TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. 
Tue generally acknowledged importance of the study of 
pharmacognosy as a branch of useful knowledge, and the con- 
stantly increasing recognition of its extended practical, as well 
as scientific applications, will doubtless afford to all who are 
conversant with the subject a sufficient vindication for the pro- 
duction of an English version of a work which bears, as its 
highest commendation, the names and impress of its distin- 
guished authors. _ 
The work, here presented will doubtless at once indicate the 
aim and the scope of the science of pharmacognosy, and 
clearly demonstrate its intimate connection on every hand with 
chemical, botanical, and microscopical science, as also the im- 
pulse afforded for the further investigation of points of his- 
toric interest and a more extended knowledge of the geograph- 
ical or climatic and commercial relations of vegetable products 
in their varied applications, either as medicinal remedies, as 
food, or in the arts. 
However important the consideration of the physiological 
action and therapeutic uses of drugs may be from the stand- 
point of medical science, it is evident that this alone should 
not suffice for the professional pharmacist or for pharmaceuti- 
cal students, who should be instructed in the science of phar- 
macognosy in its broadest sense. It is thus to be hoped that 
the principles outlined in the work in question may serve to 
broaden the exposition of the — materia medica in ape . 
