A MANUAL OF MATERIA MEDICA AND THERAPEUTICS, INCLUDING THE PREPARATIONS OF THE PHARMACOPOEIAS OF LONDON, EDINBURGH, AND DUBLIN, WITH MANY NEW MEDICINES. By J. Forbes Royle, M.D., F.R.S., &c. &c., Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics, King's College, London. Small 8vo, pp. 716. London: Churchill, 1846.

THIS volume is one of a very useful series of Manuals, beautifully got-up and published by Mr. Churchill. Although the form of the volume and the name "Manual" might induce some persons to anticipate any thing not like a complete and elaborate treatise on the subject, we can assure our readers that they have here as much matter as would fill two ordinarysized octavo volumes, and a very full and complete treatise on Materia Medica; adapted not merely to the wants of students, for whom it is principally intended, but also to those of the practitioner. The beautiful paper and typography, and the excellent wood-cuts, are beyond all praise, albeit the smallness of the type, remarkably clear though it be, will not, we fear, find favour in the eyes of many, even of those who, like ourselves have not yet seen three-score years.

In issuing so expensive a volume at so low a price, the publisher has, we doubt not, rightly estimated the wants of the profession, and the probable sale of such a work. "If it should be asked," says the author, "whether another work on materia medica was required in addition to the numbers which already exist, it must be replied, that this was undertaken at the repeated request of its publishers, who may be supposed to be well acquainted with the wants of the profession. This one, however, would not have been sufficient to induce the author to undertake the work, had he not also been aware from the complaints of pupils, and convinced from his experience as a teacher, that the student of materia medica required something systematic to study, which, brought up to the present time, should be sufficiently full for information, and yet as short and condensed as was compatible with the avoidance of being superficial." In both respects, although unable to satisfy himself, we think that, with one exception, to which allusion will subsequently be made, the author has been abundantly successful.

The difficulty experienced, both in the lecture-room and in preparing a work like the present, of treating many parts of the subject briefly, is, as the author states, increased, in consequence of the authoritative regulations by which students are compelled to attend the course of Materia Medica, during the first year of their attendance on lectures, ignorant of all the sciences, an acquaintance with which is absolutely necessary to the study of materia medica. It would doubtless be a great improvement in the existing regulations, if the student were compelled to commence his medical studies by Summer courses of Botany and Zoology, or Comparative Anatomy; Chemistry and Natural Philosophy having constituted a part of his preliminary education. As it is, there is a great deal of needless repetition in the several departments of our Colleges, and the subject of materia medica is rendered unnecessarily complex, and too often wearisome to the student. But there is also, in our estimation, a greater evil

