448  Official  or  Officinal?  {^d™;^™' 
OFFICIAL  OR  OFFICINAL? 
By  F.  Marion  Murray,  M  D. 
"  There  is  a  defect  in  the  first  make  of  some  men's  minds,  which  can  scarce  ever 
be  corrected  afterwards,  either  by  learning  or  age." — Burnet. 
We  are  loth  to  suddenly  part  company  with  old  friends,  be  they 
human,  trophies,  theories  or  words  that  may  have  become  endeared  to 
us  by  association  or  usage,  yet  this  tie  should  never  be  so  strong  as  to 
lead  to  the  prejudicial  side.  Whatever  is  correct  should  be  adopted 
and  used,  even  though  its  discovery  was  not  given  to  the  fathers,  but 
left  to  the  sons.  The  adoption  of  official  will  be  doing  a  justice  to  our 
language  by  giving  to  the  word  its  rightful  place,  so  long  falsely 
occupied  by  officinal. 
The  term  officinal  is  in  favor  with  many  because  of  its  long  usage  ^ 
no  thought  being  taken  of  its  correctness  or  incorrectness. 
No  doubt  the  botanical  use  of  officinal  as  a  specific  name  for 
plants  used  in  medicine,  as,  Althaea  officinalis,  Zingiber  officinale,  etc., 
has  been  one  of  the  chief  means  of  giving  the  word  its  prominence 
with  the  medical  and  pharmacal  fraternities,  but  in  giving  specific 
names  to  plants  already  much  used,  and  to  be  had  in  the  apothecaries* 
shops,  botanists  meant  merely  that  the  particular  Althaea  or  Zingiber 
should  thereafter  be  known,  for  distinction  only,  as  the  species  "  of 
the  shops,"  or  officinal,  the  word  having  no  reference  to  authority. 
Now,  medicines  that  are  recommended  to  be  used  by  such  bodies  as 
the  National  Pharmacopoeial  Convention,  British  Council,  etc.,  are 
official — given  under  authority — in  the  countries  over  which  they  have 
jurisdiction. 
It  is  true  that  both  words  are  derived  from  the  same  root,  but 
officinal  is  the  older,  coming  to  us  directly  from  the  Latin  officina,  a 
shop  ;  while  official,  the  younger,  comes  to  us  through  the  French 
officiel. 
"An  official  formula  is  one  given  under  authority.  An  officinal 
formula  is  one  made  in  obedience  to  the  customary  usage  of  the  shop 
(officina).  To  state  that  any  preparation  under  the  sanction  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  is  officinal,  is  a  misapprehension  of  the  meaning  of  the 
word." — Brough. 
"The  Pharmacopoeia  and  all  in  it  are  official  (office,  Fr.  from  L. 
officium,  an  office).  There  are  many  things  which,  in  pharmacy,  are 
officinal  (Fr.  from  L.  officina,  a  shop)  but  not  official.    To  restrict  the 
