2o8         The  Pharmacist  and  the  Pharmacopoeia.  {AmMay!"i9Marm' 
That  Dr.  King,  in  the  first  editions  of  his  "  Eclectic  Dispensatory," 
followed  the  general  style  of  the  United  States  Dispensatory  rather 
closely  is  evident  from  the  reviews  (A.  J.  P.,  1854,  page  269;  also 
A.  J.  P.,  1859,  page  285),  and  from  the  fact  that  Dr.  King  was  pro- 
ceeded  against,  in  a  court  of  law,  by  the  publishers  of  the  United 
States  Dispensatory,  who  succeeded  in  restraining  him  from  selling 
the  first  edition  as  printed. 
The  general  scarcity  of  text-books  on  subjects  relating  to  phar- 
macy and  materia  medica,  in  the  earlier  decades  of  the  last  century, 
coupled  with  the  fact  that  but  few  pharmacists  had  had  an  oppor- 
tunity for  systematic  training  in  the  various  branches  of  the  natural 
sciences,  and  also,  no  doubt,  the  widely  prevalent  practice  of  giving 
an  opinion  on  the  efficiency  and  usefulness  of  certain  household 
remedies,  contributed  very  materially  to  make  these  early  editions 
of  the  Dispensatories  popular  with  pharmacists.  Many,  if  not  the 
majority  of  pharmacists,  finding  that  the  Dispensatory  was  based 
on,  and  included,  what  was  to  them  the  most  essential  features  of 
the  Pharmacopoeia,  never  felt  or  appreciated  the  need  or  use  of  the 
latter  book. 
That  the  popularity  and  use  of  the  Dispensatories  has  long  been 
considered  a  menace  to  the  progress  of  pharmacy  along  scientific 
lines  is  evident  from  the  written  opinions  of  a  number  of  the  earlier 
leaders  of  the  pharmaceutical  profession. 
Prof.  William  Procter  was  particularly  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  this  fact,  and  as  early  as  1851  advocated  a  reduction  in 
the  price  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  with  a  view  of  making  the  current 
edition  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  more  popular  among  pharmacists  and 
students.  An  extract  from  his  review  of  the,  then,  newly  published 
Pharmacopoeia  may  not  be  out  of  place  here,  foreshadowing,  as  it 
does,  the  hopes  that  prompted  the  articles  referred  to  in  the  opening 
paragraphs  of  this  paper: 
"  We  cannot  leave  the  subject  without  recording  our  opinion  in 
favor  of  a  cheap  duodecimo  edition  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  so  that 
every  apothecary,  physician  and  medical  student  can  have  a  copy 
and  become  familiar  with  the  work.  A  large  majority  of  the  phy- 
sicians and  apothecaries  in  this  country  know  nothing  of  our  phar- 
macopoeia except  as  they  learn  it  through  the  dispensatories,  where 
it  is  so  mixed  up  with  the  British  Pharmacopoeias  as  to  frequently 
confuse  both  physician  and  apothecary."    (A.  J.  P.,  185  I,  page  397  ) 
