PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS. 



Definitions. 



Pliarmacdogy is deriTed from the Greek, Pharmakoa, 

 H drug, and is the sum of all exact knowledge pertaining to 

 drugs, and therefore embraces Materia Medica, Therapeu- 

 tics, and Pharmacy. 



Materia Medica, derived from two Latin words signi- 

 fying medical materials, treats of the derivation, natural 

 history, physical and chemical properties, physiological 

 actions, doses, and tests of purity of drugs. • A special term 

 sometimes used to describe the physical and chemical 

 properties of drugs is Fharmacognosy, while Pharmaco- 

 dynamics refers to the action of drugs on healthy animals. 



Therapeutics, derived from the Greek, Therapevo, mean- 

 ing to serve or attend the sick, is that branch of knowledge 

 ■which trea:ts of the application of all means — medicinal 

 or otherwise — to the cure of disease or relief of pain. The 

 term has been further subdivided as follows: Rational 

 'iTierapeutics, which treats of the application of drugs as 

 i'ounded on their physiological actions; Empirical Thera- 

 peutics, the use of drugs as based on clinical evidence; and 

 General Therapeutics, the use of remedial agents other than 

 drugs, e.g.. Heat, Cold, Electricity, Food, etc. 



Pharmacy is the art of preparing, compounding, dis- 

 pensing and preserving drugs. 



Toxicology, derived from the Greek, Toxikon, a poison, is 

 that branch of knowledge which treats of the nature, actions, 

 detection and treatment of poisons. 



A medicine is an agent of animal, vegetable or mineral 



origin used for the cure of disease or relief of pain. The 



word cure, signifies literally to care for, from the Latin 

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