A practical treatise on materia medica and therapeutics : with especial reference to the clinical application of drugs / by John V. Shoemaker.

  • John Veitch Shoemaker
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical treatise on materia medica and therapeutics : with especial reference to the clinical application of drugs / by John V. Shoemaker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ately named “ pharmacodynamics.” Good usage and etymology support the definition given above. Both pharmacodynamics and therapeutics, however, in so far as they relate to drugs, may be considered as depart- ments of pharmacology, in a broad sense of the term. The Materia Medica, or pharmacological remedies, may be divided into crude drugs and preparations. The latter may be made according to established formulae, both non-official and official, or they may be extemporaneously compounded and dispensed according to the direc- tions furnished by a physician. The latter are known as “ magistral ” preparations; they are compounded according to the formula contained in the prescription, of which more will be said presently. Officinal preparations are those recognized by authority of the pharmacopoeia and directed to be kept in the shops (officinci, a shop) ready for dis- pensing. These are now known as “ official ” preparations, because they are issued by the authority of the pharmacopoeia. Since this authority does not extend beyond the geographical limits of the country to which it belongs, it follows that England, France, Germany, Sweden, and other countries, as well as the United States, have pharmacopoeias of their own. Remedies belonging to each usually have after them initials indicating their source; thus, U. S. P. means United States Phar- macopoeia ; Ph. Br., British Pharmacopoeia; Ph. F., French Pharmaco- poeia, or Codex Medicamentarius; Ph. G., German Pharmacopoeia; Ph. Sw., Swedish Pharmacopoeia. In the usual and modern acceptation of the term, a pharmacopoeia is a medical book, issued by authority, con- taining a list of recognized drugs, with descriptions and physical char- acters, tests for purity and medicinal activity, and formulae for accepted preparations. Drugs and preparations authorized by the pharmacopoeia become in this way official. The necessity of having some standard to define the character, establish the purity, and regulate the strength of medicinal preparations is universally conceded. Those countries which do not possess a pharmacopoeia of their own, usually adopt the French Codex or the British and United States Pharmacopoeias. Unfortu- nately, it may happen that a preparation will have the same title but differ considerably in strength in different pharmacopoeias, such as the tincture of belladonna-leaves and especially the extract of aconite, which might lead to error in copying formula? from English, French, or German sources, since these preparations in the United States Pharmacopoeia are considerably stronger than the corresponding English preparations. The Pharmacopoeia of the United States is not issued directly by authority of the government, as in most other countries, although it is adopted by the government in the medical departments of the army, navy, and marine-hospital service. It is compiled as a voluntary under- taking by the physicians and pharmacists, in accordance with a peculiar arrangement. Every ten years representatives from medical societies and colleges, pharmaceutical societies and colleges, and delegates from the Army, Navy, and United States Marine-Hospital Service, meet in Washington, forming the National Convention for the Revision of the Pharmacopoeia. After organization and the disposal of business which may come before it, a standing committee on revision is appointed, which, having received instructions from the convention, proceeds to pre-
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