HANDBOOK OF PHARMACY. INTRODUCTORY. The term "Apotheke" (zon) was applied in olden times to a place of storage for wines, books, etc. From this is derived "apothecary" (Lat. apothecarius). Since the Middle Age, it is restricted to those localities where medicinal substances are kept and dispensed. The term Pharmacy, is derived from the Greek pharmakon (cápuazov), meaning medicine. It is the art which treats of the identification, preparation, testing, and dispensing of medicinal substances. A Pharmacopoeia (from gappazov, medicine, and not, to make) is a code for the use of the apothecary and physician, which embraces the definitions, descriptions, physical and chemical properties, tests and methods of preparation of medicinal agents. The earliest work,* which may be compared to our modern pharmacopoeias, and of which we have any definite knowledge, is an Egyptian treatise, preserved to us in the Papyrus Ebers, dating back to 1552 B. C. This contains a large number of formulas, some of them quite complex, the ingredients being ordered by certain weights and measures. Nothing else has been preserved to us, in the nature of such a work, within historic times, until we descend to the age of Hippocrates (about 460 to 377 B. C.), who, with his disciples founded a school of medicine, gradually rendering the employment of formularies, to secure uniformity in the preparation of medicines, necessary. Real formularies, however, were not composed until much later, about the time of Andromachus, Nero's court physician (about 60 A. D.). After Galen's time, their number gradually increased, but it was not until about the thirteenth century that more elaborate works (usually called "Antidotaria") made their appearance. The Arabian physicians and their translators during the middle age considerably enriched the literature in this direction. The first work which really deserves the name of a pharmacopoeia was composed by Valerius. Cordus, and was published, after his death, by the city of Nuremberg, in 1546. It was customary in those times to apply the name of "Dispensatorium" to formularies of this kind, and up to comparatively recent times, the term Dispensatory has been used, in A very exhaustive article on the subject of Pharmacopoeias and History of Pharmacy, by Dr. Chas. Rice, will be found in "A Reference Handbook of the Medical Sciences," Vol. V and Supplement Vol.-Wm. Wood & Co., N. Y. various countries, in the sense of our "pharmacopoeia," while we now usually apply it to unofficial commentaries on the latter. The first United States Pharmacopoeia (in English and Latin) was published in Boston in 1820; this has been followed since by a new edition every ten years, prepared by a Committee of Revision appointed or elected by a convention of medical and pharmaceutical colleges and societies. Nearly all foreign pharmacopoeias are issued by the authority of their respective governments; the United States Pharmacopoeia is not thus issued, but at the same time it is recognized by our government. There are a number of smaller countries which have no national pharmacopoeia, but recognize those of other countries; among these, the South American States and West Indies, recognize generally the Spanish with, in some instances, the French Pharmacopoeia. In China, the foreign apothecaries employ their various. national pharmacopoeias; while the natives usually follow a voluminous work, entitled Pun-tsao, dating back to about 1560 B. C. Any work which takes up the various official (pharmacopoeial) and non-official remedies, and treats upon them exhaustively, in all their applications and uses in Medicine and Pharmacy, is called a "Dispensatory." TABLE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PHARMACOPOEIAS. COUNTRY. TITLE OF PHARMACOPOEIA. LANGUAGE. In earlier times, the different pharmacopoeias or treatises appeared entirely in the Latin language; of late years, however, the text of these works has usually been written in the native language of the country in which it is issued, the Latin being retained in the various titles. Latin has been retained, chiefly because, being a dead language, it is not subject to the various changes and modifications of the different modern tongues. Even with the employment of Latin, various pharmacopoeias differ slightly in their nomenclature; thus in the case of the chemicals, one will place the electro-positive, another the electro-negative element first; for instance, sulphate of iron is variously named Ferrum sulphuricum, Ferri sulphas, Sulphas ferri and Sulphas ferrosus. Some pharmacopoeias employ the term kalium for potassium and natrium for sodium. In the Dutch, Danish, and Swedish pharmacopoeias, the titles of the chemical salts are expressed by treating the base as an adjective placed after the general name of the salt, corresponding, for example, to the English "Sodic Sulphate." For Potassii acetas or Kalium aceticum they have Acetas kalicus; for Sodii bromidum or Natrium bromatum they have Brometum natricum; for Bismuthi subnitras or Bismuthum subnitricum they have Subnitras bismuthicus. The various parts of the text of each article in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia are arranged in the following order : 1. The official Latin title. 2. The English title. 3. In the case of chemicals, the symbolic formula and molecular weight. 4. In certain cases, one or more synonyms. 5. Definition, wherever necessary. 6. Mode of keeping, where necessary. 7. Description, physical, chemical, or botanical, followed, where necessary, by tests of identity, purity, and strength. 8. Preparations which may be considered as forms of administration of the drug. 1st. The Official Latin Title.-This is expressed in Latin, and is intended to express concisely the nature of the chemical, drug, or plant-part recognized. The U. S. P. ignores all remedies not included in itself, hence only that part of a drug or plant is used which it recognizes. Thus, under the title Aconitum, the Pharmacopoeia refers only to the tuber, and to no other part of the Aconitum napellus. When two different parts of a plant are recognized, then the Latin name of the particular part is added to the title; thus, "Belladonna Folia" for belladonna leaves, and "Belladonna Radix" for the root. For the galenical preparations, such titles are selected as will most nearly indicate the nature or the composition of the preparation, attention being given also to simplicity and brevity of expression. Thus, "Pulvis Ipecacuanhæ et Opii" indicates at once the composition of the |