JajSuary 26, 191 1] 



NATURE 



399 



and ■' Medicines from the Metals " complete the first 

 volume. Of the ten chapters in the second volume 

 the most interesting are "Animals in Pharmacy," 

 "Some Noted Drugs," "Familiar Medicines," "Noted 

 Nostrums," and " Names and Symbols." 



The state of pharmacy in the time of the Pharaohs 

 is illustrated by a very concise but sufficiently com- 

 plete account of the celebrated Papyrus Ebers, which 

 is made more realistic by the reproduction of one of 

 its pages. Comparison of the preparations prescribed 

 in this historically invaluable collection of recipes with 

 those employed in this country three thousand years 

 later affords food for reflection ; such comparison is 

 easy, for several of the paragraphs are literally trans- 

 lated, and can be read side by side with several from 

 Cockayne's " Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Star- 

 craft," which soon follow in the same volume. The 

 chapter in which these are quoted (" Pharmac\- in 

 Great Britain ") makes ver>- interesting reading fw 

 British pharmacists. Here the reader is introduced 

 to a number of celebrities who have taken active part 

 in the development of pharmacy in this country', and 

 is made acquainted with the circumstances that ulti- 

 mately resulted in the formation of the Pharmaceu- 

 tical Society of Great Britain. 



But perhaps the most interesting and certainly the 

 most novel chapters in the work are the three that 

 deal with " Noted Drugs," " Familiar Medicines," and 

 "Noted Nostrums." In them the author was at his 

 best, and it is not difficult to see that these were the 

 chapters that lay nearest his heart. They constitute 

 the first systematic attempt to compile a historj' of 

 preparations and medicines the names of many of 

 which are household words. Black draught, diachv- 

 lon plaster, Dover's powder, sal volatile, htera picra, 

 and many others are discussed. The expert will 

 speedily realise the lengthy and patient investigation 

 that must have been needed to discover and sift the 

 facts here presented in small compass. Full use has 

 evidently been made of the literar\- treasures in the 

 libran,- of the Pharmaceutical Society, where Mr. 

 Wootton was frequently to be seen deeplv engaged 

 in the study of old volumes. Probably few phar- 

 macists are aware that the original formula for 

 diachylon plaster was compiled during the reign of 

 the Emperor Tiberius, or that hiera picra could be 



rchased in Rome or Alexandria two thousand years 



^ ^ as it can be in London to-day; in both cases the 



principal constituents have remained the same though 



the adjuncts have varied. So also the chapter on 



Voted Nostrums " contains most instructive accounts 



remedies so familiar to the pharmacist as James's 



tever powder, Ward's paste, St. John Long's liniment, 



^^ arburg's tincture, and others. Moreover, it is im- 



-sible to read these chapters without insensibly 

 -<-4uiring a considerable knowledge of the changes 

 through which pharmacy itself has passed. 



Mr. Wootton 's "Chronicles of Pharmacy" must be 

 regarded as a ver\- valuable contribution to the history 

 of pharmacy, particularly in this countn.-. It is 

 written in scholarly style, is of abscM-bing interest, and 

 ihows abundant evidence of painstaking research. 

 Though the pleasure felt in perusing it is tempered 

 \^ith regret that the author should not have lived 

 NO. 2152, VOL. 85] 



to see the publication of his work, it is fortunate he 

 should have had, in Mr. Peter MacEwan, an accom- 

 plished literar}' friend, able and willing to undertake 

 the task of revising the proofs before the work was 

 finally submitted to the public. 



Henry G. Greenish. 



THE CHICAGO TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY. 

 A Text-Book of Botany for Colleges and Universities. 

 By Prof. J. M. Coulten, late Prof. C. R. Barnes 

 and Prof. H. C. Cowles. Vol. i., Morphology and 

 Physiology. Pp. viii + 484 + xii. (New York: 

 American Book Co., 19 10.) Price 2 dollars. 



IT is a difficult task, nowadays, to write a text-bo<^ 

 of botany, because the subject has become so 

 large as to render it impossible to treat even the more 

 important sections of it within reasonable limits of 

 space. Any attempt of this kind must be judged on 

 the basis laid down by the authors, and from this 

 point of view we think the new Chicago text-book has 

 scored a distinct success. 



The subject-matter is divided into morphology-, 

 dealt with by Prof. Coulter, physiology by the late 

 Prof. Barnes, and ecolog>- by Prof. Cowles. In the 

 volume just issued the first two topics are treated. 

 The section of ecology will, we understand, be pub- 

 lished shortly. The book as a whole is organised on 

 the general plan of study pursued at the Hull 

 Botanical Laborator>- of the University of Chicago, 

 and general interest will be aroused in its appearance 

 since this laboratory- is one of the most active centres 

 of botanical research in America. 



We confess to a feeling that the subject has suffered 

 from compression, but it may be taken, after all, that 

 the text-book is rather a reminder than a source of the 

 more important topics of instruction given in the 

 lecture-room and the laboratory-. One feels this, espe- 

 cially in the portion dealing with morphology. Prof. 

 Coulter must have found it a hard task to pick out of 

 the immense mass of material just the matter that 

 would best ser\^e his purpose, but we fancy that many 

 who belong to a class more advanced than those who 

 are officially known as students, will find the book 

 useful. He has, we think, very- successfully eluded 

 the rather stereotyped grooves, and has modified 

 the perspective of his part of the work. There is a 

 freshness, and that indefinable sense of first-hand 

 acquaintance with the matter in hand, which in spite 

 of the inevitable brevity imposed by limitations of 

 space, cannot fail to appeal favourably to the reader. 



.■Vfter a general survey of the various groups of plants, 

 in which not only the results of recent work are incor- 

 porated, but a large number of new figures are in- 

 troduced. Prof. Coulter concludes w-ith a chapter on 

 organic evolution. It need scarcely be said that the 

 pages devoted to this question are interesting, but 

 we feel inclined to join issue with the author on one 

 point. In dealing with variation, he says that the 

 difference between what is known as natural selec- 

 tion and mutation consists in the fact that the former 

 deals with fluctuating variations which are small, 

 while the latter depends on large variations. But 

 surely the matter is not really a quantitative but a 



