NATURE 



3>r 



THURSDAY, JUNE 27, 1918. 



.4' COMPEXDIIM ()!■- I'llARMACy. , 



I'hc Practice of PluifDuicy. Bv Dr. |. P. 

 Reming-ton, assislt^d by Or. i;. lulltrion Cook. 

 Sixth edition. Pp. xxviii r -;5 to \<.)^j. ( I'hila- 

 delphia and London: J. B. Lippincotl Co.) 

 Price 355. net. 



OF all the American works on pharmacy none is : 

 so well known as Remington's. Since the 

 publication of the first edition in 18S5 its popu- \ 

 larity has been maintained, and from a compara- 

 tively modest size it has grown to a stately volume 

 of nearly 2000 pages. It must, however, be borne 

 in mind that the author has put a very wide ! 

 interpretation upon the term "pharmacy," and has j 

 not used it in the restricted sense in which it is j 

 commonly employed in this country. In "The 

 Practice of Pharmacy " he has embodied to all 

 intents and purposes the whole of the Pharma- 

 cojKeia of the United States and also the National 

 Formulary, appending^ notes to the monographs 

 where necessary. He has dealt with crude \'ege- 

 table drugs, unofficial as well as official, and with 

 chemical drugs, both inorganic and organic, I 

 together with many of their derivatives and most } 

 of the newer synthetic remedies. Thus, for 

 example, in the section on cellulose he treats of 

 cotton, styptic cotton, pyroxylin, oxalic acid, acetic i 

 acid," acetone, tars, phenols, coal-tar and products 

 obtained therefrom, thus covering an extremely 

 wide rang-e of subjects. Pharmaceutical testing, 

 including biochemical assays, and reagents for the 

 analysis of urine, for the examination of blood, and 

 for bacteriology are also discussed. 



"llie Practice of Pharmacy" is, therefore, 

 essentially a hand-book or compendium and a 

 work of reference, rather than a text-book for 

 students. For the former purpose it appears to be 

 well suited, as there are but few subjects connected 

 with pharmacy concerning which information is 

 not to be found in it; whereas the ground covered 

 and the arrangement of the subject-matter render 

 it unsuitable for use by students as a text-book. 



American pharmacists have for a number of 

 years enjoyed the reputation of excelling in 

 practical pharmacy, and the part of the volume 

 dealing with this subject is well written and fairly 

 complete, although it does not convey the 

 impression that the American pharmacist is in this 

 respect appreciably ahead of his British colleague. 

 Among the pharmaceutical presses, for instance, 

 the double-lever press, which is a powerful and 

 handy press, and undoubtedly the best for use in 

 the pharmaceutical laboratory, might well have 

 been included. The section on ampoules, now so 

 important a means of preserving^ and distributing 

 sterile solutions for medicinal use, would be 

 improved by a more detailed description of the 

 methods at the disposal of the pliarmacisi for 

 filling them. 



The crude vegetable drugs have been classified 

 NO. 2539, VOL. lOl] 



according to the nature of their chief constituents, 

 a classification that has recently been advocated by 

 Prof. Tschirch, but is difficult to carry out as the 

 constituents are in many cases insufficiently known. 

 This section of the work, particularly as regards 

 the constituents of the drugs, stands much in need 

 of careful revision in the light of the many recent 

 researches in this field. In some of the "liquors " 

 also revision is ne ( , ssary, as, for example, solution 

 of arscnious and iiu rcurit- iodide, wliich is made by 

 triturating arscnious iodide with mercuric iodide 

 and water until solution is effected in vi'hich, the 

 author says, "no chemical change occurs." That 

 the finished solution is apt to darken in colour is 

 w ell known, but the restoration to normal colour by 

 shaking it with metallic mercury or arsenium is 

 surely a questionable proceeding. 



These minor defects, while not materially 

 detracting from the utility of the book as a work of 

 reference, indicate the desirability of securing for 

 the next edition the collaboration of several experts 

 to each of whom a section should be allotted for 

 careful revision. The scope of the work is so 

 extensive that it is only by such a combination of 

 experts that a thoroughly satisfactory result can 

 be attained. Nevertheless, Remington's "Practice 

 of Pharmacy " will continue to be for British 

 pharmacists a mine of information on American 

 pharmacy. 



RKCExr ('Jji<}fir.\r. 



MISI-ri'TICS. 



A HLUidhooh oil Antiseptics. By Dr. 11. 1). Dakin 

 and Dr. E. K. Dunham. Pp. ix+129. (New 

 York : The Macmillan Co. ; London : Macmil- 

 lan and Co., Ltd., 1917.) Price 75. net. 



I^'HE object of this little handbook, so the 

 authors state, is to give a concise account^ of 

 the chief chemical antiseptics which have been 

 found useful for surgical purposes during- the pre- 

 sent war-. It appears at a very opportune moment, 

 for, in spite of the disapprobation with whicii 

 these substances are 'viewed in certain quarters, 

 there is no indication that, as accessories, to surgi- 

 cal treatment, ihcy are losing in favour — rather 

 the contrary. The septic character of ^most of the 

 wounds received in France emphasised, at an 

 early period of the war, the importance of a 

 searching and systematic study of antiseptics. The 

 result has been an array of new active substances. 

 And this fact furnishes an additional raison d'etre 

 for the volume under review. Dakin's hypo- 

 chlorite solution, Lorraine Smith's eusol, the c hlor- 

 amine antiseptics of Dakin and his colIalMiialoi-, 

 Browning's flavinc anti,se]:)lic\s, and Morison\ -o- 

 called B.I. P. pasii , wliirh have supplanted to a 

 great extent the (jlder preparations, have all 

 apf>eared during ilie last four years. In most of 

 the larger military hospitals these substances are 

 known and used, but there must be a number of 

 surgeons who have not access to the information 

 except through occasional detached articles in the 

 medical Press. 



