286 
EDITORIAL. 
have  been  adopted.  In  describing  each  drug,  after  its  botanical  characters, 
its  history  is  noticed,  which  is  made  to  include*  the  habits,  geographical 
distribution  and  chemical  characters  of  the  plant.  Under  the  head  of  pro- 
perties and  uses,  the  medical  properties  and  applications  of  drugs  are 
described,  with  their  doses.  All  the  saline  and  other  inorganic  substances 
recognized  in  Eclectic  practice  are  arranged  under  their  ordinary  Latin 
chemical  names,  as  Argenti  Nitras,  Cupri  Sulphas,  Plurnbi  Acetas,  &c.  In 
the  previous  edition,  the  author  had  made  free  use  of  the  papers  on  Ameri- 
can plants,  published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  and  other 
original  sources,  without,  except  in  a  few  instances,  giving  credit  to  their 
authors,  a  species  of  injustice  against  which  we  protested  in  our  former 
notice.  We  are  pleased  to  observe  that  in  the  present  edition  this  fault 
has  in  great  measure  been  corrected.  In  reading  over  a  number  of  chapters 
there  is  an  irregularity  observable  in  the  treatment  of  subjects  which  must 
be  attributed  to  the  imperfect  digestion  which  the  subject  matter  has  under- 
gone in  the  mind  of  the  compiler;  and,  indeed,  the  abundant  quotations 
from  standard  works,  and  occasionally  their  want  of  fitness  in  position, 
render  it  apparent  that  in  many  instances,  the  labor  has  been  rather  of 
the  scissors  than  the  brain.  It  follows,  therefore,  that  in  such  portions  of 
the  work,  Dr.  King  ceases  to  be  an  authority  in  Materia  Medica.  A  com- 
pilation must  be  something  more  than  a  collection  of  quotations  to  be  an 
authority.  It  must  be  a  collection  of  facts  that  have  been  carefully  collated 
and  compared,  and  when  of  doubtful  value,  the  judgment  of  the  compiler 
must  come  in  to  the  assistance  of  the  reader.  We  admire  the  perseverance 
and  industry  with  which  Dr.  King  has  met  his  difficulties,  albeit  they  were 
of  his  own  procuring ;  we  esteem  this  portion  of  his  book  as  a  great  im- 
provement on  others  of  Eclectic  origin  that  have  come  under  our  notice  ; 
and  he  certainly  is  Eclectic  in  his  sense  of  the  word,  in  seeking  facts  from 
various  sources  to  swell  his  volume,  yet  he  cannot  be  considered  as  a  master 
in  science.  There  are  few  persons  well  qualified  for  the  task  of  writing  a 
work  on  Materia  Medica.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  look  upon  a  Dispensa- 
tory as  a  mere  compilation  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  term.  The  author 
of  such  a  work  must  be  a  botanist  in  something  more  than  reading,  and 
he  must  be  acquainted,  to  some  extent,  with  zoology  and  mineralogy,  else 
he  will  be  constantly  at  the  mercy  of  imperfect  observers  by  being  unable 
to  correct  their  errors  or  get  at  the  truth  by  comparison.  He  must  be  a 
druggist  in  the  sense  of  a  practical  acquaintance  with  drugs,  else  he  can- 
not describe  them  from  the  commercial  stand-point;  he  must  be  a  pharma- 
ceutist, practically  familiar  with  the  processes  of  the  Pharmacopoeias,  and 
with  the  action  of  menstruua  and  the  reactions  of  organic  matter  occurring 
in  them  ;  and  above  all,  he  must  be  a  chemist,  theoretically  and  practically: 
chemistry  is  the  touchstone  by  which  he  is  to  satisfy  himself  in  regard  to 
species  and  varieties,  to  draw  distinctions  where  botany  fails  to  lend  her 
aid,  and  to  satisfy  himself  of  the  value  of  the  numerous  observations  daily 
offered  in  the  Journals;  and  lastly,  the  author  of  a  Dispensatory  must  be 
