DISPENSATORY OF THE TJ. S. OP AMERICA. 171 
and necessary departments of medical science. To institute, 
however, a comparison between the condition of American 
pharmacology during two distinctly marked eras that have^ 
been under our immediate observation, would be an extend- 
ed occupation ; we wish only to refer to such epochs con- 
nected with its history, in noticing a work which is insepa- 
rable from the agencies that gave rise to reformation, and 
which has largely conduced to awaken a taste for the culti- 
vation of the materia medica, and to demonstrate its capa- 
bilities. The indefatigable authors have labored assiduously 
jn the field to which they have devoted themselves ; and it 
will be admitted, that it is no disparagers nt to other meri- 
torious individuals to assert, that they have done more than 
a mere share to render fertile the waste and unproductive 
places. 
In each succeeding edition of the Dispensatory, the work 
has been rendered a full compendium of the existing infor- 
mation; improvements and alterations have been introduced, 
and a jealous vigilance has been exercised with respect to 
additions and discoveries in science at home and abroad; but 
it is stated in the preface to this, the fifth edition, that " on 
no revision have the authors bestowed so much labor as on 
the present," and the following reasons have been given: 
The new editions of the United States and Edinburgh Phar- 
macopoeias required comment; and the recent pharmoco- 
logical treatises of Dr. Pereira and Dr. Christison, containing 
much original observation, and the Medical Flora of Dr. 
Lindley, not to speak of other valuable works in different 
departments of materia medica and pharmacy, afforded a 
great mass of new materials for selection and arrangement. 
The periodical press has also presented much that demanded 
notice, and the changes in the commerce in drugs, and the 
various modifications in pharmaceutical operations, resulting 
from increased experience and the advancement of science, 
called for careful personal examination and inquiry. It ap- 
pears that the materials have so far increased, that even "by 
