I would be unappreciative if I failed to take this opportunity to express my gratification at the continued popularity of this Text-book, as shown by the necessity for the publication of another edition. Therefore, I desire to thank the medical profession, and especially the teachers of materia medica and therapeutics in the many colleges in which the book has been used, for the hearty reception which heretofore has been accorded it.

The book is the fruit of some twenty years' experience in teaching therapeutics and clinical medicine, and many years of private and institutional practice. It has been my effort to embody as much as possible of this experience in a condensed, carefully classified, and usable form. Above everything else, I desire this book to be practical rather than theoretical. It is important not only that the student should acquire the largest amount possible of knowledge of the remedies which he expects to use in the practice of medicine, but also that this knowledge should be systematically and logically arranged, so that it may become immediately available. I believe that the classification which I have adopted particularly lends itself to that end, and that it will greatly facilitate the study of this important branch of medicine.

While the needs of the student have been kept in the foreground, I have not forgotten the demands which are made upon it by the practising physician. I have, therefore, endeavored to make the subject-matter as complete and as detailed as the size of such a work will permit, and to give special prominence to the therapeutic sections. In this field I have drawn largely upon my own experience, not forgetting the larger mine of current medical literature.

The study of the official remedies in this edition has been brought into accord with the Eighth Decennial Revision of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. All the official remedies are mentioned. In addition to these, a few non-official remedies that have been demonstrated to be of sufficient importance, as shown by their more or less widespread employment, have been accorded a place.

It is my belief that the unfortunate agnostic tendency toward medicinal therapeutics, and the prevalence of nostrum prescribing in the medical profession, are the natural and inevitable results of the neglect of therapeutics in our medical schools. Every effort should be made to intensify the students' interest in this branch and to render his knowledge not only more complete, but of a character to be readily put into practical application. If this book contributes to that end, I shall feel that it has accomplished its greatest purpose.

I desire to acknowledge the unfailing courtesy and patience of the publishers, and cordially to thank Dr. John C. Hollister, of Chicago, for his valuable contribution on the Opsonic Index.

G. F. B.