Pharmacology， for the purpos~ of this book， is
considered to be the body of information that underlies
the effective and safe use of drugs ~the diagnosis，
prevention， or treatment of disease. Plowever， phar-
macology includes many controversial areas， and
opinion begins to diverge with the very definition of
the field. From the point of view of the practicing
physician and medical student rather than the research
specialist， pharmacology is a derived or applied sci-
ence. Understanding how drugs are used and progress
in drug therapy require the application and develop-
ment of special information from many areas， espe-
cially organic and analytical chemistry， biochemistry，
physiology， and the various clinical specialties.
Many research- and laboratory-oriented phar-
macologists prefer to regard pharmacology also as a
basic science and view it as a valid field of investiga-
tion independent of its immediate applications. Their
approach would emphasize some of the headings in the
outline below and minimize others. The emphasis of
this book reflects the teaching responsibility of phar-
macologists toward students in the professions rather
than the needs of research pharmacologists. It deliber-
ately blurs any distinction between pharmacology and
therapeutics.
The discussion of most of the groups of drugs in
the following chapters of this book is organized ac-
cording to the outline that begins below. However，
several chapters on general pharmacologic or
therapeutic subjects precede the chapters in which the
drug groups are discussed. Whether these general
discussions should be read before or after a store of
specific pharmacologic information is acquired de-
pends upon the individual student. The following brief
review of the conventionalized outline of what a prac-
titioner should consider before using a particular drug
should allow study of the general chapters to be de-
ferred if desired.
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