Am,j£i^;imrm*}  London  Botanic  Gardens.  319 
fact  that  it  is  free  from  the  astrological  and  other  absurdities  which 
were  rife  in  publications  of  a  similar  nature  at  that  date,  and  it  can 
therefore  be  looked  upon  as  the  first  rational  British  text-book  of 
materia  medica  that  we  possess.  Ray,  it  is  true,  had  paved  the  way 
in  his  writings  by  casting  ridicule  upon  these  old  superstitions ; 1  but 
the  scope  of  Ray's  works  differed  essentially  from  that  of  the  Phar- 
macologia, for  whereas  Ray  treats  of  plants  in  general,  and  only 
refers  in  a  casual  way  to  the  properties  of  such  plants  as  are  used 
in  medicine,  Dale,  in  the  Liber  Secnndus  of  his  work  deals  particu- 
larly with  medicinal  plants  and  their  products.  The  copious  and 
accurate  synonymy  and  the  conciseness  of  Dale's  Pharmacologia  will 
best  be  demonstrated  by  quoting  a  portion  of  one  of  his  monographs, 
and,  for  this  purpose,  we  will  select  the  first  part  of  the  monograph 
on  gentian,  relating  to  the  plant  which  yields  the  gentian  root  of 
the  pharmacopoeias : 
III.    DE  GENTIANA. 
Notae  sunt,  Folia  nervosa,  in  caulibus  ex  adverso  bina  ;  fiores  calathoides, 
margine  in  lacinias  aliquot  totidem  folia  imitantes  plerumque  diviso;  sapor 
amarus,  Raii  Synop.  p.  102. 
A.  1.  Gentiana,  Offic.  Chab.  503.  Gentiana  major,  Ger.  351.  Emac.  432. 
Raii.  Hist.  i.  716.  Gentiana  major  lutea,  C.  B.  Pin.  187.  Tourn.  Inst.  80. 
Elem.  Bot.  96.  Boerh.  Ind.  A.  204.  Hist.  Oxon.  iii.  484.  Park.  Parad.  350. 
Gentiana  vulgaris  major.  Kllebori  albi  folio,  /.  B.  iii.  520.  (gentian.  In  hortis 
curiosorum.  Junio  floret.  Usu.  Radix  oblonga,  crassa,  foris  fusca,  intus  ex 
flavo  rufescens,  saporis  intense  amari.  Vires.  Alexipharmaca  est ;  aperit, 
attenuat.  Usus  prsecipui  in  peste,  aliisque  venenatis  affectibus  ;  in  obstructione 
hepatis,  lienis,  &c.  Schrod. 
The  reader  has  only  to  compare  this  abstract  with  the  intermin- 
able descriptions  of  Parkinson2  or  the  verbiage  of  William  Coles  to 
appreciate  the  great  advance  that  it  represents. 
Just  as  Dale's  Pharmacologia  may  be  looked  upon  as  our  first 
rational  text-book  of  Materia   Medica,  so  may  Joseph  Miller's 
1  Take,  for  instance,  the  following  remarks  by  Ray  in  his  Historia  Planta- 
rum,  Tom.  I,  p.  46:  "Signaturas  praecipue  crepant  Chymistae.  Chymicum 
autem  dudum  definivit  Davisonus  ut  memini  (quam  recte  ipse  viderit)  Animal 
credulum  &  mendax. 
"  Nos  alibi  Signaturas  rejecimus,  nec  ullas  notas  naturae  consilio  plantis 
impressas  ut  naturalium  facultatum  indices  essent,  demonstravimus,  nec  dum 
sententiam  mutamus,  ob  rationes  ibi  adductas,  quas  hie  repetemus." 
[His  reasons  are  then  given,  under  seven  heads.] 
2  The  virtues  of  /Gentian  as  described  by  Parkinson  would  fill  over  two 
pages  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
