692 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [February 24, 1872. 
of plants to each other, and their arrangement or classi¬ 
fication according to affinity ; fourth, palmontological, 
or fossil botany, or the distribution of plants in time ; 
fifth, geographical botany, or the distribution of plants 
in space; and last, though not least, economic or applied 
botany, or the use of plants and their application to the 
economy of life. This latter may be subdivided into (A) 
that which interests itself in living plants, viz. 1 , agri¬ 
cultural, or field culture; 2, horticultural, or garden 
culture; and 3, arboricultural, or tree or forest culture : 
and (B) of the utilization of plants in 1 , food : 2, medi¬ 
cine ; and 3, manufactures. It is to the latter sub¬ 
division we shall principally confine our remarks. First, 
then, I refer to its educational aspects. 
The study of economic botany, or, at least, the medical 
portion of it, enters as a part, and a very necessary part, 
into the curriculum of medical and pharmaceutical 
.students, especially of the latter. I have used the words 
“ very necessary,” advisedly, as I may be reminded of the 
opinion of an eminent professor, one who is deservedly 
looked up to as an authority in all that pertains to 
natural history, as to the value of a knowledge of materia 
medica to medical students. He has expressed himself 
that such knowledge is as much good to medical students 
.as “ making them belong to the Iron and Steel Institute 
and learn something about cutlery because they use 
knives.” But I venture to think that the comparison 
does not hold good. A student knows that it is steel he 
is using, and does not need to be taught the difference 
between such a substance and, say, a linen bandage, 
neither is he likely ever to mistake the one for the other. 
A medical man depends largely for his medicines upon 
the pharmacist, by whom they are prepared with a 
greater amount of skill than he could bring to bear ; 
yet, apart from all considerations of a liberal professional 
training, it is highly necessary that he should know some¬ 
thing of the history of the drugs which he administers; for 
instance, he should know the difference between cusparia 
and nux vomica barks, or between horseradish and aco¬ 
nite roots, and be able to discern between the true and the 
false, the pure and the adulterated; moreover, he should 
he prepared to act for himself in the absence of assist¬ 
ance from a pharmacist. If such very necessary know¬ 
ledge were, as a rule, wanting—which, happily, is far 
from being the case—at least one part of the French 
wit’s definition of a medical man, as one who pours 
medicine, of which he knows little, into a system of 
which he knows less, would certainly be correct. And 
we may here remark that by far the largest, most valu- 
.able, and accurate portion of our knowledge of economic 
botany is due to the labours of those whose professions 
have required some acquaintance with the subject, the 
pursuit being of such interest that the acquirement of 
even a modicum of knowledge, for purposes of examina¬ 
tion, proves an incentive to its further study. 
The teaching of economic botany in schools I look 
upon as of the highest importance. The object of teach¬ 
ing is to supply knowledge that shall enable the recipient 
to take his or her place in the world’s great workshop 
with credit and success; to fit for the counting-house, 
the market, the shop, or the home, either in this country 
or abroad. It is a well-recognized fact that it is not 
sufficient to teach the “three R’s,” but that it is neces¬ 
sary also to call forth and train the thinking powers, 
and develope the faculty of observation. “ Sight,” it has 
been truly observed, “is a faculty, seeing an art.” Like 
a mirror, the eye reflects an object, but unless some 
knowledge or conception of the object be possessed, like 
a mirror, it, too, is insensible, for “ death lives where 
q>ower lives unused.” 
“ In the material eye, you think, sight lodged. 
The eye is but an organ. Seeing streameth 
From the soul’s inmost depths. The fine perceptive 
Nerve springeth from the brain’s mysterious workshop.” 
Often is the phrase, the “ dull routine of commercial 
life” used, and truly it is so, if the various substances 
which pass under notice have their only meaning in 
pounds, shillings and pence. But how different is the 
case if the worker knows something of the source, the 
history, and the associations of these same substances! 
How different is the interest shown in the carrying out 
of the daily duty, and how much more valuable does 
such service become! On the Continent, trade education 
is well looked to by the respective governments, and 
books are published with the specific object of enlighten- 
ing the future merchant or artisan on the characteis and 
properties of the substances which he will have to trade 
in or manipulate, for it is well understood that the well¬ 
being of a country at large is affected for better 3r for 
worse as the rate of diffusion of such knowledge is 
greater or less. As Dr. Yeats justly observes, n his 
preface to the 4 Natural History of Commerce’:—“The 
complaint is now general that this knowledge is less 
frequently met with amongst us than it should be, while 
our Continental neighbours are so sensible of its edvan- 
tages that they are providing it liberally for every man, 
woman and child within their reach. They feel tint it is 
in itself property, and the prolific source of wealth. They 
see that it cannot be carried off by an enemy, or para¬ 
lysed by a panic. They find that it costs nothng to 
defend or to ensure; that it is not merely a circuiting 
commodity yielding a single profit to its professo.’, but 
rather a fixed and constantly productive capital.” And 
speaking of the technical schools of Leipzig, Antverp, 
Berlin and Amsterdam, he says, “ In them the fiture 
Dutch or German merchant is taught to look beyond 
the limits of the Zollverein, and to regard the woild at 
large as a vast storehouse, with the contents of which he 
must make himself familiar. At school he studies the 
sources of supply for the goods he must hereafter deal 
in. A counting-house, he is told, is a place in whici he 
will be expected to use his knowledge, and not to seek it. 
He is first made acquainted with the laws and conditons 
of soil and climate, and then brought into contact vith 
specimens of produce from the different kingdoms of 
nature; these he is required to examine and describe 
methodically.” 
I am very glad to find that this Society, ever ready as 
it is to give its aid to the improvement of commerce, 
proposes holding examinations in the science and tech¬ 
nology of the various arts and manufactures of this 
country. It is assuredly a step in the right direction, 
and cannot but prove highly beneficial. What interest 
will such school teaching impart to every-day life, anl 
to the various products which meet the scholar’s eye! 
Well do I remember when, as a pupil-teacher, I tried to 
teach my class geography, other than in the parrot-like 
manner of repeating the names of various places, by 
weaving the lessons into a narrative of voyage or travel, 
describing the people, their customs, the products of the 
country, and so forth. The experiments, though crude, 
thoroughly repaid the pains taken, as shown by the 
great amount of attention given and the progress made. 
And in this manner how much additional interest can bo 
thrown into lessons in which products are mentioned, 
such as of 
“ The various treasures of the Indian strand—■ 
The fragrant cinnamon, the glowing clove, 
And all the riches of the spicy grove; 
Of drugs of power the fever’s rage to bound, 
And give soft languor to the gaping wound.” 
Even that dread implement of castigation, the fear of 
evil-doers, gets more respected when something is known 
of its history. In a dusty school-room in Hanover, some 
years ago, might have been seen a knot of boys, discuss¬ 
ing how they might rid themselves of the “ magisterial 
sceptre,” meanwhile converting the hateful canes into 
a source of amusement, by cutting and smoking them as 
impromptu cigars. Thinking that the canes were a kind 
of willow, they made up their minds to find the source, 
and extirpate the baneful plant. Seeing a waggon-load 
passing through the town, they followed, and asked the 
