lviii INTRODUCTION. 



any material addition to our knowledge of the subject. In the 

 second International Exhibition in London of 1862, Dr. J. F. 

 Watson was placed in charge of the indigenous drugs. For 

 the first time, several indigenous drugs were brought to light. 



In the interval between the first exhibition of 1851 and the 

 second one of 1862, several exhibitions were held in different 

 parts of this country. But I do not think they added anything 

 to our knowledge of indigenous drugs. 



The publication of the Pharmacopoeia of India in 1867 

 under the authority of Her Majesty's Secretary of State for 

 India marked an epoch in the history of the subject. To this 

 day, that stands out as the authoritative work on the native 

 remedies of this country. " With the view, firstly, of bringing 

 to the notice of the profession in India those indigenous drugs 

 which European experience has proved to possess value as 

 medicinal agents, and which may be employed as efficient sub- 

 stitutes for imported articles ; and, secondly, of remodelling 

 the Bengal Pharmacopoeia of 1844, Her Majesty's Secretary of 

 State for India in Council was pleased to sanction the publica- 

 tion of a Pharmacopoeia for India based upon the British 

 Pharmacopoeia, which, while affording all the information 

 contained in that work of practical use in India, would embody 

 and combine with it such supplementary matter of special 

 value in that country as should adapt it to meet the require- 

 ments of the Indian Medical Department." * 



The information that lay scattered among a large number 

 of periodicals was brought together in this work and made 

 accessible for reference to the medical officers serving in this 

 country. Between the publication in Calcutta of the Bengal 

 Pharmacopoeia in 1814, and the issue of the Indian Pharma 

 copoeia in 1868, that is during the period of twenty-four years, 

 great advances were made in our knowledge regarding the me- 

 dicinal properties and therapeutic uses of the indigenous drugs. 



The establishment of Medical Colleges and schools in this 

 country also advanced our knowledge of indigenous drugs. The 

 graduates whom the colleges turned out directed their attention 



* Preface to the Indian Pharmacopoeia, p.vi. 



