ON THE STUI)"^ OF BOTANY IN CONNECTION ■VYITIl PIIABMACY. 113 
( 
under which they have been placed, which, in our present imperfect know¬ 
ledge we have overlooked, or regarded as unimportant, for no one can as 
yet form, any conclusions of value as to the effect an apparently trifling 
difference of structure would produce, or what change might not be occa¬ 
sioned by an alteration of the conditions under which plants were placed. Such 
exceptions, therefore, instead of discouraging and inducing us to lay aside the 
search after a true natural system as useless, should rather act as a stimulus to 
further investigation ; for, to use the words of Linnaeus, the formation of a true 
natural system should be regarded as the “primum et ultimum in botanicis 
desideratum.” 
We find, therefore, that a pharmaceutist possessed of a good knowledge of 
botany would, in case of need, or in a deficiency of supply in the drugs of ordi¬ 
nary use, and with which he was well acquainted, possess a clue to the resources 
by which he was surrounded, and would accordingly, in many cases at least, be 
as much at home in a comparatively unknown country as in his own native 
land ; for such knowledge would enable him to search for new remedies, when 
he would be almost certain to find something of value, not only for his own use, 
but for that of the world at large. In this way he might be the instrument of 
discovering a most important remedial agent, which by the blessings it would 
confer upon mankind would be the means of handing down his name to posterity 
as one of the great benefactors of the human race. In this respect alone, there¬ 
fore, a knowledge of botany cannot but be considered as of the most essential ser¬ 
vice to the pharmaceutist whether residing in this or any other part of the world. 
Another way in which an intimate acquaintance with the parts of plants 
would be of the greatest advantage to the pharmaceutist is, by the assistance 
it would afford him when called upon to ascertain the cause of death or 
otherwise in cases of suspected poisoning. Some persons, whilst admitting 
that a pharmaceutist should possess that amount of acquaintance with botany 
which would enable him to recognise the common medical plants and distin¬ 
guish their parts from those of an analogous nature usually employed for their 
adulteration, or for which they have been accidentally substituted,—neverthe¬ 
less regard as unimportant any knowledge of the internal structure of plants 
and their organs, and would consider the time spent upon such investigations 
as so much withdrawn from more practical and important studies. Such a 
general knowledge of plants would be, however, useless as a guide to the 
toxicologist in his search for the cause of disease or death in cases of suspected 
poisoning. A minute acquaintance with the external configuration and 
condition of the surface of the parts of plants, and of their internal struc¬ 
ture, is that alone which would here be serviceable to him, and armed with 
such knowledge, he would frequently, by examining the contents of the 
stomach by the unassisted eye, or by a simple magnifier, or by the aid of a 
more powerful microscope, be able to trace the cause of death or disease 
to some small fruits or seeds, or to some other parts of poisonous plants, 
and thus be in a position immediately to assign a cause for the suspicious 
symptoms or death; and would frequently, also, save by such a simple 
investigation a complicated, and perhaps unsatisfactory, chemical analysis. 
Among other fruits and seeds which would be thus readily distinguished by 
the accurate botanical observer fromtheir external configuration and character 
of surface, I may mention Hemlock, Fool’s Parsley, Aconite, Stavesacre, 
Lobelia, and Hux-vomica. A knowledge of the internal structure of the 
woody tissues of plants might also afford the pharmaceutist great assistance 
in cases of suspected poisoning by Savine, as the peculiar structure of Gym- 
nospermous wood would in such instances, unless the Savine had been admi¬ 
nistered in powder, be at once evident, and lead to its detection. 
A minute acquaintance with the internal structure of the various parts of 
VOL. VIII, I 
