Scientific and applied pharmacognosy intended for the use of students in pharmacy, as a hand book for pharmacists, and as a reference book for food and drug analysts and pharmacologists

Front matter

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Class _2?iL/_^_Q

Book Jixsi_.

Preface To Second Edition

The results of the work in Pharmacognosy are being increasingly appreciated not only in pharmacy and medicine, but in those arts and professions in which technical skill is required. The demand in every form of industry to-day is for those who can perform the exceptional task, for those who can detect the defects in common practice and devise ways of improvement. The training in Pharmacognosy, as was pointed out in the first edition, is very thorough, and the scope of the work is exceedingly broad. While the science of Pharmacognosy was developed to promote the study of drugs, yet in its application it requires a very practical knowledge of nearly every substance found in nature. The author therefore has modified the definition , and enlarged the scope of the subject. Either this was necessary or it would have been incumbent to originate a new word. But as usage eventually determines a definition, it is believed that nearly all pharmacognosists will agree with the author in the position he has taken.

Since the publication of the first edition of this book there have been a great many contributions to the literature of Pharmacognosy. These papers, prepared largely by American authors, deal with adulterations and the variations in constituents, due to the cultivation of medicinal plants. Cognizance of all of this work has been taken and incorporated in this new edition, thus practically bringing it up to date. There has also been incorporated the Government standards for spices and flavoring substances. This has been done to enable the pharmacognosist to keep in mind the exact requirements which must be met in the examination of commercial products. There are a great many subdivisions of Pharmacognosy and the two which are commanding greatest attention to-day are, the cultivation of medicinal plants and pharmaco-chemistry, the latter dealing with the study of the constituents of plants. In the present volume, under the several drugs which have been cultivated, will be found references to the literature of important papers published since the iv PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION

first edition was published. The study of plant constituents is receiving greater attention and the papers dealing with the microscopical studies are increasing in number. The examination of sublimates obtained upon pyro-analysis of drugs is deserving of greater attention. During the past few years the author has had a great many students follow this kind of work with a great deal of success. The number of active principles which can be sublimed is increasing and one is almost constrained to say that there are very few drugs which do not yield a characteristic sublimate on igniting the drug. Furthermore, these sublimates can be further tested for identity so that in applying this form of analysis it has a specific value in identifying the drug and may be used as a criterion of its quality. For these reasons this subject has been enlarged upon and a few illustrations have been introduced.

The general make-up of the book has been improved in several particulars. The size of the printed page has been increased, thus decreasing the number of pages and making it a more convenient hand-book for the student. A most notable change has been in the use of bold-face type to distinguish the titles of drugs discussed and to indicate some of the more important features. These changes will facilitate the use of the work by students and analysts.

H. K.

January, 1920.

Preface To First Edition

Owing to the role played by vegetable substances in the treatment of disease, pharmacognosy takes rank as one of the most important divisions of applied botany, as by far the great majority of substances used in medicine are derived from the plant kingdom. The training for this study is fundamentally botanical, and the technique employed is essentially that of the plant morphologist, physiologist and taxonomist. Moreover, the value of drugs depends upon their constituents, and so the pharmacognocist must possess a working knowledge of chemistry. He must not only be familiar with plant principles in their isolated and purest forms, but must apprehend their nature, combination and location in the plant. Pharmacognosy, therefore, is on the one hand an applied branch of botany, and on the other of chemistry. But even in this statement we have only a partial view of the nature of the problems that confront the pharmacognocist, as he must be prepared to directly apply the results of science to practice and assist in the solution of a great variety of practical problems. The present work abounds in illustrations which show that practical pharmacognosy is dependent upon the progress of scientific pharmacognosy. Among the problems which require the attention of the pharmacognist is the relation of soil and climatic conditions to the variation in the constituents of drugs, and the nature of the chemical changes that ensue in their drying or curing. The problems of the pharmacognocist begin with the living plant and are not entirely completed when the drug reaches the retail pharmacist, as there are pharmacological questions which frequently await his solution.

At present it is becoming recognized that the pharmacognocist should work in the field with the drug collector, stand at the port of entry of commerce to determine what drugs are fit for use, and act as the analyst for the state and Pharmaceutical Examining Boards in determining to what an extent there is uniformity in the drugs and preparations that have been dispensed.

