44 



7 HE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



Grundzuge der mathematischen Chemie. — 

 Georg Helm. Leipzig : Wm. Engelniann. The 

 author discusses the transformation of energy by 

 reason of chemical action. 



Kurzes Repetitorium der Chemie— -I. Theil 

 Anorganische Chemie. 2. Aufl. Ernst Bryk. 

 Wien : M. Breitenstein, 



Grundzuge der Chemie und Mintralogie fiir 

 den Unterrichlan Mitte/schulen.—M.Zaengerle. 

 3. Aufl. Munchen : J. Lindauer. 

 Hygiene. 



Text Book of Hygiene— Q,. H. Rohe. Phila- 

 delphia : F. A. Davis Co. 



A comprehensive treatise on the principles 

 and practice of preventive medicine from an 

 American standpoint. 



Materia Medica. 



Organic Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy. 

 Illustrated. By Prof. L. E. Say re : P. Blakiston 

 & Co., Philadelphia. 



In these days of degenerate rivalry among 

 educational institutions, and particularly among 

 the different classes of technical schools, when 

 their officers are wont to prefer the very poorest 

 of text-books, written by one of their own num- 

 ber, for the best of them should it emanate from 

 a rival institution, we have become accustomed 

 to looking upon publications of this sort as serv- 

 ing merely, like an electoral vote, to count one 

 among the general collection. It can scarcely 

 be expected that text-books written from such 

 standpoints and with such motives can have 

 much permanent value, and the future educa- 

 tional historian will doubtless look with amaze- 

 ment upon the of trash of this character 

 which has been brought to light during the 

 present era. In the midst of this wearisome 

 train of events it is refreshing to have presented 

 to us a new text-book, whose publication con- 

 stitutes, as to its main part, a real event in the 

 history of pharmaceutical education. 



Prof. Sayre's work on Pharmacognosy has 

 a real reason for existence in its scope, arrange- 

 ment and execution. It is new and original, 

 and will stand by itself as a prominent Ameri- 

 can textbook. If it possesses glaring and in 

 some respects fatal defects, it at the same time 

 presents the merit of ingenuity in construction as 

 well as in the selection of subject matter, and it 

 cannot fail to become a much- used reference 

 book, not only by the pharmaceutical profes- 

 sion for whom it is intended but by physicians 

 as well. It is perhaps unfortunate that so many 

 individuals, and nearly all of them students, 

 should have been given a free hand in the work- 



ing out of the various departments, and that, 

 their products have not been in all cases per- 

 fectly harmonized by the master. It is also un- 

 fortunate that so many statements should have 

 been taken, without investigation, from other 

 authors. A brief scrutiny of the pages will suf- 

 fice to reveal this composite origin, even if one 

 does not read the acknowledgments of the 

 author in his preface. Doubtless Prof. Sayre, 

 while he has not greatly interfered with the in- 

 dividuality of presentation of these different 

 subjects, has taken pains to verify the accuracy 

 of the facts and conclusions recorded. Should 

 such prove upon closer investigation to be the 

 case, the defect referred to must doubtless be 

 considered as one of style merely. 



The appearance of an American work on 

 Pharmacognosy is of so much importance that 

 it is not inappropriate that it be analyzed with 

 some degree of fulness. The book consists of 

 two parts with three appendices. Part 1 is on 

 "Pharmacal Botany," while part 2 is upon "Or- 

 ganic Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy." 

 It is impossible to review this work fairly in the 

 interest of the public as well as of the author 

 without recording the opinion that the eighty- 

 two pages comprising Part 1 should never have 

 been published, if we regard either the reputa-_ 

 tion of the author or the welfare of students of 

 pharmacy. 



Our American text-books on Pharmaceutical 

 Botany, (not "Pharmacal Botany, "as the author 

 unhappily calls it, which would mean the 

 Botany of the Pharmacy, or of the place in 

 which pharmaceutics are practiced, ) bears no 

 evidence that any author has yet comprehended 

 the needs of pharmaceutical students in this 

 direction, or has adjusted his instruction so as, 

 to accomplish the object for which it was de- 

 vised. The idea invariably indicated by the 

 writings, even if not intended by the writers, is 

 that as the application of botanical knowledge 

 to the practice of the pharmacy is limited, its 

 teachings may therefore be superficial, indefi-. 

 nite and vague. The true idea it seems to us is v 

 that it should be curtailed and limited only as 

 to the portions of the field covered; but these 

 requisite portions should be taught with a ful- 

 ness of illustration, a clearness of presentation 

 and a simplicity of style, all the more marked 

 because the student is deprived of the enlight- 

 ening effect contributed in other cases by those 

 portions which are here necessarily omitted. 



As a synopsis, or summary of knowledge, in- 

 tended to guide the teacher instructed in the 

 subject, these eighty-two pages will answer fairly 