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still. For, owing to the multiplicity of subjects of which the professor of meteria medica and therapeutics has to treat, the most important department, the actions of medicines and their applications to practical purposes, therapeutics, is treated as though it were of minor and subordinate importance. Yet this is the information which the student does not get elsewhere, and for which he naturally looks to the teacher of therapeutics. Nor is this very serious evil confined to the lecture-room; it obtains more or less in almost all our modern works on materia medica, and the present one, we are sorry to find, does not form an exception. Let it not be supposed that we are advocating mere theoretical disquisitions on the physiological or essential actions of medicines, of which, in nine cases out of ten, we may be said to know little or nothing. To students, at least, such speculations would be of little or no value, and often indeed worse than useless. But, to take as an illustration of our meaning, the first article on which we happen to open in the volume before us, Sulphate of Magnesia: surely, after reading through two pages of this very close print devoted to so common and useful a medicine, the student may fairly expect that its action and uses should not be dispatched in a single line, informing him that it is "cathartic, diuretic, a common constituent of a black dose!" And yet this is all that our author says to guide the student in the employment of one of our most common purgatives;-he gives him not a word as to its character as a purgative, its advantages, or disadvantages, nor how it may be best prescribed. Or, we may take as another example, Ipecacuanha. The following is all that is said under the head of "action and uses." "Irritant, Nauseant Emetic, Expectorant, Diaphoretic, Sedative. Useful as an Expectorant and Diaphoretic in Catarrh, or as a Diaphoretic in febrile affections of various kinds, or to cause a determination to the skin in Diarrhoea and Dysentery. Emetic to cut short the accession of an ague, &c., evacuate the stomach, or give a shock to the system. Nauseant Sedative in Hæmorrhage, &c." Now every practitioner knows that the action of Ipecacuanha as an Emetic very different from that of Tartar Emetic or Sulphate of Zinc, and that in a given case it is by no means immaterial which is selected. The student, however, would not learn from his Manual that there was anything distinctive in the operation of these several emetics. For, under the head of Sulphate of Zinc, he is merely told that it is "in large doses Emetic ;" and, on referring to the article Emetic Tartar, he simply learns that, in doses of "gr. j-ij. diluted," it is "emetic." No reference is made to the remarkable effects of Ipecacuanha on some constitutions in exciting paroxysms resembling asthma; nor to its very important therapeutic influence on the gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. From an Indian practitioner we might also have expected something more specific in reference to its sedative action and mode of exhibition in Dysentery. But the special therapeutic applications of the drugs are scarcely ever mentioned, or, at all events, are but alluded to in the most cursory manner. A sense of duty compels us to give prominence to this very serious defect, in the practical or therapeutical part of the present volume, by which its value to both student and practitioner is most materially diminished. As, however, it is almost the only fault we have to find with the work, we have had the less hesitation in expressing our disapprobation. For the

is

rest, it has our hearty approbation. We proceed, therefore, to give our readers an account of Dr. Royle's arrangement and mode of treating his subject.

The first part of the volume is occupied by a brief Introduction, containing a sketch of the operations of Pharmacy, and of the principles of pharmaceutical chemistry. The Materia Medica is then arranged under three sections-mineral, vegetable, and animal. A natural-history arrangement is adopted throughout, and for the mineral department that which is employed in chemical works-proceeding from the non-metallic elements to the metals. The author does not confine himself to the articles which have a place in the English, Scotch, or Irish Pharmacopoeias, but commences with Atmospheric Air, Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Nitrogen, and has introduced most of the new medicines. At the head

of each article the synonyms are given, followed by the chemical symbols, and equivalents, the etymology, and a short account of the natural history. The physical and chemical properties are then described, the pharmaceutical preparations detailed, then follow the tests for their purity, their actions and uses, and, when necessary, their antidotes. The various formulæ of the several British Pharmacopoeias, into the composition of which the different articles and their compounds enter, are appended, with brief explanatory remarks.

In the arrangement of the Vegetable Materia Medica the system of Decandolle is followed, and that of Professor Grant for the articles derived from the Animal Kingdom.

There is, as the author fears, some degree of obscurity in the mode in which the directions for making the preparations of the three Colleges are given, owing to the necessity which he felt himself under to condense these directions as much as possible. We subjoin the following as a specimen of the author's mode of treating the mineral department of his subject.

"FERRI SULPHAS, L. E. D.

Sulphate of the Protoxide of Iron. Ferrum Vitriolatum. F. Sulfate de Fer. G. Schwefelsaures Eisenoxydul. Eisen

"Sulphate of Iron. Sal Martis. vitriol.

"Vitriolated Iron, or Green Vitriol, was known to the ancients. It is mentioned in the Amera Cosha of the Hindoos (Hind. Med. p. 44), and it is used by them, as by the Romans in the time of Pliny, in making Ink. It is found in nature: the Sulphuret, absorbing Oxygen from the atmosphere, is converted into the Sulphate of the Protoxide of Iron: this is apt to be changed into the red-coloured Sulphate of the Sesquioxide. The Sulphate, being soluble, is fonnd in some mineral waters. It is also made artificially on a large scale for use in the arts, by exposing moistened Pyrites to the air, and is called Copperas or Green Vitriol.

66

=

Sp. Gr.

