On the organic materia medica of the British pharmacopoeia : two lectures delivered before the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, on February 24th and March 23rd, 1864 / by Robert Bentley.

Date:
1864
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the organic materia medica of the British pharmacopoeia : two lectures delivered before the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, on February 24th and March 23rd, 1864 / by Robert Bentley. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    A thorough acquaintance with the articles of the materia medica should be, there- fore, your first chief consideration ; and it is with the hope of being instrumental in assisting you in its study that I shall in this and a succeeding lecture review, as far as time will allow me, the more important changes which the organic ma- teria medica of the present Pharmacopceia has undergone when compared with the last published editions of the Pharmacopoeias of the United Kingdom, and also explain briefly the essential characteristics of those substances which may ajDpear to me to require them, more especially those which are for the first time to be found in a British Pharmacopceia, or which are new to the limits for- merly comprised by the London Pharmacopceia. In the preface of the British Pharmacopoeia we read that, “ the materia medica contains, in its simplest pharmaceutic form, every definite medicinal substance, whether obtainable in ordinary trade or prepared by the chemical processes in the second part, which the committee of the Council found, on careful inquiry, to be so far approved in practice as to be entitled to a place in a National Pharmacopceia. Under each article are given :—1. A Latin Phar- maceutic name, by which it may be prescribed ; and an English name, for use in describing the processes in the second part; 2. Its definition, together with its chemical symbol if it be a substance of definite composition, its botanical name if it be a plant, or its botanical source if procured from a plant; and also, in most cases, a reference to a correct figure of the plant, and a statement of the quarter whence the article is obtained ; 3. The characters by which it may be distinguished from all other articles of the materia medica; 4. The tests by which it may be ascertained to be of due strength, and free from known impurities or adulterations; and 5. The preparations of which it is an active ingre- dient.” It is remarkable that no allusion is here made to the mode pursued in treating of the articles of the materia medica which are derived from the animal king- dom. It is just possible that this omission may have been an intentional one, from the small number of animal substances which are ordered to be used in the Pharmacopoeia. We think, however, it is desirable for you to know, that animals and animal products are treated of in an analogous manner to plants and vegetable products. The above extract from the preface will show that the materia medica of the British Pharmacopoeia forms a very important portion of that volume. Altogether it is comprised in one hundred and fifty-seven pages, or in but seventy-seven less than the part treating of the preparations and compounds. This is, at least, three times the space which has hitherto been devoted to the materia medica in any British Pharmacopoeia. The object of this more detailed account has evidently been to provide an epitome of the subject, which should comprise everything that was most essential to be known, as well as to form a founda- tion for future studies. The increased importance given to the materia medica in the present Pharmacopoeia we regard as a great improvement and material advance over the plan pursued in preceding Pharmacopoeias, and one which we feel sure will be duly appreciated. Although thus cordially welcoming this improvement in the materia medica, there is, we think, one great omission which will mar its usefulness, that is, the complete absence of any reference to the doses of the crude di-ugs and their different preparations. Some account of the doses of the various substances was more especially called for in a work which introduces to our notice many new, and, in some cases, but comparatively little known and po-werful drugs, and in which numerous old and familiar preparations have been altered materially in strength. We trust to see this omission rectified in a future issue, so that the Pharmacopcnia may contain in itself all that prescribers and dispensers are absolutely required to know. We should also like to see more care taken in