Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  1919. 
The  Study  of  Drugs. 
141 
men  who  have  only  a  superficial  knowledge  of  drugs,  and  with  whom 
it  is  often  a  matter  of  chance  and  extensive  guessing. 
The  pharmacist  who  has  a  real  knowledge  of  pharmacology,  and 
the  therapeutic  action  of  drugs,  would  probably  be  the  last  to  pre- 
scribe. To  know  even  the  physical  characteristics  of  a  drug,  its 
active  principles,  its  constitutional  formula,  its  dose,  without  know- 
ing its  uses,  its  functions,  its  effects  upon  the  system  in  health  and 
in  disease,  is  like  knowing  the  names  of  the  organs  of  the  body  with- 
out knowing  their  functions. 
Who  shall  know  drugs  except  the  pharmacist  ?  The  physician's 
knowledge  of  materia  medica  in  a  large  number  of  instances  is'  not 
profound.  During  his  college  course,  at  the  present  day,  he  can 
give  materia  medica  and  therapeutics  but  scant  attention.  The 
limited  hospital  pharmacopoeia  and  the  manufacturer's  literature 
often  make  up  his  library.  He  has  no  time  or  opportunity  to  really 
study  drugs. 
A  knowledge  of  drugs  would  enable  the  pharmacist  to  extend 
the  physician's  materia  medica,  to  assist  him  in  choosing  the  right 
form,  to  realize  his  intentions,  and  it  might  help  him  to  overcome 
the  medical  man's  habit  of  office  dispensing  of  a  limited  number  of 
drugs.  Even  a  conversational  knowledge,  covering  the  range  of 
conventional  and  recognized  drugs,  would  help  to  fill  the  physician's 
prescription  with  really  useful  preparations. 
A  knowledge  of  drugs  makes  a  pharmacist  a  pharmacist,  places 
him  in  his  right  position — a  master  of  his  profession — a  position  that 
the  medical  profession  and  the  public  are  bound  to  recognize,  and 
from  which  he  cannot  be  dislodged. 
Here  is  a  list  of  drugs,  the  most  of  them  in  quite  common  use: 
aconitum,  aloes,  ammoniacum,  arnica,  belladonna,  cannabis,  indica, 
capsicum,  cascara,  cinchona,  conium,  digitalis,  ergota,  gelsemium, 
hydrastis,  hyoscyamus,  ipecacuanha,  jalapa,  krameria,  lobelia,  nux 
vomica,  opium,  podophyllum,  rheum,  senega,  serpentaria,  stramon- 
ium, sumbul,  Valeriana,  verba  santa. 
Let  us  ask  ourselves  a  few  questions  about  them.  It  will  be  espe- 
cially good  practice  for  the  student. 
Without  consulting  a  text-book,  could  you  describe  their  char- 
acteristics as  to  appearance,  taste  and  odor? 
If  they  were  laid  out  on  a  table,  unlabeled,  could  you  recognize 
and  name  them? 
What  are  their  chief  therapeutic  properties? 
