INTRODUCTION. 
A Plea for Empiricism, in which were embodied pleadings for justice 
in behalf of men no longer upon earth, but whose painstaking work has 
been far-reaching in its effects. The views then expressed are yet 
entertained by the writer, and with no less earnestness. 
The record of American as well as of foreign drugs establishes 
that to the so-called empiricists of the past must be credited the dis- 
covery and introduction of practically one and all the remedial vege- 
table agents now in use. To these individuals the professions of medi- 
cine and pharmacy are no less indebted than are the people in other 
walks of life. These facts also permitted the inference (before men- 
tioned) that from the same class, the empiricists, will come other 
vegetable remedial agents, destined to serve the needs of suffering 
humanity. 
This writer, to-day, believes with heartfelt earnestness, that even 
the unlettered aborigines of all lands whose products serve civilization, 
are entitled to civilization’s lasting obligations. The story is a common 
one. Necessity of environment, or accident, led primitive man into 
a search of nature’s secrets. Observant pioneers, or adventurers, 
applied the discoveries of the aborigines to their own domestic uses. 
The man of commerce served next his part in the distribution of such 
drugs and foods, and finally systematic, professional students further 
elaborated these products that, but for the empiricist of the past, pre- 
ceded by the aborigines in the time beyond, might not otherwise be 
known. 
The Pharmacopeial Vegetable Materia Medica—As before 
stated, the pages that follow carry the titles of every vegetable drug 
of the Pharmacopeia of the United States, 1900 Revision. Of neces- 
sity, only enough is chronicled of each drug’s beginning to point to the 
peoples or the individuals who introduced them to medicine and phar- 
macy, no attempt being made to follow the details of subsequent manip- 
ulation. Brevity in the record is a necessity. References to the Bib- 
liography appended to the work, indicate that an attempt at more than 
fairly detailed historical credit would have been impracticable, the aim 
being merely to establish the general introduction of each drug. Nor 
is the first link in the chain often seen. The beginning of the use of 
most vegetable remedial agents antedates written history. As a rule, 
the earliest authorities cited herein base their statements upon those of 
others, the details being now lost in antiquity, or veiled by tradition. 
Many worthy compilers, historians, travelers, explorers, and authors, 
whose part in the passing along will sometime be duly credited, have 
unquestionably been overlooked, and hence unintentionally neglected. 
In this connection, a review of the Bibliography of this Bulletin indi- 
cates the number of publications cited that, seemingly far from medi- 
cine, point to others that are of historic value. 
Concerning the Bibliography.—The writer has freely accepted, 
especially as regards Old World and Oriental products, the statements 
and references of authorities in whom he has full confidence, deeming 
it unnecessary to verify bibliographical statements, even though the 
original documents were conveniently at hand, unless there were a par- 
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