24 



THE JOURNAL OF PHARMACOLOGY. 



A Bacterium which Lives in Alcohol. 



— Mr. and Mrs. V. A. Veley, Nature, 

 note the deterioration recently observed 

 in Demerara rum. They obtained sam- 

 ples direct from a bonded warehouse, 

 which they found to contain 74.6 per 

 cent, of alcohol by weight, and on mi- 

 croscopical examination of a sediment at 

 the bottom of the samples found it to 

 consist of chains of small cocci. After 

 the spirit had been kept for some days 

 the cocci were seen to be surrounded 

 with a gelatinous envelope, and after a 

 further interval of time the cocci were 

 found disseminated throughout the liquid, 

 and were rapidly developing and multi- 

 plying. The micro-organism belongs to 

 the Coccaceac and the authors regard it 

 as a new species ; the observation of the 

 existence and multiplication of any micro- 

 organism in a spirit of such alcoholic 

 strength appears to be quite novel. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 

 The Pharmacist at Work. W. C. 



AlpKRS, Philadelphia. (/, P. Lippincott 

 & Co., 1898, pp. ix-326) 



The many readers of Mr. Alpers' 

 entertaining and instructive series of 

 papers under the above title, which first 

 appeared in Merck's Report of 1895-96, 

 will be pleased to learn of their issue, re- 

 vised and enlarged, in book form. While 

 not intended to encroach on the province 

 of the more pretentious works on the 

 theory and practice of pharmacy, this 

 very readable discussion of every day 

 occurrences in a modern pharmacy will 

 commend itself to all classes of pharma- 

 ceutical workers as showing in a happy 

 and forceful manner the interdependence 

 of theoretical knowledge and practical 

 experience, and as being an effort toward 



the elevation of pharmacy to its due 

 rank among the professions. Systematic 

 outlines of study are laid down for the 

 beginner. The student will find the 

 discussion of the official preparations and 

 the chapters on the metric system and 

 the subject of alligation of especial 

 assistance, while the practical worker 

 may learn of many useful and time saving 

 devices that will facilitate his labors. 

 Subjects of interest more particularly to 

 the proprietor are also treated ; adver- 

 tising methods, the preservation of the 

 entente cordiale between pharmacist and 

 physician, and, perhaps, most important 

 of all, the attitude of the preceptor 

 toward his apprentice and the part he 

 plays in infusing into him the enthusiasm 

 and love for his profession which alone 

 can insure success. 



The book is excellently printed and 

 bound, although the absence of an index 

 is to be regretted. 



Prof Wm. Trelease ( Trans. St. Louis 

 Acad. Sci., VII. 18, 493) describes "An 

 Universal Phyto benzoar" formed in the 

 stomach of a bull in the neighborhood of 

 San Luis Potosi, Mexico, and consisting 

 of the fine barbed hair-like spines from 

 the pulvini of the flat-jointed Opuntias 

 of the region, upon which the animal 

 had been for some time feeding. Various 

 species of cactus are there eaten by stock 

 during periods of food scarcity. Many 

 stockmen partially roast them before 

 feeding, thus destroying the most of the 

 fine spines. Others avoid this on the 

 ground that it increases the natural pur- 

 gative properties of the fodder. The 

 animal in question had roamed wild and 

 eaten the Opuntias voluntarily. The 

 balls are described as being perfectly 

 spherical, measuring t> 1 A inches in di- 

 ameter and weighing 7^2 ounces. 



H. H. R. 



