137 



opposed to the introduction of such standards into the Pharmacopoeia. This surprise 

 was considerably augmented when Doctor Maisch gave as his reason the statement 

 that if a man kiu-\v drugs as he should it would not be necessary to examine them 

 chemically to determine their quality. Although we can not in these days admit 

 the propriety of neglecting chemical standardization, for this or any other reason, 

 yet subsequent experience has shown that Doctor Maisch's claim to be able to judge 

 the quality "f drugs without recourse to chemical methods is largely justified. 



The Deceafflty of such knowledge is apparent when we reflect that of the 167 crude 

 vegetable drugs of the Pharmacopoeia, chemical standards are prescribed for only 22, and 

 \ct the Pharmacopoeia does not recognize more than one-half of the nonstandardized 

 artieles in i -omnion use. It is true that chemists employ quantitative methods, all 

 iii'M.- or less satisfactory, in the case of ten or a dozen others, which are not thus 

 in -a i -d in the Pharmacopoeia. Admitting these to full membership, how over- 

 whelming still is the majority upon the other side! Let it not be said that the non- 

 assayahle li.-t n- presents only unimportant drugs. It is one of the great temptations 

 of the hcmi.-t t<> underrate subjects with which he does not deal, and he is apt to 

 p IHIX! //o/-, tryn j>rpter hoc. Let us not forget that it is the extreme variability 

 in ;u ii\it\ of surh drugs as veratrum, digitalis, ergot, and cannabis indica, coupled 

 with their exceeding importance in medicine, which has forced a resort to physio- 

 logical standardization, applicable as yet to but few drugs. It is this tendency to 

 vary in quality and our general inability to estimate such quality that has to a great 

 e\ lent destroyed the usefulness of some drugs which would otherwise be generally 

 relie.l n|M.n. A.- illu.-trat ions, let us note male fern, spigelia, cusso, and other anthel- 

 inintics, Winter'.- hark, ..t<> bark, and chrysarobin. The importance of the drugs 

 named is relatively greater than that of the assayable ones, by virtue of the fact that 

 the latter -an be -ul..-t ituted by their proximate principles, while the former can not. 



Th< lenient of weakness in the chemical assay of drugs, which 



ally mil L'ate.l by attention t> their macrosopical and microscopical characters, 

 q unit ly more or less chagrined by the thought that after all he 

 does not know what it i* that he has in hand after he has extracted the full required 

 pen-enlace ,,f alkaloid by the prescribed method, since part of it may have been 

 extracted fnun an admixture. Impurities in drugs, either from accident or design, 

 may and frequent 1\ d<> fail of detection by the chemist, even in the case of freely 

 assayable drugs, where detection would be simple by intelligent physical examina- 

 tion before a8a\ 



en the great array of unofficial and unimportant drugs can not be dismissed 

 from the eln-mi.-t'> ken because of their want of substantial therapeutic activity. 

 They are in common use and some one pays for them the money which is his property 

 and \vhieh entitle.- him to the receipt of what he pays for. He may be deprived of 

 the pro tret i\e aid of the Pharmacopoeia without having his legal or professional 

 ri.u'ht.- in an\ degree curtailed. Indeed, the chemist himself is a deeply interested 

 party in this class of transactions. Every commercial chemist will admit that some 

 of his most profitable work lies in the field of the unofficial materia medica, and 

 where the di.-tinctly chemical indications are usually indefinite and faint. It seems 

 quite unnecessary to argue further that a knowledge of the physical identification 

 characters of vegetable drugs is of great service to the chemist. Is it too much to 

 say that the field of success thus opened to him is far greater, as to crude vegetable 

 drugs, than that which he can control by chemical methods alone? I feel very 

 sure that such a statement is just and moderate. 



Thi, l.eint,' so, how far can macroscopical and microscopical methods supply the 

 deficiency? And how great an expenditure of effort and time does it require? 

 may he admitted at once that to secure an expert knowledge of this subject requires 

 the .-am*- kind and degree of application that it does to become an expert chemist, 

 but it is at the same time true that a very moderate amount of effort, intelligently 