Sulphate of Iron (FeO SO3 + 7 Aq. 139) is a transparent crystallised substance, of a bluish-green colour, and a styptic (which is also called an inky) taste. The crystals are modifications of the oblique rhombic prism. 1.82. They are soluble in a little more than their own weight of cold and in 3 of their weight of boiling water. the air they effloresce, and the salt, absorbing Oxygen, is converted into the Sulphate of the reddish-coloured Sesquioxide of Iron. Heated, it is first melted in its water of crystallisation; this is afterwards expelled, and the salt re

In

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duced to the state of a dry white powder. (v. Ferri Sulphas exsiccatus, E.) At a still greater heat, the acid is expelled, and may be obtained in the form of anhydrous or glacial Sulph', the latter portion being decomposed. The Iron is left in the state of the reddish-coloured Sesquioxide, the colcothar of old authors and of the D. P. Sulph. Iron is insoluble in Alcohol; its solution in water reddens Litmus; its Iron is precipitated on the addition of alkalis, alkaline earths, and their Carbonates, by the former as a Hydrated Protoxide, and by the latter as a Carbonate, which is soon changed into the red Sesquioxide. q. v. With Ferrocyanide of Potassium, a white precipitate is formed with the pure Sulphate of the Protoxide, but a blue one if the Sesquioxide be present; the same change of colour ensues when the former precipitate is exposed to the air. A black precipitate (Gallate of Iron) is formed when the Sulphate containing any of the Sesquioxide is added to an infusion or tincture of Galls, or of any other astringent vegetable. Comp. Fe O 25.9+S′ 28.8+Aq. 45·3=100.

Prep. Mix Sulphuric' 3 xiv. (7 parts, D.) with Aq. Oiv. (60 parts, D.) add Iron-filings 3 viij. (Wire 4 parts, D.) apply heat, (and when the effervescence is over, L.) filter (through paper, D.) Set the liquor aside to crystallise, (after due concentration, D.) and then concentrate the supernatant liquor to obtain more crystals. Dry them all. (If the Sulphate of Iron of commerce be not in transparent green crystals, without efflorescence, dissolve it in its own weight of boiling water acidulated with a little Sul'; filter, and set the solution aside to crystallise. Preserve the crystals in well-closed bottles, E.)

"This process is introduced, as the Green Vitriol of commerce is usually impure. Concentrated Sul does not act on pure Iron, but the water of the dil. acid becoming decomposed, yields its O. to the Iron, while H. escapes in the form of gas. The Oxide of Iron formed unites with the Sul', and the Sulphate of Iron is obtained.

"Tests. Pale bluish-green crystals, with little or no efflorescence; entirely soluble in water; this solution does not deposit Copper upon Iron being immersed in it; its solution, first boiled with Nit' and then precipitated by excess of Ammonia, yields on filtration a fluid which is colourless or very pale blue. L. and E. If it be of a deep blue, then Copper is present. The boiling in Nit is not always necessary, for Green Vitriol is usually a mixture of Sulphate of Protoxide and of Sesquioxide of Iron. Zinc may be similarly detected by adding Ammonia in excess to the Sesquioxidated solution; after filtering, expel the excess of Ammonia by heat, and any Zinc which is present will be deposited in flakes of the white Ŏxide.

“Inc. Alkalis and their Carbonates, salts of Calcium and of Barium, Acetate and Diacetate of Lead, Nitrate of Silver, Vegetable Astringents.

"Action. Uses. Astringent, Tonic, Emmenagogue.

"D. gr. j.—gr. v. in pills with Bitter Extracts or Aromatic Confection.

Mr. Phillips warns from giving it in solution without first boiling the water, and expelling its atmospheric air, of which the Oxygen would peroxidize the Oxide."-P. 138.

In addition to the officinal preparations, we have a good account of most of the new preparations of this invaluable remedy.