VI PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION

The domain of pharmacognosy because of the diversity of interests is one of the most fascinating studies that can engage the attention of pharmacists. The first question that should be asked in any undertaking, viz., " is the work worth while?" must be answered in the affirmative owing to the fundamental importance of the subject. The work in pharmacognosy ought to be stimulating to the student, for in the meaning of the word is implied the thought that he desires to know drugs and to understand them from every angle.

The modern study of pharmacognosy would be rather difficult if the student did not have some special work on botany as his guide in the study of fundamental facts and principles. The author has published a work on " Applied and Economic Botany " which supplies this deficiency. It should be used preparatory to taking up the pharmacognosy as considered in the present work. There are many phases of botanical investigation which are not considered in the usual courses in botany, especially those relating to cell contents, cell walls and the variations in tissues. These must be dealt with at great length in the botanical courses of colleges of pharmacy and will be found to be adequately considered in the text book referred to. Furthermore, in this work will be found a large amount of practical information concerning medicinal and economic plants, with which the pharmacognocist should be acquainted, and which to a large extent supplements the text of the present volume. In addition the illustrations of living plants and technical products will stimulate the student, and had they been included in the present volume would have made it unwieldy as a text book or as a hand book for the pharmacist.

In the present volume drugs are arranged according to families for the reason stated on page xxviii. It will be noted that in connection with each of the families there is given a synopsis of the morphological characters and more especially the histological characteristics of each group. A few of the important animal drugs are also considered and a key for the identification of powdered drugs is appended. In connection with each drug an adequate literature citation is given. This has not been extended, as Zornig in his work on "Arzneidrogen " has given a very complete bibliographical summary, and it should be consulted by investigators.

The present work is illustrated throughout, and the student is advised to consult the illustrations freely, not only on account of their value in elucidating the descriptions, but also because the legends contain information which, in some instances, supplements that given in the text. It should be stated that a large proportion of the

PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION vii

illustrations are reproductions of photographs and drawings made by the author, and that in all cases where illustrations are borrowed, or drawings have been especially made for this book, credit is given each author in connection with the reproduction.

One of the most difficult questions which arises in writing a work of this kind is that relating to nomenclature. Owing to the desirability of maintaining a stable nomenclature, particularly for medicinal plants, the author has adopted a rather conservative course and has been largely guided by Engler and Prantl and Index Kewensis, or, in the case of plants growing in the United States preference is given to the names adopted in Gray's New Manual of Botany, revised by Robinson and Fernald.

In the preparation of a book like the present it is self-evident that it is based upon the work of the great masters who have developed pharmacognosy from its inception. In the Introductory chapter and throughout the work the names of these men are referred to and in some instances illustrations are given which stand as monuments to their labors.

Among the works consulted by the author, and of which special mention should be made, are the following: Systematic Anatomy of the Dicotyledons, by Hans Solereder, translation by Boodle, Fritsch and Scott; Arzneidrogen, by Heinrich Zornig; Pharmakognosie, by Vogl; Traite de Toxicologic Vegetale, by M. Eug. Collin; Pflanzenmikrochemie, by 0. Tunmann; Die Heilpflanzen, by Georg Dragendorff; The 'Volatile Oils, by Gildemeister & Hoffmann, translation by Edward Kremers; Die Pflanzen-Alkaloide, by Jul. Wilh. Bruhl, E. Hjelt and O. Aschan.

Grateful acknowledgment is also made to the following publishers for permission to reproduce illustrations from the works mentioned: Wilhelm Engelmann, of Leipzig: Die naturlichen Pflanzen-familien by Engler and Prantl. Gebruder Borntraeger, of Berlin: Handbuch der systematische/|Botanik by E. Warming. Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, of Berlin: WissenschaftHche Drogenkunde by Arthur Meyer. Gustav Fischer, of Jena: Lehrbuch der Botanik by Strasburger, Noll, Schenck and Schimper. The publishers of Merck's Report and the Editor of the American Journal of Pharmacy.

Acknowledgment also is made to Dr. Charles Travis for his cooperation and careful studies of the alkaloidal crystals described in this book, and to Dr. Walter E. King for revising the manuscript of the pages on Applied Bacteriology.

H. K.