204         The  Pharmacist  and  the  Pharmacopoeia.  {AmMay^*i9(Sarm^ 
have  played  a  more  or  less  important  part,  or  form  a  natural  link  in 
the  sequence  of  the  series  of  text-  or  reference-books  that  have  been 
in  continuous  use  in  this  country  for  upwards  of  a  century. 
There  appears  to  be  more  or  less  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  words  Dispensatory,  Commentary  and  Pharmacopoeia, 
so  that  it  may  be  well  to  state  what  is  meant  by  these  several  terms,, 
and  also  to  point  out  the  class  of  books  that  would  properly  come 
within  the  accepted  definition. 
The  word  Dispensatory  is  properly  applied  to  a  book  containing 
an  exhaustive  but  popular  account  of  the  physical  properties,  his- 
tory and  medicinal  uses  of  drugs  and  preparations,  that  is  intended 
to  be  of  particular  interest  and  use  to  physicians  and  others  desir- 
ing a  more  or  less  exhaustive  treatise  on  the  origin,  history  and  use 
of  drugs. 
Originally,  the  word  Dispensatory  was  applied  to  a  translation, 
with  a  more  or  less  popular  elaboration,  of  the  Latin  Pharmacopoeias 
published  by  the  several  colleges  in  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
As  examples  of  such  books,  we  may  mention  the  Dispensatories  by 
Bates,  1691  ;  Quincy,  171 8;  James,  1747;  Webster,  1786;  Dun- 
can, 1788;  Rotheram,  1794;  and  Duncan,  Jr.,  1800. 
A  Pharmacopoeia  is  usually  understood  to  be  a  book  of  formulas 
and  directions  for  the  preparation,  recognition  and  testing  of  medi- 
cines and  medicinal  preparations  that  is  published  by  some  generally 
accepted  authority.  This  authority  may  or  may  not  be  that  of  the 
existing  government ;  as  examples  of  the  extremes  we  may  men- 
tion the  German  and  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeias. 
A  Commentary  is  understood  to  comprise  a  series  of  comments  or 
annotations  in  explanation  or  elucidation  of  difficult  or  obscure  pas- 
sages in  a  book  or  treatise. 
In  connection  with  a  Pharmacopoeia  this  term  could  only  be 
applied  to  a  book  the  object  of  which  was  to  explain  or  to  elucidate 
the  directions  for  making  preparations  or  for  applying  the  several 
tests  that  are  given  in  the  body  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
For  examples  of  this  class  of  book,  we  will  be  obliged  to  go  out- 
side of  our  own  country ;  the  most  accessible,  probably,  are  The 
Pharmacopedia,  by  White  and  Humphrey,  London,  1901,  and  The 
Handkommentar,  by  Schneider  and  Suss,  Gottingen,  1902.  If  we 
review  the  history  of  authoritative  books  in  our  own  country,  we  find 
that  during  the  Colonial  period,  and  even  up  to  the  first  decade  of 
