Excerpt from Lectures on Materia Medica and Therapeutics: Delivered in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, of the University of the State of New York BY the Materia Medica, in its largest sense, is meant that branch of Medical Science which treats of the history, preparation, properties, and effects upon the living system, in health and disease, of all the various agents which are used for the prevention or cure of disease. It may, therefore, be considered as including two distinct departments - viz. First, What may be called strict Materia Medica, embracing simply an account of the history and properties - physical and chemical - of medicinal agents, and of their effects on the system in health. Second, Therapeutics, That which relates to the effects of these agents in their applications to the management of disease. It is in this extended sense that I propose to consider it in the following course of lectures; and I shall, therefore, besides giving you a description of the various properties of medicines, endeavor to lay before you the general principles which are to govern you in their use. There are several points of view in which medicines are generally considered in the books - viz. Their natural history - their physical, their chemical, and finally, their therapeutical properties. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.