J8^;]^ Analyses of Books. 223 



water. The real error was in the data being incorrect in th« 

 paper read before the Royal Society. The dimensions of the 

 piezometer should have been as follows : 



The diameter of the cylinder 3-f^ inches, length 23|- inches,^ 

 the plunger T-o^ diameter. The mistake originated by taking the 

 dimensions of a bathometer which was used at the time the 

 experiment was made. 



With much esteem, yours truly, 



Jacob Perkins. 



Article XV. 



Analyses of Books. 



Pharmacologiay or the History of Medicinal Substances, with a 

 View to establish the Art of prescribing and of composing 

 extemporaneous Formulcic upon fixed and scientifc Principles ; 

 illustrated by Formulce, in which the Intention of each Element 

 is designated by Key Letters, By John Ayrton Paris, MD. 

 FLS. MRI. &c. &c. 



Ip this publication were entirely medical, it would of course be 

 improper to notice it in a work professedly scientific ; but as it 

 involves considerations, and to a very considerable extent, which 

 belong to the science of chemistry and the operations of phar- 

 macy, I conceive that some account of it may not be misplaced 

 in the Annals. 



Dr. Paris has prefixed to this work an " Historical Introduc- 

 tion," giving an account of the more prominent revolutions that 

 have occurred in the reputation of medicinal substances; and in 

 the execution of this task, he has deviated from the beaten path, 

 and has given an air of originality to a subject which might be 

 considered as *' somewhat musty." This history will be found, 

 to use the author's own words, " an analytical inquiry into the 

 more remarkable causes which have, in different ages and coun- 

 tries, operated in producing the revolutions that characterise the 

 history of medicinal substances:" it will be impossible to read 

 this introduction without fully assenting to an opinion expressed 

 by the late Dr. George Fordyce, that whenever a substance was 

 good for nothing else, it was tried in medicine. *^ The revolu- 

 tions and vicissitudes," says the author, " which remedies have 

 undergone in medical, as well as popular, opinion, from the igno- 

 rance of some ages, the learning of others, the superstition of 

 the weak, and the designs of the crafty, afford an ample subject 

 for philosophical reflection ; some of these revolutions I shall 

 proceed to investigate, classing them under the prominent causes 

 which have produced them ; viz. Superstition — Credulity — 



