Elements of pharmacy, materia medica, and therapeutics / by Sir William Whitla.

  • Whitla William, Sir, 1851-1933.
Date:
1910
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Elements of pharmacy, materia medica, and therapeutics / by Sir William Whitla. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    We may divide the science and art of Pharmacy into two distinct divisions : Extemporaneous Pharmacy, and Official Pharmacy. Under the first head are included the various operations of compounding and dispensing remedies from the prescriptions of the physician, and under Official Pharmacy will be briefly de- fined the different processes mentioned in the British Pharma- copoeia in the directions given for the preparation of its numerous drugs and formulae. In the following pages, under the head of Materia Medica, in addition to the brief description of the physical characters, sources, chemical properties, doses, preparations, etc., of the various drugs in the Pharmacopoeia, will be grouped together the Official Preparations themselves, mostly in tabular form, so that the student can have a bird's-eye view of their composition and doses. The Pharmacology of each drug wi]l be given under its name in the section of this work devoted to Therapeutics, where its pharmacological or physiological action will be briefly discussed in connection with its therapeutic indications and uses. Under the head of Administration of Medicines will be treated the science of writing and reading prescriptions, and a short glossary of terms and abbreviations used by physicians in order- ing remedies. Under this division of the subject the classification of remedial agents and the important questions of dosage or posology and of incompatibility will be dealt with. The Materia Medica, Pharmacy, Pharmacology, and Thera- peutics of the most important drugs not yet included in the British Pharmacopoeia will be detailed in the section dealing with Non-Official Remedies near the end of the volume.