^ptSSbe^wo^''}    Beginnings  of  Pharmacy  in  America.  405 
book  of  reference  on  the  materia  medica,  was  Dr.  John  Redman 
Coxe,  at  one  time  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania. 
Dr.  Coxe  was  born  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  in  1773.  He  was  a  pupil 
of  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  and  a  graduate  from  the  Medical  Department 
of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  class  of  1794.  Dr.  Coxe  was 
elected  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  1809,  and  in  18 1 8  was  transferred 
to  the  Chair  of  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  until  1835,  when  he  retired  at  the  age  of  sixty-two.  He 
died  in  1864,  having  passed  his  ninety-first  year. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  books,  of  which  the  best 
known  and,  at  the  time  at  least,  the  most  popular,  was  the  American 
Dispensatory,  which  was  first  published  in  1806,  and  passed  through 
nine  successive  editions,  the  last  in  1 83 1. 
Although  this  book  was  admittedly  but  a  modification  of  Dun- 
can's Edinburgh  Dispensatory,  it  had  sufficient  original  matter  to 
appeal  to  American  practitioners  and  met  with  a  ready  sale  and 
quite  extended  use. 
The  first  pharmacopoeia  proper  was  that  prepared  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Medical  Society,  and  published  in  1808. 
Although  this  book  was  liberally  commended  for  its  style  and 
general  accuracy,  it  did  not  meet  with  any  appreciable  amount  of 
success.  This  was  probably  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  considered 
to  be  local  in  character  and  to  have  been  published  by  a  medical 
society  for  the  exclusive  use  of  its  own  members.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  published 
in  1816. 
The  American  New  Dispensatory,  by  Dr.  James  Thacher,  was 
published  in  1 810  and  appeared  in  four  successive  editions,  the  last 
in  1 82 1.  This  book  contained  a  considerable  amount  of  original 
matter  relating  to  American  drugs  and  American  practices. 
The  first  edition  of  this  dispensatory  was,  by  permission,  based 
on  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Medical  Society, 
while  the  last  edition  included  much  if  not  all  of  the  material  con- 
tained in  the  then  newly  issued  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States. 
Dr.  James  Thacher,  the  author  of  this  New  Dispensatory,  is  prob- 
ably more  frequently  quoted  than  any  other  of  the  early  writers  of 
books  relating  to  American  medicine.  He  was  born  at  Barnstable, 
Mass.,  in  1754,  and  died  in  May,  1844,  in  the  ninety-first  year  of  his 
