NA TURt 



[May 1 1, 1905 



for example, myrrh, Indian hemp, cassia (or cinna- 

 mon), coriander, colocynth, galls, almonds, galbanum, 

 and storax are among those mentioned by the author. 

 The Jews also appear to have made use to some ex- 

 tent of natural mineral waters and various medicated 

 baths as remedial agents. 



Similar accounts of the practice of pharmacy among 

 the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hindus, 

 Persians, Greeks, Romans, and other peoples are 

 given, and then this racial method of treatment is 

 interrupted, and a chapter is inserted giving an 

 account of the methods of the professors of magic, 

 astrology, and alchemy in the Middle Ages, and show- 

 ing how the practice of these secret arts gradually 

 led to a knowledge of natural science. 



Resuming his narrative after this digression, the 

 author deals with pharmacy among the Copts and 

 Syrians, the Arabs, and the Teutonic races, and 

 brings it to the close of the eighteenth century with 

 a short account of the condition of medicine and 

 pharmacy in Italy, when the school of Salermo exer- 

 cised a paramount influence on these arts. It was 

 at this period that a definite separation of pharmacy 

 from medicine first took place. 



Each of the succeeding chapters deals with the 

 progress made during a particular century, an out- 

 line of the additions to physical, chemical, and 

 botanical sciences being first given, with short bio- 

 graphies of the more famous exponents of these 

 sciences. The bearing of these discoveries on phar- 

 maceutical methods is then outlined, and finally the 

 legislation of the periods, the social and commercial 

 conditions, and other matters in so far as they affected 

 the practice of medicine and pharmacy are discussed. 



The book is evidently the outcome of much literar\' 

 and antiquarian research on the part of its author, 

 but it is unfortunate that more care was not exercised 

 in selecting the material to be included. There is no 

 reason why so much space should be taken up in re- 

 counting the political and religious histories of the 

 various peoples. Similarly, the short and necessarily 

 inadequate biographies of eminent men of science, 

 which are scattered broadcast through the second half 

 of the book, might well have been omitted, since they 

 are already better done elsewhere. By omitting these 

 and other not strictly relevant matters, the size of the 

 volume could have been much reduced, and at the same 

 time it would have been unnecessary for the author 

 to write in the compressed, unreadable style which 

 now characterises the book. As it is, the volume can 

 only be regarded as a useful work of reference on 

 the history of pharmacy and allied subjects, and to 

 this purpose its index (26,000 entries) is well adapted. 



T. A. H. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 

 Guide to the Gallery of Birds in the British Museum. 

 Pp. iv + 228; illustrated. (London: Printed by 

 Order of the Trustees, 1905.) Price 2S. 6d. 

 This handsome volume is a new departure in the 

 matter of " guides," so far as the natural history 

 branch of the museum is concerned, being larger in 

 size, more fully illustrated, different in stvie, and 

 (perhaps most important of all) higher in price than 



NO. 1854, VOL. 72] 



those to any of the other sections. The text is, in 

 fact, a concise synopsis of the leading groups of birds, 

 with special reference to the specimens exhibited in 

 the galleries. The plan of the synopsis necessarily 

 follows the system adopted in the museum, and it 

 would therefore be quite out of place to criticise that 

 system on the present occasion. A similar remark 

 applies to the fact of the illustrations (which are 

 admirable of their kind) being taken from the stuffed 

 specimens in the collection instead of from living 

 birds — the guide is to illustrate the collection, and 

 therefore it'is quite right and proper that the figures 

 of the birds should betaken from those shown in the 

 gallery. In addition to the general synopsis, there is 

 a guide to the series of British nesting birds. That 

 the general plan and execution are in the main excel- 

 lent cannot be denied ; whether it will suit the taste 

 — and the purses — of the public remains, however, to 

 be seen. 



When a new edition is called for, certain emenda- 

 tions may with advantage be made in the text. The 

 most serious error we have detected is the statement 

 (p. 11) that the largest /Epyornis was probably not 

 more than 7 feet in height, whereas there are actually 

 limb-bones in the museum itself which are nearly of 

 these dimensions ; such an error implies a want of 

 cooperation between the zoological and paleeonto- 

 logical departments of the museum. Of less import- 

 ance, although far more embarrassing to the public, 

 is the discrepancv between the terminations of the 

 " orders " of ostrich-like birds in the list on p. 8 and 

 those in the synopsis on that and the following pages. 

 Again, we venture to think that the public will not 

 be likely to understand the semi-scientific jargon fre- 

 quently employed in the text. The expression, for 

 instance, on p. 106, " the remarkable .Vustralian 

 forms constituting this order," would have been much 

 better had the word " birds " been used in place of 

 " forms." Neither is the construction of the sen- 

 tences in all cases so good as it might be, as witness 

 the following (p. 64) : — " The appendage opens under 

 the tongue and is largest in the male, giving the 

 bird a very peculiar appearance. Like its allies it is 

 an expert diver ..." R. L. 



.i Laboratory Manual of Organic Chemistry for 

 Beginners. By Dr. A. F. Holleman. Translated 

 by A. Jamieson Walker, Ph.D. Pp. xiv + 78. (New 

 York : John Wiley and Sons ; London : Chapman 

 and Hall, Ltd., 1904.) Price 4X. net. 

 The preparation and properties of a number of 

 organic compounds are dealt with in short paragraphs 

 in a manner reminding one of the text-books of 

 qualitative analysis, which are now so universally 

 condemned. But little attempt is made to indicate 

 the quantities which should be used, and no emphasis 

 whatever is laid on tlie importance of making organic 

 preparations in a quantitative manner. We even 

 doubt whether the beginner would attain the required 

 result in performing many of the preparations de- 

 scribed. 



It will be a sad day for the future of organic 

 chemistry if text-books such as Dr. Holleman 's come 

 into general use; it is indeed difficult to imagine 

 anything more calculated to encourage scamping of 

 laboratory work. A growing complaint of the 

 chemical manufacturer abroad at the present time is 

 that the university graduates from the large modern 

 laboratories are ruined by the elaborate apparatus, 

 ready-made reagents and other time-saving appli- 

 ances placed at their disposal, so that they are no 

 longer themselves capable of facing practical problems 

 properly or of making the best use of the ordinary 

 technical appliances. The physical chemical epoch 

 from which chemica< science is now slowlv recover- 



