Am.  J  our.  Pharm.  \ 
March,  1904.  j 
A  Symposium. 
139 
Pharmacy. — -The  art  which  has  for  its  province  the  preparation 
of  drugs  for  practical  use  in  medicine. 
Therapeutics. — The  science  and  art  whose  province  is  the  use  of 
medicines  for  the  relief  of  disease. 
Materia  Medica  has  never  been  divided,  so  far  as  I  know,  into 
component  parts  in  terminology,  but  has  for  a  subordinate  term, 
Pharmacognosy t  which  is  the  science  and  art  of  the  recognition  of 
drugs. 
Therapeutics  is  divided — 
(1)  Pharmacodynamics,  the  science  which  treats  of  the  action  of 
drugs  upon  living  forms,  especially  upon  the  animal  creation.  It  is 
equivalent  to  the  term,  Physiological  actio?i  of  drugs. 
(2)  Practical  Therapeutics,  the  art  of  applying  the  knowledge  ac- 
quired in  Pharmacodynamics  to  the  relief  of  disease. 
Horatio  C.  Wood. 
Philadelphia,  January  15,  1904. 
Dear  Sir: 
In  reply  to  your  letter  of  inquiry  let  me  state  that  I  use  the 
word  "  Pharmacology  "  to  describe  what  might  be  called  the  Labo- 
ratory or  Experimental  Method  of  Studying  the  Action  of  Drugs. 
I  apply  the  term  "  Materia  Medica  "  to  the  list  of  medicinal  mate- 
rials which  are  employed  for  the  relief  or  cure  of  disease,  and  the 
term  "  Pharmacognosy "  to  the  study  of  the  individual  constitu- 
ents of  the  Materia  Medica,  pharmaceutically,  botanically  and 
chemically. 
Very  truly  yours,  H.  A.  Hare. 
Philadelphia,  January  15,  1904. 
My  dear  Dr.  Kraemer  : 
Your  desire  to  bring  about  a  sharper  definition  of  the  terms  relat- 
ing to  the  branches  of  science  dealing  with  drugs,  is  most  laudable. 
Its  necessity  is  shown,  for  instance,  by  the  fact  that  Webster's 
Dictionary  gives  as  one  of  the  definitions  of  pharmacology  :  The  art 
of  preparing  medicines.  This  meaning  of  the  word  is  now  so  obso- 
lete that  its  retention  can  only  lead  to  ridiculous  mistakes.  The 
Century  Dictionary  gives  a  much  more  acceptable  definition ;  but  it 
fails  to  differentiate  between  pharmacology,  pharmacognosy  and 
materia  medica.  The  etymology  of  these  words,  indeed,  does  not 
furnish  any  basis  for  their  differentiation.    The  development  of  the 