The Vegetable Materia Medica is prefaced by a Botanical Introduction comprising a description of the parts of plants used officinally, a sketch of their "Classification," of "Vegetable Physiology," the "Geography of Plants," the connexion between the medical properties of plants and their structure or natural arrangement, and the collecting and drying of vegetables. To this introduction, as it is brief and will doubtless be useful to the student, no objection ought perhaps to be taken, on the score that some parts of it are out of place in a work on Materia Medica.

As might be expected, Dr. Royle's philological acquirements, and his acquaintance with the natural history of the East, have enabled him to throw much light on some obscure points connected with the etymology of many of the names of articles of eastern origin, as well as on their natural and commercial history. He has given, in his Preface, a list of the chief original authorities of which he has made use, both in the Botanical and Pharmaceutical department; but the attention which he has himself paid to the identification of officinal plants, and the peculiar facilities which he has possessed for obtaining information from his contemporaries who have devoted themselves to similar investigations in the East, have enabled him to enrich this portion of the volume with much new and valuable matter. We may refer, in corroboration of this remark, to the very interesting and valuable article on Assafoetida, which may also be taken as an example of Dr. Royle's method of treating the Vegetable Department of the Materia Medica.

"ASSAFETIDA, L. E. D. Gummi Resina, L. D. Gummy-resinous Exudation (E.) of NARTHEX (Ferula, Linn.) ASSAFŒTIDA, Falconer. Assafœtida.

Assafoetida, a product of Persia and Affghanistan, is mentioned in the ancient Sanscrit Amera Cosha. The ancients highly esteemed a gum-resin which the Romans called Laser, and the Greeks oos xuρnvaxis, or the Cyrenaic Juice, from being produced in that region. The plant diλciov yielding it was an Umbellifer, and is represented on the coins of Cyrene. It has been discovered of late years, and named Thapsia Silphium. This Laser had become scarce even in the time of Pliny, who, as well as Dioscorides, describes another kind as obtained from Persia, India, and Armenia, which was probably the same that was known to the Hindoos. Avicenna describes hulteet as of two kinds: one, of good odour, from Chiruana (Cyrene?), and the other fætid, the present Assa-fatida. The term assa is no doubt of oriental origin, since it is applied to other gum-resins. Thus Benzoin is called hussee-looban; it used to be called Assa dulcis in old works. Dr. Lindley has received the seeds of a Ferula called hooshee. Anjedan, the fruits or seeds (puλov of the Greeks), is usually translated Laserpitium. The plant is called Angoozeh by the Arabs. The root of Silphion is described by Arrian as affording food to herds of cattle on Paropamisus.

Assafoetida is produced in the dry southern provinces of Persia, as in the mountains of Fars and of Beloochistan, but chiefly in Khorassan and Affghanistan; likewise to the north of the Hindoo Khoosh range of mountains, where it was found by Burnes, and also by Wood's expedition to the Oxus (c.) Dr. Falconer found it in Astore, introduced the plant into the Saharunpore Botanic Garden, as mentioned in the author's Product. Resources of India,' p. 223, and has obtained from it a small quantity of Assafœtida. He also sent home numerous seeds, which were distributed from the India House to several gardens; but the author has not heard whether any plants have been produced from them. But he has no doubt that some of those which the author is informed by his friend Dr. Christison are still in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, were produced from these seeds, and not from those sent by Sir John M'Neill. The Assafœtida is conveyed on camels into India across both the Punjab and the Bhawulpore, and is sold in large quantities at the Hurdwar Fair. It is also conveyed down the Indus and by the Persian Gulf to Bombay.

"Two or three kinds of Fruit called Seeds are met with, which are said to be those of the Assafoetida plant, but there is no proof that more than one plant yields Assafœtida. Dr. Falconer, an excellent Botanist, after examining the original specimens, considers the plant he saw in Astore to be the same as that figured by Kæmpfer; and Dr. G. Grant, who saw the plant at Syghan, says, as stated by Dr. Christison, that its roots, leaves, and flowering stem correspond on