174 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



however rash, which was suggested by the ideas that he developed " (p. 322). One 

 wonders whether a resuscitated Faraday would be prepared to go as far. 



A remarkable feature of the book is the absence of differential equations, and 

 of higher analysis generally ; but whether the author is right or wrong when he says 

 "a page of symbols covers a multitude of assumptions," the same is certainly true 

 of some pages of his own prose. 



There are many who would hold, in the light of the experience of the past, 

 that the author (on p. 286) asks more reverence for the electronic theory than it 

 can reasonably claim. The electronic is not the first theory which has proposed, 

 amongst other things, to " bridge the gulf between chemistry and physics " (which, 

 in a sense, never existed), and there is some reason to suppose it will not be 

 the last. 



Criticisms of this kind, however, refer only to minor characteristics of the 

 book. As a whole it is a notable and stimulating piece of work, for which the 

 author deserves the gratitude of all who have the desire to assist in the promotion 

 of knowledge at heart. 



An excellent feature of the bcok must be mentioned in conclusion. At the end 

 of each chapter a summary and references to the chief papers on the subjects 

 discussed are given, as well as brief indications of the contents of some of the 

 latter. This is an invaluable service to the reader. 



S. W. J. Smith. 



The Chemical Basis of Pharmacology. By Francis Francis, D.Sc, Ph.D., 



and J. M. Fortescue-Brickdale, M.A., M.D. [Pp. xii. + 372.] (London: 

 Arnold, 1908 ; price 14s. net.) 



In this work, which is one of the most comprehensive treatises of its kind in the 

 English language, the authors supply a chemical basis for the pharmacology of 

 the organic substances now employed as therapeutic agents in general medical 

 practice. The aim in view is indicated in the preface, where the hope is expressed 

 that the book will enable medical students to realise more fully the connection 

 between organic chemistry and the pharmacology of the present day, and also that 

 it may tend to broaden the teaching of materia medica, so as to include a con- 

 sideration of the numerous synthetical remedies which are now so prominently 

 brought under the notice of the modern physician. From this point of view, the 

 book may be regarded as a chemical " Who's Who " for drugs which are almost 

 invariably advertised under trade names intended frequently to mask, rather than 

 to reveal, the true nature of the substances in question. The index, which 

 contains the names of the more important compounds in heavier type, facilitates 

 the use of the work for purposes of reference. A few not unimportant drugs have, 

 however, been omitted. For example, the well-known diuretic, piperazine, is 

 neither indexed as such nor indicated by its more scientific name of diethylene- 

 diamine. 



The extent to which this treatise will enable medical practitioners to gauge 

 the merits or demerits of the host of synthetical remedies now thrust upon 

 them can best be appreciated after reading what are perhaps the most suggestive 

 sections of the work — namely, those dealing with the rational and empirical 

 methods of therapeutics and the difficulties attending the attempt to correlate 

 chemical constitution and physiological properties. The authors adduce many 

 cogent examples showing that the physiological action of a drug is influenced by 

 its physical as well as by its chemical properties, that little is known as to the way 



