PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



THE results of the work in Pharmacognosy are being increas- 

 ingly appreciated not only in pharmacy and medicine, but in those 

 arts and professions in which technical skill is required. The 

 demand in every form of industry to-day is for those who can per- 

 form the exceptional task, for those who can detect the defects in 

 common practice and devise ways of improvement. The train- 

 ing in Pharmacognosy, as was pointed out in the first edition, is veiy 

 thorough, and the scope of the work is exceedingly broad. While 

 the science of Pharmacognosy was developed to promote the study 

 of drugs, yet in its application it requires a very practical knowl- 

 edge of nearly every substance found in nature. The author there- 

 fore has modified the definition and enlarged the scope of the sub- 

 ject. Either this was necessary or it would have been incumbent 

 to originate a new word. But as usage eventually determines a 

 definition, it is believed that nearly all pharmacognosists will agree 

 with the author in the position he has taken. 



Since the publication of the first edition of this book there have 

 been a great many contributions to the literature of Pharmacognosy. 

 These papers, prepared largely by American authors, deal with adul- 

 terations and the variations in constituents, due to the cultivation 

 of medicinal plants. Cognizance of all of this work has been taken 

 and incorporated in this new edition, thus practically bringing it 

 up to date. There has also been incorporated the Government 

 standards for spices and flavoring substances. This has been done 

 to enable the pharmacognosist to keep in mind the exact require- 

 ments which must be met in the examination of commercial products. 

 There are a great many subdivisions of Pharmacognosy and the two 

 which are commanding greatest attention to-day are, the cultivation 

 of medicinal plants and pharmaco-chemistry, the latter dealing 

 with the study of the constituents of plants. In the present volume, 

 under the several drugs which have been cultivated, will be found 

 references to the literature of important papers published since the 



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