I

The PREFACE.

General Hiftory of Druggs; which is further enrich'd by the Difcoveries ofa great many Things that before were in the Dark, but finee brought toLight, by the Labour and Industry of him, and the more accurate Lemery:But Inter eft we fee prevails upon Quriofity, fince we meet with very few Mer-chants that will imploy any Fart of their Time to inftruft themfelves in thefeAffairs, which they are not perfwaded are any ways neceffary to theirBujinefs.

Befides this Work is not only ufeful to thofe who profefs Phyfick, and whowill put nothing in the Compofition of Medicines that they preferibe, but choiceDruggs ; but likewife it is ferviceable to Students in Pharmacy, to Druggijlsand Apothecaries, who may improve themfeves by what they will find in thisWork, from whence they may learn to make a right "Judgment of what is true orfalfe in the Ufe or Trade of Druggs; fince People that compofe Medicines oughtto know that what they buy will anfwer the Ends they propofe : Befides there arefeveral Artifts and Trades-Men, who make ufe of Druggs, and whom it is ne-ceffary, and of great Importance to the Pub lick that they fhould net be cheatedor impos'don, as Surgeons, Goldfmiths, Painters, Dyers, Farriers, ,&c.

/ am perfwaded that thofe who read this Work will be fatisfied, thatthey never faw one Treatife of Druggs fo compleat j for here is not only col'letled what may be foundfcatterd in a great many Authors, but a great manyThings that were unknown before Pomet's General Hiftory of Druggs, or atleaft very few of them were ever taken Notice of by any former Author ; forhe acknowledges to have Abundance of Materials given him by Mr. Tourne-fort, andfeveral others of his Friends, who made it their Bufinefs to affiflhim with all the mw Difcoveries they cou'dmeet with. Andtho this Work isnot fwell'd into many Volumes of much larger Size than the two prefent are yyet they contain twice as much as is in Pomet, befides the Additions that areneceffary to the Text from Lemery; whichconfidering the Number of Figures,and the neat Performance of them, which are nothing inferiour to the Origi-nals, renders this one of the cheapeft Books that has appear d of latter Tears.)and been confulted for the Good of the Publick, many of the Figures beingbrought into one Plate, on Purpofe to prevent the Book from Swelling to toolarge, and too exorbitant a price, fo to aeflroy the Ufefulnefs of the Defign tand the Sale of the Book together.

All the D-uggs herein mention d have either their proper Latin Names, orthe Names giver, them by the Country from whence they are brought, with theirEtymology where moft pertinent, their Defcription and Hiflory taken from Mr.Lemery'* Univerfal Treatife of Simple Druggs; the judicious Authorwhereof has endeavour d to inform himfelf both from ancient and modern Au-thors i and the Relations of fever al Travellers, of whatever ccu'd be known

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