558 



German workers, on the other hand, are well provided with 

 literature on the subject, as may be gathered from the fact that 

 in 1901 no less than three similar and notable books were reviewed 

 in this Journal — viz., Hanausek's " Lehrbuch der Technischen 

 Mikroskopie," Koch's " Die Mikroskopische Analyse der Drogen- 

 pulver," and Moeller's " Leitfaden zu Mikroskopisch-Pharmakog- 

 nostischen tJbungen " (see Yol. YIII., pp. 166 — 169). 



The author, therefore, who has made full use of the above 

 and other publications, has ^vi'itten this book with the view of 

 describing the best methods of examining and recognising those 

 vegetable tissues most commonly met with, especially those that 

 are sold in a powdered or disintegrated state, the identification of 

 which is made a special feature of this work. 



This volume is divided into twelve sections, treating respectively 

 of starches, hairs and fibres, spores and glands, ergot, woods, 

 stems, leaves, bark, seeds, fruits, rhizomes, roots, together with 

 an appendix devoted to reagents and their reactions. 



Each of these sections is prefaced by an introduction to its 

 particular subject, and is followed by a description of the most 

 suitable methods of preparing the material, the varioiis tissues to 

 be observed, the important points to be noticed in connection with 

 them, and the chemical reactions by which they are distinguished. 

 Examples are then given of specimens from common drugs, both 

 in the state in which they occur in commerce, and also after 

 being ground into a fine powder. 



The student is thus trained to work in a systematic manner, 

 and is taught to recognise a material which cannot be subjected 

 to the usual operation of section cutting, and of which it is con- 

 sequently difficult to perceive the structural relationship of its 

 component parts. This latter point is an important feature of 

 the book, having hitherto been so much neglected by writers in 

 this country. 



The whole work is in every way a practical one, and it is de- 

 sirable that in a future edition its usefulness may be extended by 

 the inclusion of a still greater number of materials frequently 

 met with. A. A. 



