INTRODUCTION THE presentation in popular form of facts of interest connected with the production of medicines is timely, because of an increasing desire on the part of the layman for a deeper insight into scientific and professional subjects generally, and because of the many fallacies and erroneous beliefs that have hitherto prevailed regarding the various phases of the drug business. When discussing the character of drugs and their properties with the average non-scientist, one is immediately struck with the fact that a mental confusion prevails as to what medicinal agents really are, where they come from, and how far they may be reasonably expected to go in alleviating the diseased conditions to which humanity is susceptible. In the course of a year the specialist, if he is known to be familiar with a branch of science involving the public welfare, will be called upon to answer a thousand or more questions, widely divergent in character yet pregnant with significance, and demonstrating the craving for knowledge displayed by civilization of the present day. The topics and the subject-matter making up this volume have been inspired by the interrogations and discussions that a scientist, actively engaged in his profession, has encountered during two decades of almost daily contact with professional men of high and 417657 low degree, and with the various zones of culture making up our citizen population. The work is not intended as a scientific treatise; in fact, that is exactly what has been avoided. The object has been to present, as far as possible, in plain every-day terms and phraseology a story of the various phases of the drug industry, based, as before stated, on the diversified inquiries of non-scientific persons. The book is divided into chapters; but, since the volume is a collection of expositions rather than a connected narrative, there has been no attempt to arrange the material in periodical sequence. First there is a short outline telling what drugs are and where they originate. This is followed by a historical sketch of the development of the medicinemaking industry. And finally there is a detailed account of how medicines are made. The alcoholic question has set agog this nation as well as the entire world, and because of the many erroneous ideas prevalent about the significance of alcohol and alcoholic medicines, it has been deemed expedient to devote some space to defining the true status of alcohol in relation to the drug and medicine industry. Similarly, though perhaps to a lesser degree, the popular mind has been agitated by a vague knowledge of the dope evil, the extent of its effect, and the character of the offending agents. In view of the widespread interest in this subject, an account of what dope actually is, and is not, has been presented in such a way as to dispel many popular fallacies con |