The United States homoeopathic pharmacopoeia.

Date:
1878
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The United States homoeopathic pharmacopoeia. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    Germany and other countries, and the demand for these remedies mul- tiplied, a separate work on Homoeopathic Pharmacy became a neces- sity. The first reliable one on the list was prepared by Gruner; pre- pared, we believe, by the sanction and under the supervision of Hahn- emann himself. Since then several similar works have appeared in Germany, France and Great Britain. No one needs to know the quality of the implements or instruments of his art, more than the physician. Not only the life of the patient in hand may be saved by the excellence of the drug which he is about to use, or be lost by its improper preparation, but similar cases may arise in his own practice, or in that of others to whom he may relate the case, in which the turning point may be the success or want of success of this drug in this one case. Hence, though the physician may, and with good reason, have the greatest confidence in his pharmaceutist, he never can be so sure of any preparation which he obtains from another as that which he makes himself, and a physician whose engagements permit it, cannot do better than prepare his own attenuations from the crude drug. The great number of indigenous plants which are now used in the practice of Homoeopathy puts this quite within the reach of all country prac- titioners at least. For the use and behalf of those who concur in these sentiments, the following work has been prepared. In its preparation it has been nec- essary to suppose that the practitioner had, at least, an elementary knowledge of chemistry and botany. The various mineral and veget- able products are described minutely enough for the purposes of one thus informed. A more extended chemical or botanical account of the various drugs, would have increased the size of the book beyond all just proportions. In order to conform more closely to long established methods of procuring the tincture by maceration, the quantity of menstruum has been retained as given in older works. And this requires explana- tion. Where two parts of alcohol to one of the plant is directed, the pharmacist should see that sufficient menstruum is added to replace that which is lost by evaporation or retained by absorption, to secure the two parts of tincture after maceration. This direction is neces- sary from the fact that the fresh plant, in case of foreign growths,