Except in rare emergencies no medicine should be given to a sick person without the doctor's order. The prescribed dose should be accurately measured in a medicine glass having a scale to show the number of teaspoonfuls. When measuring medicine, think only of what you are doing; neither talk nor listen to conversation. First read the label on the bottle. Next, shake the bottle, if the medicine is liquid, in order to mix the contents thoroughly. Then remove the cork with the second and third fingers, and hold it between them while pouring, thus keeping the cork clean and protecting the contents of the bottle. Hold the medicine glass on a level with the eyes, and in the other hand hold the bottle, with the side bearing the label uppermost to avoid soiling it; pour out the dose, measuring exactly, wipe the bottle, replace the cork, and again read the label on the bottle. Most medicines should be diluted with a little water. Pills and capsules should not be presented to patients in the attendant's fingers, but on a saucer or teaspoon. Acids and medicines containing iron should be taken through a glass tube kept for medicine exclusively. Tubes and glasses should be washed at once after use, and neither they nor the bottles should stay in the patient's room. If a dose is omitted for any reason, do not increase the next dose; give the regular dose at the next regular time. Serious mistakes in giving or taking drugs are far too common, and no precautions are too great to guard against them. Never use medicine from a box or bottle that has no label. Never take or give another person a medicine selected in the dark, even though you have positive knowledge that there is no other bottle or box of medicine in the whole house; in just such circumstances the fatal mistakes occur. A few things can be done to make medicines more palatable. The water used to dilute the dose and to be taken after it should be very cold. Holding the nose is helpful. A piece of cracker, a peppermint, or a slice of lemon or orange, if allowed, may be taken afterward. Giving disagreeable medicine in ordinary food, as lemon juice, orange juice, or milk, and giving bitter powders in jam or jelly, is unwise because it sometimes results in life long dislike for a useful article of diet. Where food is given directly after the dose to take away its taste, the association of dislike seems to be formed less frequently.