INTRODUCTION. lxi 



indigenous drugs of Bengal till the publication of O'Shaugh- 

 nessy's Bengal Dispensatory in 1842. Before the publication of 

 this work, information concerning indigenous drugs was scat- 

 tered in the journals and transactions of several learned societies, 

 which were not easily accessible to all members of the medical 

 profession. Mr. Louis DaCosta wrote in the Journal of the Ben- 

 gal Asiatic Society for May, 1837, " it is a desideratum to know 

 how the natives have treated the subject of medicaments — what 

 of good their books contain— what of error. Our medical prac- 

 tice pays, perhaps, too little attention to vegetable remedies, of 

 which the orientals possess an infinite variety, many inert but 

 many active, and many also quite unknown to Europeans." The 

 Bengal Dispensatory supplied a long-felt want on the subject. 

 This was followed in 1844 by the Bengal Pharmacopoeia. These 

 two works form important landmarks in the literature of indi- 

 genous drugs. They were not free from errors. Even the 

 author acknowledged that his multifarious duties prevented him 

 from bestowing that amount of attention on the subject which 

 its importance demanded. But considering the difficulties he 

 had to contend with, the scanty materials which existed on the 

 literature at his time, I think great credit is due to him for his 

 works. He was one of the pioneers in this field of research. And 

 it should not be forgotten that his Pharmacopoeia of Bengal 

 subsequently formed the groundwork of the Pharmacopoeia of 

 India. 



The next work on the " Indigenous drugs of Bengal" is that 

 of Kanay Lai Dey. That gentleman is a well-known authority 

 on the subject. In 1862, for the International Exhibition held 

 in London, he forwarded indigenous drugs chiefly of Bengal. 

 The catalogue of drugs exhibited by him was subsequently pub- 

 lished in book-form at the request of the Inspector-General of 

 Civil Hospitals of Bengal. This work was a decided improve- 

 ment on O'Shaughnessy's Pharmacopoeia and Dispensatory. 



No other work on the indigenous drugs of Bengal deserves 

 any notice. Mr. T. N. Mukerji's " Catalogue of Amsterdam 

 Exhibition" is a useful one, but it is principally compiled from 

 the above sources. 



