140 
Pharmaceutical  Research. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(  February,  1921. 
review  and  improvement.  The  botanical  source  of  some  of  the 
official  vegetable  drugs  is  still  undetermined,  even  though  these  may 
have  been  in  use  for  many  generations.  The  proper  time  for  collec- 
tion of  vegetable  drugs  and  the  approved  methods  for  their  preserva- 
tion, drug  plant  cultivation,  the  effect  of  soil,  climatic  conditions, 
altitude,  etc.,  the  percentage  of  active  constituents  and  the  study  of  the 
localization  of  these  in  the  respective  plants  remain  fertile  fields  for 
study.  The  voluminous  and  excellent  work  of  such  men  as  Tschirch, 
Oesterle,  Moeller,  Dragendorff,  Fliickiger,  Koch,  Zornig,  Hanbury, 
Holmes,  Greenish,  Collin,  Maisch,  Kraemer,  Bastin  and  Trimble  in 
developing  the  knowledge  of  pharmacognosy  and  plant  chemistry, 
but  serves  to  demonstrate  the  vastness  of  the  field  yet  unexplored. 
The  enzymes ;  the  ferments ;  the  vitamines ;  the  aninal  organ  drugs, 
such  as  the  endocrine  gland  products;  the  synthetic  chemicals;  as 
well  as  the  new  remedies  that  are  being  continually  introduced  into 
medical  practice,  present  an  endless  variety  of  topics  demanding  the 
attention  and  investigation  of  pharmacists.  The  text-books,  and  even 
the  legally  recognized  official  standards  contain  statements  that  are 
in  need  of  verification  and  it  is  an  imperative  duty  that  these  be 
critically  examined  and  that  each  erroneous  or  misleading  statement 
be  either  corrected  or  eliminated. 
In  citing  these  various  lines  of  research  open  to  pharmacy,  it 
must  be  understood  that  I  have  offered  these  merely  as  examples 
and  not  as  an  enumeration  of  the  extensive  field  of  exploration 
available  for  the  application  of  systematic  pharmaceutical  research. 
The  need  is  that  pharmacists  themselves,  as  well  as  scientists 
engaged  in  other  fields  of  research,  should  have  a  correct  view  of 
the  possibilities  and  the  comprehensiveness  of  pharmaceutical  re- 
search. The  investigations  properly  coming  under  this  classification 
have  many  points  of  contact  with  other  fields  of  research,  and 
^herein  is  the  need  for  co-ordination  and  co-operation,  and  the  rea- 
son why  pharmacy  should  be  properly  represented  in  any  plans  for 
national  scientific  research.  The  problems  arising  in  the  laboratory 
of  the  manufacturing  pharmacist  are,  of  course,  important  and 
should  receive  searching  study  and  investigation,  but  not  from  a 
selfish  standpoint  alone.  His  problems  can  best  be  solved  by  co- 
operation not  only  with  his  fellow  manufacturers,  but  by  that  of  re- 
search workers  in  the  sciences  involved  in  the  questions  at  issue, 
and  the  benefits  of  such  research  belong  to  "the  national  strength 
