Nov. 19, 1874] 



NA JURE 



43 



division into sections has been adopted throughout the 

 work. In the first place, " Each drug is headed by the 

 Latin name, followed by such few synonyms as may 

 suffice for perfect identification, together in most cases 

 with the English, French, and German designation. 



" In the next section, the Botanical Origin of the 

 substance is discussed, and the area of its growth or 

 locality of its production is stated." 



" Under the head of Ili.s/ory, the authors have endea- 

 voured to trace the introduction of each substance into 

 medicine, and to bring forw.ird other points in connection 

 therewith, which have not hitherto been much noticed in 

 any previous work." 



" In some instances the l-'oiination, Secrciicn, ox Mctliod 

 of Collcclion of a drug has been next detailed : in others, 

 the section History has been immediately followed by the 

 Description, succeeded by one in which the more salient 

 features of Microscopic Structure have been set forth." 



The next division includes the important subject of 

 Clicmical Composition ; then follows a section devoted to 

 Production and Commerce ; and lastly, observations, 

 chiefiy dictated by actual experience, on Adulteration 

 and on the Substitutes which in the case of certain drugs 

 are occasionally found in commerce, though scarcely to 

 be regarded in the light of adulterants. 



" The medicinal uses of each ijarticular drug arc only 

 slightly mentioned, it being felt that the science of thera- 

 peutics lies within the province of the physician, and may 

 be wisely relinquished to his care." 



The reader must not judge the Preface by the discon- 

 nected sentences which have been quoted to serve a parti- 

 cular puqjose. Only sufficient has been copied to explain 

 briefly, and as far as possible in the authors' own terms, 

 the general scheme of their work. 



The plan, as will be seen, is one of great comprehen- 

 siveness, and the execution throughout is of characteristic 

 thoroughness. A single article taken at random from 

 the book would be better evidence than any criticism, of 

 the exhaustive character of the treatment ; but unfortu- 

 nately, considerations of space preclude anything more 

 than a few general remarks suggested by a first perusal. 



The investigation of the botanical origin of drugs is 

 one which Mr. Hanbury has made his own, and {(t\s 

 writers have set at rest so many debated questions in this 

 division of the subject. Completeness and accuracy of 

 the information now collected is exactly what might have 

 been expected. The student who knows only the British 

 Pharmacopoeia will find much to learn, and something to 

 unlearn, concerning the originof many common medicinal 

 substances. In some cases the coriections necessary 

 arise merely out of questions of priority in botanical 

 nomenclature, but in others the errors are founded in the 

 wrong identification of the plants. For instance, Jateorhisa 

 pahnata, Miers, is the name accepted, for reasons 

 given in the text, for the plant yielding calumba root, 

 rather than the alternative specific terms of the Pharma- 

 copoeias. Oil of cajuput is assigned to Melaleuca leuca- 

 dcndron, L., whilst in the liritish Pharmacopoeia and the 

 Paris Codex it is referred to M. minor, DC, and in that 

 of the United States to M. cajuputi, Roxb. Sumbul 

 Root, the botanical history of which in our Pharmacopcei.i 

 is stated to be unknown, appears as the product of 

 Euryanqium Suml'ul, Kauffman, a plant of tlic natural 



order Umbellifer;c. On the other hand, in speaking of 

 the botanical origin of Myrrh, which the Pharmacopoeia, 

 without show of doubt, assigns to llalsainodendron 

 niyrrha, Ehrenb., it is stated that " the botany of the 

 myrrh trees is still encompassed with uncertainty, which 

 will not be removed until the very localities in which the 

 drug is collected shall have been well explored by a com- 

 |)elent observer." It would be easy to multiply examples, 

 but beyond a passing allusion to Pareira ISrava as the 

 root of Chondodendron tomentosum, Ruiz et Pav., a fact 

 determined by Mr. Hanbury's researches, this portion of 

 the subject need not be dwelt upon. 



The information given under the head of " Plistory " has 

 a general as well as a technical value. All sorts of 

 writers, ancient and inodern, have been laid under 

 tribute ; and the glimpses one obtains, not only of the 

 medical but of the domestic employment of drugs in 

 past times, are full of interest. 



This running commentary need not be extended to all 

 the headings under which the treatment of each substance 

 is arranged. The term "Substitute" as distinct from 

 " Adulteration," perhaps needs a word of explanation. 

 It is employed to comprise substances occasionally met 

 with in commerce, the product of plants more or less 

 closely allied to the officinal one ; for instance, the wood 

 of Quassia amara instead of that of Picrcena cxcclsa, the 

 occurrence of the root of Aristolochia reticulata in place 

 of A. serpentaria, or of the dried plant of Piper adunatm 

 in lieu of the true Matico. 



The notices of Indian officinal drugs have the interest 

 of novelty to European students, but beyond this leave 

 little room for present remark. In course of time some 

 of them may be introduced at home, and in any case, 

 with the amount of communication which exists between 

 England and her Eastern possessions, nothing which 

 concerns the one can be unimportant to the other. 

 Indian medical men are largely drawn from this country, 

 and by them, at least, they will be gratefully received. 



The only department of the book which does not yield 

 unalloyed satisfaction is that which refers to " Micro- 

 scopical Structure." The descriptive paragraphs are, no 

 doubt, as good as words can make them, but mere words 

 are insufficient for the purpose. If anyone doubts this, 

 let him try to construct a drawing of microscopic struc- 

 ture from a description, and then compare it with the 

 reality; or, on the other hand, let him endeavour to 

 identify one vegetable production out of a number 

 closely allied, by means of a mere verbal definition 

 of characters. Either task is difficult at best, some- 

 times impossible. It is not to our credit that there 

 should be no British work of reference containing a com- 

 plete series of illustrations of the anatomy of drugs. What 

 is wanted is not so much an elaborate atlas, like that of Ur. 

 Berg, with large, ideal, diagrammatic drawings, suggested 

 Ijy the microscopic appearance of the various vegetable 

 products used in medicine, as a set of figures of charac- 

 teristic portions of structure presented in a form in which 

 the working student may recognise them. How welcome 

 such an addition to the book would have been from Prof. 

 Fliickiger's skilful hand. It is only just to the authors to 

 state that they make no claim for completeness in this 

 division of the work ; indeed, they are so fully aware of 

 what is needed, that one might almost indulge in the 



