PHARMACOGRAPHIA. 497 



Euryangium Sumlid, Kauffman, a plant of the natural order 1874. 

 Umbelliferse. On the other hand, in speaking of the botanical H. B. Brady, 

 origin of myrrh, which the Pharmacopoeia, without show of doubt, 

 assigns to Balsamodendron myrrha, Ehrenb., it is stated that 

 " the botany of the myrrh trees is still encompassed with uncer- 

 tainty, which will not be removed until the very localities in 

 which the drug is collected shall have been well explored by a 

 competent observer." It would be easy to multiply examples, 

 but beyond a passing allusion to Pareira Brava as the root of 

 Chondodendron tomentosum, Ruiz et Pav., a fact determined by 

 Mr. Hanbury's researches, this portion of the subject need not be 

 dwelt upon. 



The information given under the head of " history " has a 

 general as well as a technical value. All sorts of writers, 

 ancient and modern, have been laid under tribute; and the 

 glimpses one obtains, not only of the medical but of the 

 domestic employment of drugs in past times, are full of interest. 



This running commentary need not be extended to all the 

 headings under which the treatment of each substance is 

 arranged. The term " substitute " as distinct from " adulteration," 

 perhaps needs a word of explanation. It is employed to com- 

 prise substances occasionally met with in commerce, the product 

 of plants more or less closely allied to the official one ; for 

 instance, the wood of Quassia amara instead of that of Picrcena 

 excelsa, the occurrence of the root of Aristolochia reticulates in 

 place of A. serpentaria, or of the dried plant of Piper aduncum 

 in lieu of the true Matico. 



The notices of Indian official drugs have the interest of 

 novelty to European students, but beyond this leave little room 

 for present remark. In course of time some of them may be 

 introduced at home, and in any case, with the amount of com- 

 munication which exists between England and her Eastern 

 possessions, nothing which concerns the one can be unimportant 

 to the other. Indian medical men are largely drawn from this 

 country, and by them, at least, they will be gratefully received. 



The only department of the book which does not yield 

 unalloyed satisfaction is that which refers to " microscopical 



K K 



