Drugs

Drugs obtained from various plants were known to the early civilisations. As a matter of fact, the history of the Drug plants is as old as the history of these civilisations. The Chinese were reported to have used drug plants as early as 5,000 to 4,000 BC. The Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians knew many drug plants in about 1,600 BC. In 77 BC. a Roman Physician Dioscorides wrote the world famous "De Materia Medica", which described the nature and properties of all the 500 medicinal plants, which were known at that time. Drugs have become indispensable in the life of man.

In the present day, medical science has paid great attention to the study of drug plants. The branch of medical science, which deals with the drug plants, is called 'Pharmacognosy'. The drugs are usually classified on the basis of the morphology of the drug-yielding parts of plants; it may be the root, stem, bark, leaves, seed or fruits. In the Economic Botany Gallery, herbarium of Cinchona, its bark, capsule, flower, fruit etc., are kept on display.