38 THE MISSION OF PHARMACOGNOSY. 
earlier development of pharmacognosy, while, inversely, pharma- 
cognosy receives at the present time many impulses from com- 
mercial relations, as an example of which may be quoted the fact 
that it has to derive statistical and other information relating to — 
important drugs from consular reports. An abundant supply 
of such information is especially offered in the semi-annual re- 
ports of the firm of Gehe & Co., of Dresden, which may regu- 
larly be obtained from the booksellers. 
Only such things fall within the sphere of pharmacognostical 
consideration as cannot, for our purpose, be sufficiently investi- 
gated by a single science. With regard to many leaves, flowers, 
seeds, and fruits, it may indeed be contended that botany is 
capable of affording a sufficient description ; it is, however, 
readily to be observed that pharmaceutical requirements demand 
the consideration of other than purely botanical properties. ‘The 
changes which occur on drying, chemical qualities, commercial 
relations, and historical facts are al! equally worth knowing, 
and call forth the discriminating and classifying ability of phar- 
macognosy. 
It must, however, be admitted that the limitation and treat- 
ment of objects of pharmacognostical study are rather arbitrary. 
Pharmacognosy is by no means a branch of knowledge with 
sharply defined boundaries, and herein, in fact, lies the nature, 
_ and probably also a special charm of the science, that it enlists the 
aid of several disciplines for the single purpose of acquiring a 
more thorough knowledge of the crude substances employed as 
medicinal agents, or of parts of plants or products which are 
otherwise important from the standpoint of pharmacy. 
Pflanzenreich,” by T. F. Hanausek, 1884, pp. 485. With one hundred — 
“lecodents Ske 
