133 
A  Symposium. 
I  Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
t      March,  1904. 
been  dissolved  in  150*0  gm.  of  water.  Then  dissolve  o-6o  gm. 
of  the  suspected  extract  in  45  c.c.  of  water,  add  one-half  of  the  alka- 
line cupric  sulphate  solution  and  boil  for  one  or  two  minutes;  genu- 
ine meat  extract  does  not  produce  any  precipitation,  while  yeast 
extract  produces  a  copious  bluish  white  curdy  precipitate. 
New  Process  for  Zinc  Oxide. — The  Chemist  and  Druggist  (1904, 
page  40)  credits  Sir  William  Ramsay  with  devising  a  process  for 
making  zinc  oxide  direct  from  ore  or  tailings  by  dissolving  the  zinc 
in  the  ores  in  sulphuric  acid,  precipitating  with  ammonia  and  sub- 
jecting the  resulting  hydrate  to  intense  heat  in  a  muffled  furnace. 
A   SYMPOSIUM   ON   THE   MEANING  OF  THE  TERMS, 
PHARMACOLOGY,   PHARMACOGNOSY,  MATERIA 
MEDICA  AND  RELATED  TERMS. 
Owing  to  the  recent  developments  in  the  study  of  pharmacology, 
and  also  owing  to  the  confusion  which  seems  to  exist  in  the  minds 
of  a  good  many  people  in  regard  to  the  meaning  of  this  and  other 
terms,  applied  in  the  study  of  drugs  and  medicines,  it  occurred  to 
the  editor  of  this  Journal  that  it  would  be  interesting  and  profitable 
to  have  these  terms  denned  according  to  their  modern  acceptation 
and  uses ;  and  with  this  end  in  view  letters  have  been  sent  to  a 
number  of  physicians  and  professors  in  these  branches,  in  various 
parts  of  the  country.  The  replies  follow  in  the  order  of  the  dates 
on  which  they  were  written  or  received  : 
Dear  Professor  Kraemer : 
The  use  of  pharmacological  terms  by  writers  has  been  so  various 
and  often  so  absurd  that  custom  may  be  said  to  favor  anything 
except  unity  of  employment  of  terms  of  this  character.  The  fol- 
lowing scheme  seems  to  me  as  near  the  original  meaning  of  the 
terms  as  can  be  at  this  time  guessed,  and  to  be  the  proper  use  of 
them  from  the  scientific  point  of  view. 
Pharmacology. — The  science  which  treats  of  drugs  in  all  their 
properties  and  possible  relations;  and  includes  as  subordinate  terms 
Materia  Medica,  Pharmacy  and  Therapeutics. 
Materia  Medica. — The  science  which  treats  of  the  natural  and 
commercial  history  of  drugs,  their  physical  properties  and  their 
chemistry. 
