Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1889,

BY P. BLAKISTON, SON & CO.,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PRESS OF WM. F. FELL & Co., 1220-24 SANSOM ST.,

PHILADELPHIA.

B50

1887

PREFACE

TO THE ELEVENTH EDITION.

THE exhaustion of the tenth edition of BIDDLE'S MATERIA MEDICA has rendered necessary the preparation of a new one. In doing this the editors have carefully gone over the entire work, paying particular attention to the expurging of obsolete matter, the correction of errors, and the re-writing of various articles that it seemed to need.

They desire to call attention to the following subjects as constituting the principal alterations made by them, viz.: The addition of twenty-one new cuts, the omission of useless ones, the introduction of concise statements of the action of new drugs that have recently crept into the domain of pharmacology, as Hypnone, Urethan, Papaya, Adonidine, Strophantus, Sparteine, Iodol, Morrhuol, Lanolin, and Saccharin. An entirely new chapter has been added on Antipyretics, in which the phenylderivatives, as Acetanilide (anti-febrine), Resorcin, Hydroquinone, Pyrocatechin, Salol, Naphthaline and Naphthol, Pyridine, Chinoline, Kairine, Thalline, and Antipyrine have been thoroughly considered. New articles on Mercuric Chloride and Iodide as antiseptic agents have also been introduced, and the article on Electricity re-written and enlarged. Numerous articles have been much extended, particularly quinine, opium, belladonna, aconite, digitalis, etc., the medicinal uses of which have been more dwelt upon than in former editions.

Useless botanical descriptions (notably in Rhubarb, Aloes, and Acacia) have been curtailed, while the therapeutical applica

V

tion of the majority of drugs has been elaborated. To increase the usefulness of the index, which is as full as that of previous editions, bolder type has been used in referring to the principal actions and uses of the various drugs. The editors wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to Dr. T. D. Reed, of Montreal, and Prof. F. B. Power, of the University of Wisconsin, for numerous valuable suggestions and corrections, as well as to the numerous kindly criticisms on the last edition.

In conclusion, it affords them much pleasure to renew the dedication of the author to the gentlemen in attendance upon the various medical schools in North America.

CLEMENT BIDDLE.

HENRY MORRIS.

Philadelphia, April 1, 1889.

PREFACE

TO THE EIGHTH EDITION.

THE exhaustion of the seventh edition of the Materia Medica within little more than a year since it was issued, having rendered necessary the publication of a new edition, it has been carefully revised, much of it has been recast and even rewritten, and many new articles have been added. The author trusts that it will be found to have kept pace with the progress of pharmacological science, and to contain all important recent contributions to the various departments of pharmacology.

The illustrations of the book comprise, as in previous editions, representations of most of the important indigenous and naturalized plants, as well as diagrams of instruments employed in the atomization of liquids, in the new operation of pneumatic aspiration, in the transfusion of blood, and in the recently-introduced pneumatic method in the treatment of thoracic diseases.

The author has aimed in this, as in previous editions, to present a succinct account of the articles of the Materia Medica in general use in the United States, and discussed in the courses of lectures delivered upon the subject, to which he trusts the work will be found, as heretofore, to furnish a suitable text-book. He takes pleasure in renewing his dedication of it to the gentlemen in attendance upon the various medical schools in North America.

JOHN B. BIDdle.