42 
Editorial. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     January,  1899. 
disappearing  and  ultimately  we  shall  realize  the  hope  of  centuries  and  medi- 
cine may  justly  claim  a  position  among  the  exact  sciences. 
"  It  is  not  my  purpose  to  show  what  pharmacology  has  done  in  the  past,  but 
to  call  attention  to  some  of  the  ways  in  which  the  science  may  be  of  still 
further  service  in  the  future  A  physician  may  be  ever  so  well  versed  in  thera- 
peutics, but  if  his  prescriptions  are  filled  with  inert  drugs,  or  drugs  varying  in 
strength,  his  efforts  may  be  useless  or  even  dangerous.  In  the  past  the  pharma- 
cist has  greatly  aided  in  efforts  by  improving  the  preparation  of  the  various- 
remedies.  But  the  time  will  soon  come  when  he  should  be  held  responsible 
not  only  for  the  chemical  and  botanical  purity  of  his  preparations,  but  also  for 
the  physiological  activity  of  those  important  medicinal  agents  which  cannot 
be  standardized  by  chemical  methods." 
' '  Probably  to  the  physician  the  most  important  duty  of  the  pharmacologist, 
in  his  relation  to  the  manufacturing  pharmacist  is  the  examination  of  the 
crude  drugs  and  active  principles  before  they  are  made  up  into  fluid  extracts, 
tinctures,  pills,  etc.  Only  these  crude  drugs  and  active  principles  should  be 
tested  physiologically  which  cannot  be  assayed  by  chemical  means.  But  there 
are  quite  a  number  of  the  most  important  medicinal  agents  that  the  chemist 
must  at  present  pass,  without  testing,  as  no  characteristic  reactions  have  been 
worked  out  for  them.  Examples  will  best  illustrate  this  point.  As  is  well 
known,  ergot,  the  sheet  anchor  of  the  obstetrician  in  so  many  hours  of  peril, 
loses  much  of  its  activity  in  a  comparatively  short  time  after  being  harvested, 
and  if  kept  under  certain  conditions  may  soon  become  entirely  inert,  or  if  the 
crude  drug  was  good  when  it  came  to  the  manufacturer,  the  menstruum  used 
may  have  been  such  that  the  more  important  constituents  were  left  in  the 
improperly  exhausted  drug ;  consequently  the  physician  is  never  quite  sure 
whether  the  preparation  he  carries  in  his  obstetric  bag  can  be  relied  upon  to 
aid  him  in  stimulating  an  exhausted  uterus  in  a  difficult  labor,  or  in  checking 
a  much-dreaded  post-partum  hemorrhage.  How  much  better  it  is  for  all  con- 
cerned to  test  the  ergot  physiologically,  rejecting  the  drug  if  found  inert. 
Then  to  complete  the  precautions,  the  finished  product  should  be  again  tested 
to  make  sure  that  it  shows  the  active  properties  manifested  by  the  crude 
drug." 
"  It  is  much  more  important  to  the  physician  that  he  have  a  physiologically 
active  preparation  than  an  elegant  pharmaceutical  preparation.  The  ideal  pre- 
paration is  the  one  that  possesses  the  properties  of  activity  and  elegance 
in  the  highest  degree." 
Sufficient  has  been  said  to  indicate  that  whatever  the  training  of  the  phar- 
macist may  be,  the  physician  shall  require  of  him  preparations  that  have  been 
made  with  the  best  skill  of  the  pharmacist  with  drugs  that  have  been  care- 
fully examined  by  the  pharmacognosist  and  respond  to  the  tests  of  the  chemist 
or  pharmacologist,  or  both,  as  the  case  may  be.  Everything  which  appertains 
to  the  pharmacology  of  drugs  concerns  and  interests  the  progressive  pharma- 
cist as  well  as  physician,  as  the  latter  will  no  doubt  soon  universally  demand 
information  in  many  cases  concerning  their  physiological  assay  in  preference 
even  to  their  chemical  assay,  and  at  least  in  connection  therewith. 
Aromatic  Principles  of  Coffee  and  Tea  are  not  shown  by  the  investigations  of 
I^hman  to  manifest  any  physiological  action. — Fharm.  Centralh.,  1898,  p.  679. 
