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Pharmacy is the art and science of collecting,
combining, preserving, preparing and standardising drugs and medicines.
It also includes compounding and dispensing of the medicines. The
word 'Pharmacy' also implies the place, where the medicines are
made and distributed.
Homoeopathic Pharmacy is the art and science of
collecting, compounding, combining, preparing, preserving and standardising
drugs and medicines according to the Homoeopathic principle; and
also dispensing medicines or remedies according to the prescriptions
of physicians, which are used in Homoeopathic practice.
It also embraces the legal and professional aspects as also regulates
the proper distribution of drugs and medicines. Dr. Garth Boericke
defines Pharmacy as "The art of preparing drugs for use and
dispensing them as medicine".
Homoeopathic Pharmacy Includes:
(1) Collection: It implies to gather or procure the required drug
materials.Exotic drug materials are imported from abroad, as they
are uot available in our country.
(2) Identification: Before using for preparations, drug- materials
must properly be identified macroscopically and if' required, microscopically,
and chemically also. Help of a Botanist is taken for proper identification.
(3) Quality Inspecting: Only identification of drugs is not sufficient,
one must also be sure about the quality or the characteristic features
of drugs to be used. Proper physical and analytical procedures must
bt. applied to ascertain the quality of drugs, with the aid of suitable
instruments and chemicals respectively and by chromatography also.
(4) Preserving: If required, drugs and medicinal preparations should
be properly preserved in accordance with their properties or specific
natures.
(5) Standardisation: Drugs or medicines so prepared are made to
conform some standards, prescribed by" Appropriate authority
and official Homoeopathic Pharmacopoeia" ; and the process
is known as "Standardising"
(6) Combining: It means joining two or more things together. Scientifically
the product of combination may be a "Mechanicall mixture"
or "Chemical compound"
. (7) Compounding: It means uniting two or more different elements
or constituents together so as to form an altogether new product.
This new product will have new properties different from those of
its constituents e.g., Calcarea sulphurica, Magnesia mur., Natrum
ars. etc. This produces, a "Chemical Compound".
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