Page 19 - My FlipBook

DENTAL MEDICINE.

DEFINITION OF SUBJECTS.

Materia Medica is that branch of medical science which refers
to and describes the methods and substances known as " medici-
nal agents," which are employed in the prevention and treatment
of disease ; also their source or derivation, preparation, composi-
tion, and properties.
Therapeutics is that branch of medical science which comprises
the doctrine of the management of disease. Generally, however,
the term is restricted to a description of the modus operandi of
medicines, or, in other words, their use, application, effects, and
doses, when applied in the treatment of various morbid condi-
tions.
Pharmacology is the science of the action of medicines, and is
expressed by what is termed their " physiological action."
Pharmacy is the art of preparing medicines, and dispensing
them by direction of the therapeutist.
An accurate knowledge of the principles and rules which
govern the administration and action of medicinal substances
enables the practitioner to restore disordered functions, and to so
impress the organism as to maintain harmonious conditions, by
means of which the various functions, in a state of health, are
intimately connected by relation and sympathy.
Some medicinal agents exert their influence on primary nour-
ishment, converting food, by digestion, into the substance of
organic beings, while other remedies, without interfering with
digestion, by a modification of the process of assimilation exert
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