142 
The  Study  of  Drugs. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  19 19. 
These  are  simple,  almost  foolish  questions.  Any  junior  in  col- 
lege ought  to  be  able  to  answer  them.  Young  men  "  cram  "  up  on 
these  very  drugs  in  order  to  pass  the  board  of  pharmacy. 
Now,  let  us  see  all  that  we  know,  all  that  everybody  else  knows, 
and  maybe  we  will  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is  much  yet  to 
be  found  out  about  these  everyday  drugs ;  that  there  is  in  many  of 
these  commonplace  substances  opportunity  for  long  and  earnest 
study,  opportunity  for  the  pharmacist  to  make  a  name  for  himself,  to 
do  a  great  work  for  the  science  of  pharmacy  and  medicine,  and 
bestow  untold  benefits  upon  his  fellow-man. 
Let  us  take  up  one  or  two  of  them  in  alphabetical  order:  ' 
Aconite. — The  books  say  it  contains  the  powerful  principle, 
aconitine.  Its  chief  characteristic  properties  are  defined  as  "  ano- 
dyne, diaphoretic,  sedative;  a  powerful  sensory  nerve  stimulant." 
Page  after  page  in  the  books  tells  of  t  its  origin,  history,  structure, 
chemical  composition,  pharmacology,  physiological  action,  uses, 
doses,  etc.  Knowledge  beginning  in  the  far  distant  past,  accumu- 
lated, recorded  and  handed  down  to  us.  Incidentally,  we  find  there 
are  a  number,  but  not  quite  "57,"  varieties  of  aconite  and  while  the 
books  don't  say  which  is  which,  the  species  know  as  aconitum  napel- 
lus  is  official,  and  for  the  most  part  the  value  of  the  other  sorts  is 
not  recorded.  Possibly  some  of  the  other  kinds  are  "just  as  good," 
maybe  they  are  better — who  knows. 
A  test  laid  down  for  the  so-called  powerful  principle  is  to  take 
a  piece  of  aconite  root,  chew  a  bit  of  it,  and  there  results  a  peculiar 
tingling  or  numbing,  quite  appreciable  on  the  tongue  and  roof  of 
the  mouth. 
Aconite  grows  in  the  temperate  zones  of  the  northern  hemisphere, 
including  the  United  States.    (It  is  cultivated  in  gardens.) 
Find  the  growing  plant  and  chew  a  piece  of  the  fresh  root.  You 
will  notice  first  a  sweet  taste,  and  the  odor  of  radish.  Upon  chew- 
ing for  a  time,  aided  by  the  action  of  saliva,  the  tingling  and  numb- 
ness appears.    On  drying  the  root,  the  odor,  color  and  taste  change. 
The  so-called  active  principle  is  evidently  not  in  evidence  in  the 
growing  plant.  Question:  Is  this  powerful  principle  developed  in 
drying  the  plant?  If  so,  would  the  method  of  handling  and  drying 
influence  the  character  and  the  amount? 
The  pharmacopoeia,  and  other  books,  set  forth  certain  prepara- 
tions of  aconite,  and  tell  us  how  to  prepare  them.  Powders,  pills, 
tinctures,  fluid  extracts,  solid  extracts,  liniments,  etc. 
