a concern when drug regulation was minimal and accountability unclear.