io6 
Kola  and  Kolanin. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    February,  1896. 
difficult  to  tell  them  apart,  but  here's  the  value  of  this  drug  ex- 
pressed in  chemical  symbols  ?  Is  this  all  that  pharmacy  can  do  for 
medicine  ?  Before  a  drug  can  be  given  a  place  in  therapeutics, 
somebody  must  first  accurately  determine  its  physiological  action. 
The  proper  value  of  a  drug  in  medicine  will  largely  depend  upon 
the  exhibition  of  its  constituents  in  their  most  active  condition. 
The  pharmacist  must  know  the  physiological  action  as  well  as  the 
chemical  nature,  else  how  can  he  make  an  eligible  preparation  ? 
The  study  of  any  drug  is  pharmaceutical^  incomplete  until  this  is 
done,  and  without  such  a  study  medicine  cannot  apply  it  in  thera- 
peutics. It  seems  to  me,  therefore,  pharmacology  lies  well  within 
the  domain  of  pharmaceutical  chemistry.  Modern  science  teaches 
us  that  drugs  having  differing  chemical  affinities  differ  in  their  effects 
upon  the  body,  while  those  belonging  to  the  same  chemical  groups 
are  allied  in  their  action.  By  altering  their  chemical  composition 
the  place  of  their  action  and  effect  is  changed.  The  chemical  con- 
stitution of  a  substance  has  an  important  bearing  upon  the  part  of 
the  organism  which  it  will  affect,  so  that,  in  the  evolution  of  science 
and  the  application  of  drugs,  medicine  must  invade  pharmaceutical 
chemistry,  or  else  pharmacy  must  absorb  pharmacology.  We  may 
rightly  abhor  and  eschew  counter  prescribing  and  pharmaceutical 
therapeutics,  but  it  seems  reasonable  that  the  study  of  the  action  of 
drugs  apart  from  their  therapy  is  a  fitting  field  for  the  pharmacist. 
With  these  thoughts,  let  us  briefly  review  the  pharmacology  of  the 
drug  before  us.  By  chemical  assay  we  have  separated  two  alkaloids, 
caffeine  and  theobromine.  As  found  in  the  plant,  they  are  so  closely 
combined  as  to  be  difficult  of  separation.  Physiologically,  their 
action  seems  to  materially  differ  from  a  simple  mixture  of  the  same 
two  alkaloids  in  equivalent  proportions.  From  a  chemical  point  of 
view  we  have  expressed  the  value  of  this  drug  on  its  alkaloidal  con- 
tents, irrespective  of  all  other  constituents.  Is  this  the  correct  and 
the  total  value  ?  Is  morphine  the  full  measure  of  the  value  of 
opium,  cocaine  of  coca,  quinine  of  cinchona,  atropine  of  belladonna  ? 
Is  the  measure  of  a  drug  summed  up  even  by  its  total  alkaloidal 
contents  ?  Pharmacology  would  answer  no.  The  alkaloids  sepa- 
rate from  the  drug,  while  presenting  actions  that  resemble  those  of 
the  drug  itself,  by  no  means  replace  or  fully  represent  it.  A  state- 
ment by  Prof.  John  U.  Lloyd  in  respect  to  belladonna  may  stand  for 
all  drugs  containing  alkaloids  : 
