NOTES ON THE BRITISH PHARMACOPEIA. 
359 
ORIGINAL AND EXTRACTED ARTICLES. 
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES ON THE BRITISH 
PHARMACOPOEIA. 
1.—Materia Medica. 
First Notice. 
In the first leading article of the present number of the Journal will be found 
a general account of the history, construction, and nature of the various changes 
in the new Pharmacopoeia, which an Act of Parliament states “ shall for all pur¬ 
poses be deemed to be substituted throughout Great Britain and Ireland for 
the different Pharmacopoeias that have hitherto been in use in England, Scot¬ 
land, and Ireland.” As the national Pharmacopoeia of Great Britain and Ire¬ 
land, it is, therefore, properly termed the British Pharmacopoeia. We propose 
in these notes to consider, in the first place, that part of the work which refers 
to the Materia Medica. The Preface informs us that “ the Materia Medica 
contains, in its simplest pharmaceutic form, every definite medicinal substance, 
whether obtainable in ordinary trade or prepared by the chemical processes in 
the Second Part (which treats of the Preparations and Compounds), which the 
Committee of the Council found, on careful inquiry, to be so far approved in 
practice as to be entitled to a place in a National Pharmacopoeia. Under each 
article are given :—1. A Latin Pharmaceutic Name, by which it may be pre¬ 
scribed ; and an English Name, for use in describing the Processes in the 
Second Part;—2. Its Definition, together with its Chemical Symbol if it be a 
substance of definite composition, its Botanical Name if it be a Plant, or its 
Botanical source if procured from a plant; and also, in most cases, a reference 
to a correct Figure of the plant, and a statement of the quarter whence the 
article is obtained;—3. The Characters by which it may be distinguished from 
all other articles of the Materia Medica;—4. The Tests by which it may be 
ascertained to be of due strength, and free from known impurities or adultera¬ 
tions;—and 5. The Preparations of which it is an active ingredient.” 
No allusion is made in the Preface to the mode pursued in treating of the 
articles of the Materia Medica contained in the Pharmacopoeia which are de¬ 
rived from the Animal Kingdom. It is possible that this may be an intentional 
omission, from the small number of animal substances ordered to be used ; but 
our readers will like to be informed that a nearly similar plan is adopted with 
animals and animal products as with those of plants and vegetable products. 
From this extract from the preface it will be seen that the part of the British 
Pharmacopoeia devoted to the Materia Medica forms a very important portion of 
the volume. Altogether it comprises 156 pages, or only eighty-two pages less 
than the part devoted to the Preparations and Compounds. Hence, in itself, it 
is an epitome of the Materia Medica, and should comprise, if carefully and judi¬ 
ciously written, nearly everything that is absolutely essential for the medical 
practitioner to know, and should likewise form a very valuable foundation for 
the pharmaceutist to work upon. The increased importance given to the Ma¬ 
teria Medica in the present Pharmacopoeia we regard as a most important ad¬ 
vance over preceding Pharmacopoeias, and one which, we feel sure, will be cor¬ 
dially welcomed and appreciated by our readers. 
We propose, in the first place, to direct attention to the Organic Materia Me¬ 
dica, and to commence by giving a list of the Plants, Animals, and their Pro¬ 
ducts, which were included in the last editions of the Pharmacopoeias pub¬ 
lished in the United Kingdom, but which are excluded in the present 4 British 
Pharmacopoeiaand also a similar list of substances now introduced. 
