366 
Editorial. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       July,  1SS6. 
species  of  Smilax.  The  botanical  names  of  plants  merely  serve  as  explanations 
of  the  officinal  titles  and  derivation  of  the  drugs  ;  but  they  add  nothing  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  drugs  themselves.  Authors'  names  after  those  of  the  plants 
have  been  omitted  in  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,,  and  they  might  be  dropped 
from  that  of  the  United  States  without  invalidating  the  precision  of  the  defi- 
nitions, except  in  those  few  cases  in  which  the  botanical  name  admitted  has  been 
applied  by  different  authors  to  different  plants.  But  we  prefer  this  addition, 
mainly,  on  account  of  uniformity. 
The  further  addition  of  order  and  sub-order  is  of  no  possible  utility  for  the 
purposes  of  a  pharmacopoeia,  and  adds  nothing  whatever  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  drug,  or  to  the  exactness  of  the  definition  ;  it  is  simply  superfluous  and 
useless.  As  the  classification  of  chemical  elements  and  compounds  belongs  to 
the  science  of  chemistry,  so  does  the  classification  of  plants  belong  to  the  sci- 
ence of  botany ;  and,  as  every  chemist  of  note  has  his  own  system  of  classifica- 
tion differing,  more  or  less,  from  others,  so  has  every  botanist  of  note  his  own 
system  of  classification,  though  it  may  be  based,  in  its  main  features,  upon  the 
system  elaborated  by  another  botanist.  The  affinities  of  small  and  large 
groups  of  plants  frequently  extend  in  different  directions,  and  yet  they  must 
be  arranged  in  a  lineal  series.  It  follows  from  this,  that  the  arrangement  of 
species  belonging  to  one  genus  may  be  accomplished  in  various  ways,  that  even 
the  Unfits  of  genera  may  vary  in  the  estimation  of  different  botanists,  and,  in 
the  same  manner,  the  limits  of  tribes,  sub-orders  and  orders,  as  well  as  their 
serial  arrangements.  The  natural  systems  actually  in  use  are,  for  the  reasons 
stated,  quite  numerous,  although  the  majority  of  them  are  now  based  upon 
either  De  Candolle's  or  Endlicher's  system,  variously  modified  by  considera- 
tions similar  to  those  underlying  the  natural  systems  which  were  elabo- 
rated by  Jussieu,  Eichard.  Martins,  Lindley,  Bentham  and  Hooker,  and  many 
others. 
The  classification,  perhaps,  most  generally  followed  in  the  "United  States 
and  England,  as  well  as  in  France,  is  that  of  De  Candolle,  and  yet  it  is  rarely, 
if  ever,  the  case,  that  two  botanists  agree  in  all  the  details.  Thus  the  genus 
Krameria  constitutes  the  type  of  the  order  Krameriacese,  while,  according  to 
others,  this  order  is  united  as  a  sub-order  to  either  Polygalaceae  or  Leguminosae. 
One  botanist  regards  Anacardiaceae  and  Burseraceae  as  distinct  orders;  an- 
other unites  the  two  into  the  order  of  Terebinthaceae.  and  a  third  extends  the 
latter  so  as  to  include  Juglandaceae,  Eutaceae,  and  others.  In  a  similar  manner, 
Aurantiacea;  and  Granataceae  are  found  as  distinct  orders  or  attached,  the 
former  to  either  Eutaceae  or  Guttiferae,  and  the  latter  to  either  Lythraceae  or 
Myrtaceae. 
We  think  these  few  examples  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  introduction  into 
the  Pharmacopoeia  of  natural  orders  means  merely  the  admission  of  names 
which  can  convey  a  meaning  only  to  the  student  of  botany  :  and  since  these 
names  are  not  of  a  fixed  and  unalterable,  or  even  universally  recognized  tem- 
porary value,  their  utility  is  not  apparent ;  they  are  even  confusing  in  a  phar- 
macopoeia. When  the  student  of  pharmacy  is  compelled  to  make  his  acquain- 
tance with  botany  in  a  systematic  manner,  he  will  then  learn  that  there  is  also 
significance  in  these  names,  and  a  practical  utility,  which,  however,  points  in 
a  direction  outside  of  the  sphere  of  a  legal  code. 
