VERIFICATION ON TRICE.

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arose at first from fraud, which being detected,custom was pleaded in its defence : but the resultis, that the vender is constantly obliged to measurethe width of his goods in the customer’s presence.In all these instances the object of the seller is toget a higher price than his goods would really pro-duce if their quality were known ; and the purchaser,if not himself a skilful judge (which rarely happensto be the case), must pay some person, in the shapeof an additional money price, who has skill to dis-tinguish, and integrity to furnish, articles of thequality agreed on. But as the confidence of per-sons in their own judgment is usually great, largenumbers will always flock to the cheap dealer, whothus, attracting many customers from the honesttradesman, obliges him to charge a higher price forhis judgment and character than, without such com-petition, he could afford to do.

(142.) There are few articles which the publicare less able to judge of than the quality of drags ;and when they are compounded into medicines it isscarcely possible, even for medical men, to decidewhether pure or adulterated drugs have been em-ployed. This circumstance, concurring w'ith an inju-dicious mode adopted in the payment for medicalassistance, has produced a curious effect on the priceof medicines. Apothecaries, instead of being paid fortheir services and skill, have been remunerated bybeing allowed to place a high charge upon the medicinesthey administer, which are confessedly of very smallpecuniary value. The tendency of such a system isto offer an inducement to prescribe more medicinethan is necessary; and in fact, even with the present