Fenner's Complete Formulary - Southwest School of Botanical ...

PART I .
DRUGS AND MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES.
The substances used in the art of pharmacy are obtained from every
part of the known world, and are selected from all departments of the
mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The mineral kingdom
contributes the greater portion, the vegetable a great variety, and the
animal a fair percentage of the substances which are known in the
commercial world as "Drugs."
The collection and preparation of "drugs" for the market constitutes a
very great industry, second in importance to none of the commercial
industries of the world. In the limited space which we have to devote to
this subject, mere mention only of what is most important to druggists
can be made, as its elaboration would, of itself, fill a volume.
MINERAL DRUGS.
Nearly every mineral known is, in some form, made use of in pharmacy.
Minerals and mineral salts were the first substances employed in
medicine. The science of chemistry owes its early advancement to the
researches of the alchemists and apothecaries in mineral substances,
and the legends of medicine and pharmacy are mainly based upon the
wonderful powers and qualities attributed to minerals.
The collection of native mineral substances does not come within the
province of pharmacy, and at present but few mineral salts are
prepared by pharmacists. That task, which was formerly a necessary
part of the education and business of the apothecary, now being given
over to manufacturing chemists, who have better facilities and
conveniences for doing it.
In chemistry, all elementary mineral substances are called bases or
radicals, from their property of combining with acids to form salts.
Fenner’s Complete Formulary - Part I-II - MISCELLANEOUS FORMULA - Page 17
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