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INTRODUCTION. 
There is no work treating of the indigenous drugs of Assam, 
Orissa, or of Behar (excepting Irvine’s short account of the 
Materia Medica of Patna, published in 1848). Notices of some 
of the medicinal plants and indigenous drugs of Assam 
and Orissa are to be found in the Gazetteer volumes of those 
provinces. 
There have been a host of medical men to work out the 
medicinal plants and indigenous drugs of Madras. In the early 
days of the East India Company, Madras, the so-called benighted 
Presidency of to-day, attracted more scientific and medical men 
than any other part of India. It was on the Madras side that 
most of the illustrated works on Indian Botany were prepared. 
Rheede’s “ Hortus Malabarica,” Roxburgh’s “ Coromandel 
Plants,” Wight’s “ leones,” Beddome’s “ Flora Sylvatica” were 
all prepared by men who labored in that Presidency. Ainslie’s 
“ Materia Medica of Hindustan ” published in 1813, and “ Materia 
Indica ” published in 1826, are still works of reference on the 
indigenous drugs of Madras. Waring was another authority on 
the Madras indigenous drugs. His labors have been embodied 
in the Pharmacopoeia of India. 
Bidie’s “ Paris Exhibition Catalogue of Raw Products of 
Southern India ” is a useful publication on the indigenous 
drugs of Madras. In the Madras Quarterly and Monthly 
Journal of Medical Science, there are several papers from his 
pen on the subject of indigenous drugs. 
Moodeen Sheriff will always occupy a prominent place 
amongst the workers on the subject of indigenous drugs. His 
Supplement to the Pharmacopoeia of India established his repu- 
tation as a pharmaceutist of no mean order. His posthumous 
work on the “ Materia Medica of Madras,” has brought our in- 
formation on some of the indigenous drugs of that Presidency 
up to date. It is unfortunate, however, that this work did not 
receive the last finishing touch of the author. 
The indigenous drugs of Bombay, though neglected for a 
long time, have recently received proper attention. Dalzell and 
Gibson’s “ Bombay Flora,” published in 1861, paved the way 
to the better study of the subject. Birdweod’s “ Vegetable 
