A dispensatory, or commentary on the pharmacopoeias of Great Britain : comprising the natural history, description, chemistry, pharmacy, actions, uses, and doses of the articles of the materia medica / by Robert Christison.

  • Christison, Robert, Sir, 1797-1882.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A dispensatory, or commentary on the pharmacopoeias of Great Britain : comprising the natural history, description, chemistry, pharmacy, actions, uses, and doses of the articles of the materia medica / by Robert Christison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    who follow it. Their commodities, therefore, ought always to be tested by superior knowledge on the part of the druggist or apo- thecary. But this branch of the art of pharmacy also labours un- der the additional disadvantage, that its general principles are at present ill ascertained. The principles now current have been succinctly stated by the London College in its directions printed at the head of this article. But the doctrines there espoused are sub- ject to numerous exceptions; and other modifying circumstances connected with vegetation might be mentioned, such as season, climate, weather, site, soil, exposure, cultivation, which have not been adverted to at all,—probably because the College felt that their respective influences have not been determined with such ac- curacy, as to admit of being expressed in general rules. It is sur- prising how little attention this whole subject,—interesting alike in a practical point of view, and in relation to the physiology of plants,—has hitherto received from scientific men. A few years ago I commenced an experimental inquiry on some departments of it, which other occupations compelled me to suspend. But I had gone quite far enough to be convinced, that the doctrines commonly held, as to the influence of various circumstances in vegetation on the activity of medicinal plants, are often erroneous, and generally subject to important exceptions; that the practical rules founded on those doctrines are sometimes faulty; and that the pharmaceutic art stands much in need of a new and thorough investigation of this imperfectly trodden field. Most works on pharmacy contain under the present head a Druggist's Kalendar, showing the several periods at wliich vegetable simples ought to be collected. But for the reason just adverted to, none of these kalendars can be relied on, and it therefore seems unnecessary to reproduce them here. Some observations, however, will be found on the subject under the head of the special articles of the vegetable Materia Medica, The preparing of vegetable substances for preservation is now tolerably well understood in most particulars. It is unnecessary, therefore, to say much here on the methods usually practised. Seeds ought to be exposed to a moderate heat, and then sifted and winnowed, to remove insects and their ova, with other impurities. Leaves and flowers should be promptly dried in a current of heated air, and out of reach of bright light; and the Dublin College pro- perly directs that those leaves, which are used in the state of pow- der, should be reduced to that form as soon as they ai-e dry, and immediately stored in well-stopped, opaque bottles. This is the most eff'ectual way to preserve them against both damp and insects, and likewise in small space. Even those leaves whose pro- perties are fugacious, such as hemlock-leaves, may be thus pre- served for years without alteration. Barks are best preserved in drawers or boxes in a dry, well-aired apartment, woods and dry roots in the same manner, but fresh roots in sand in a cellar. Dried fruits are usually preserved in boxes or drawers, sometimes