Preface To Second Edition

In the Second Edition the effort has been made to bring the text up-to-date, particularly with reference to the Pharmacopoeial changes. Some new drugs have been added, both official and otherwise; some have been retained that are now not official, and, following the Pharmacopoeia, many have been dropped, with a sigh of relief. Much new matter has been added that it is hoped will prove of value.

Acknowledgments are made of many valuable criticisms and suggestions, particularly from Dr. John Taylor Halsey, Professor of Pharmacology and Clinical Medicine, in Tulane University.

O. W. B.

Preface To First Edition

In the treatment of disease a physician is usually confronted with the following problems which must be considered in the order given:-

What is the true condition of the patient?

What changes should be produced in that condition?

What agents will best effect those changes?

In what form and by what methods should those agents be employed to obtain the best possible results?

How should his orders for those agents be written so as to serve the best interests of the patient and his associates?

The first three of these propositions are exhaustively treated in many excellent volumes and are ably taught in the medical schools, but the last two of the propositions are often neglected.

For example-the student is taught how to diagnose certain blood conditions, the changes that should be effected, and that Iron is the drug to bring about these desired results. It is often neglected to impress upon the student what preparations of iron will best meet the demands of particular conditions, the precautions to be observed in employing them, how to correctly prescribe them, alone or in combination, and, if in combination, with what forms or preparations of the other agents; how to order for the safest, most convenient and agreeable administration; how to use the correct names, conveniently estimate the proper quantities, the best hours for administration, and the many other matters an ignorance of which may render the physician unable to properly put to practical use his knowledge of the other departments of medical science. Such instruction is the particular object of this book.

The purpose has been to handle the subject-matter in such a practical way as to render the work a dependable one for every-day service.

The author wishes to express his indebtedness to other writers from whose works he has, in some instances, had to draw. The volumes of particular assistance in compiling this work were : The U. S. Pharmacopoeia, Remington's Pharmacy, Useful Remedies (A. M. A.), Wilcox's Materia Medica and Pharmacy, the U. S. Dispensatory, The National Formulary, Merck's Index, Shoe-maker's Materia Medica and Sollmann's Pharmacology. The writer is also much indebted to the publishers and authors who kindly allowed the use of the prescriptions from their works; acknowledgments are made to these in each case in footnotes.

O. W. B.