INTRODUCTION. lxi
indigenous drugs of Bengal till the publication of O'Shaugh- nessy's Bengal Dispensatory in 1842. Before the publication of this work, information concerning indigenous drugs was scat- tered in the journals and transactions of several learned societies, which were not easily accessible to all members of the medical profession. Mr. Louis DaCosta wrote in the Journal of the Ben- gal Asiatic Society for May, 1837, " it is a desideratum to know how the natives have treated the subject of medicaments — what of good their books contain— what of error. Our medical prac- tice pays, perhaps, too little attention to vegetable remedies, of which the orientals possess an infinite variety, many inert but many active, and many also quite unknown to Europeans." The Bengal Dispensatory supplied a long-felt want on the subject. This was followed in 1844 by the Bengal Pharmacopoeia. These two works form important landmarks in the literature of indi- genous drugs. They were not free from errors. Even the author acknowledged that his multifarious duties prevented him from bestowing that amount of attention on the subject which its importance demanded. But considering the difficulties he had to contend with, the scanty materials which existed on the literature at his time, I think great credit is due to him for his works. He was one of the pioneers in this field of research. And it should not be forgotten that his Pharmacopoeia of Bengal subsequently formed the groundwork of the Pharmacopoeia of India.
The next work on the " Indigenous drugs of Bengal" is that of Kanay Lai Dey. That gentleman is a well-known authority on the subject. In 1862, for the International Exhibition held in London, he forwarded indigenous drugs chiefly of Bengal. The catalogue of drugs exhibited by him was subsequently pub- lished in book-form at the request of the Inspector-General of Civil Hospitals of Bengal. This work was a decided improve- ment on O'Shaughnessy's Pharmacopoeia and Dispensatory.
No other work on the indigenous drugs of Bengal deserves any notice. Mr. T. N. Mukerji's " Catalogue of Amsterdam Exhibition" is a useful one, but it is principally compiled from the above sources.
