578 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[January 18, 1873* 
in being comparatively feeble conductors, and in tbe fact 
that among the most stable and definite ,'of their com¬ 
pounds are the higher oxides which invariably function 
as acid anhydrides. For the third class of elements 
those hitherto clumsily styled “ non-metallic ” we think 
there should be a name expressive of the opposition of 
their characters to those of the metals. With this 
view we suggest that the name “ chloroid” might be 
used; it would serve, at least, to indicate the functions 
of the elements grouped under that title. The adjectives, 
“ chlorous ” and “basylous,” have already been intro¬ 
duced and are sufficiently expressive and intelligible. 
Mr. Watts gives much greater prominence to the rare 
elements than is usual in text-books of this sort. This, 
we think, is quite as it should be. One element is cer¬ 
tainly as important as another from a theoretical point 
of view. At the same time, we think the description of 
their compounds is in some cases detailed at unnecessary 
length. It could not surely be necessary in a work 
which professes to be elementary to give, for example, to 
the ammoniacal compounds of platinum more than four 
pages. 
The third part of the book, which constitutes very 
nearly one-half of the entire volume, is devoted to 
organic chemistry. It commences with a short but in¬ 
structive section on the transformations of organic bodies 
under, the action of reagents. In the following section, 
in which an account is given of the ordinary processes 
of organic analysis, less care seems to have been exer¬ 
cised than in the rest of the book. For purposes of 
organic analysis we should hardly consider that the 
copper oxide is best prepared from the nitratethe 
method of mixing in the tube itself is by many operators 
preferred to the use of the mortarthe straight chlo¬ 
ride of calcium tube (Fig. 150) is not by any means the 
best form, nor is calcium chloride the best desiccating 
agent for absorbing aqueous vapour from the gases ge¬ 
nerated in a combustion. In the analysis of chlorinated 
compounds the very convenient method of Carius, by 
heating with nitric acid and silver nitrate, would always 
be used, except in a very few cases in which the older 
method would be preferred. 
The reader who has used one of the older editions of 
Fownes will find a great many changes introduced into 
the organic part. Organic compounds belonging to the 
several classes of alcohols, aldehyds, acids, hydrocar¬ 
bons, etc., are now arranged in series, and the whole 
divided into two great groups—fatty and aromatic. The 
natural-bistory sort of arrangement served well enough 
in the early days of chemistry, but can now no longer 
be retained with advantage. 
We observe that for the principal hydrocarbons Mr. 
Watts employs the names proposed for them by Dr. 
Hofmann. On looking in the index for “marsh gas,” 
we are referred to page 164 among the compounds of 
caibon in the early part of the book ; but to the name 
methane we .find three references, two of them to pages 
in the. organic part. Olefiant gas is indexed among in¬ 
organic compounds, and ethylene is nowhere to be found; 
but ethene, the new name, has two references. This is 
a little unfortunate, because nine people out of ten would 
certainly look for the older word. Moreover, it seems 
as though the new nomenclature for these bodies had not 
been adopted—at least, in the index—very consistently; 
thus, whilst we fail to find ethylene glycol, its homo- 
logue butylene glycol does occur. 
. In the aromatic group the theory of the isomeric de¬ 
rivatives of benzene is pretty fully explained, and the 
editor has of course introduced a notice of nearly all 
the recent researches of sufficient importance in the 
organic as well as the inorganic division. On the whole 
we can confidently recommend this new edition to stu¬ 
dents as being thoroughly trustworthy, though, as we 
have, already explained, we think from its increased 
size it will scarcely meet with the universal favour en¬ 
joyed for so many years by the older editions. 
Holts atitr ^writs. 
[325.]—DETECTION OF STEARIN IN BUT¬ 
TER.—The micro-polariscope affords the only means of 
detecting the presence of stearine in butter without very 
refined chemical analysis. The procedure i 3 briefly 
this. Take a clean glass slip and place on it a small 
portion of the suspected butter (about the size of a small 
pillule of homoeopathic medicine). On the butter place 
a f-inch circle of thin glass, and slowly press it as close 
to the slide as possible so as to obtain a very thin and 
therefore transparent layer of butter between the covexr 
and the slip. If it be now examined by polarized light,, 
the crystals of stearin will easily be seen and recog¬ 
nized by their feathery arrangement. Their action 
upon a thin plate of selenite is also characteristic. It i& 
obvious that other adulterants, as starch, may be detected 
by this means. It is well to bear in mind that stearin 
is not the only doubly refractive substance to be found 
in butter. Oil and fat globules under certain conditions 
are as doubly refractive as starch corpuscles, and have 
to my knowledge been mistaken for starch. The shape, 
and arrangement of the stearic “ crystals ” are, how¬ 
ever, sufficiently distinct. I believe there is no other 
means by which stearin can be detected as an adulterant* 
and even this only shows that it is present and not 
necessarily that it is not present, for very small quan¬ 
tities appear to be acted upon by the other components 
of the butter, and escape detection.—H. P. 
[327.]—ILIAC PILL OF RHASIS.—Can any cor¬ 
respondent furnish me with the formula for the Iliac 
Pill of Rhasis ?—J. S. 
[328.]—HAIR RESTORER.—“ A.lplicC' asks to be- 
furnished with the formula for a good Hair Restorer. 
.[*** Br. B- Godfrey, speaking of general baldness in 
his little treatise on ‘ Diseases of the Hair,’ says, “ The 
tincture of cantharides should be applied with a sponge- 
daily to the sterile surface on going to bed, and a diurnal 
wash be given with soap and cold water every morning ; 
the head should then be dried with a rough towel, untii 
the skin glows and blushes like a bashful maiden. Three 
months of such treatment ought to restore the lost hair. 
The expressed oil of mace and benzoated lard, in equal 
parts, vigorously applied daily will produce a like re¬ 
sult.”— Ed. Pharm. Journ.] 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
The Owens College Junior Course of Practical 
Chemistry. By Henry E. Roscoe, B.A., F.R.S. 
and Francis Jones. London: Macmillan and Co. 
1872. From the Publishers. 
Change of Air and Scene. A Physician’s Hints; with 
Notes of Excursions for Health amongst the Watering 
Places of the Pyrenees, France (Inland and Seaward), 
Switzerland, Corsica and the Mediterranean. By 
Alphonse Donne, M.D. London: H. S. Kin* 1 ' and. 
Co. 1872. From the Publishers. 
Elementary Treatise on Physics, Experimental ani> 
Applied. Translated and Edited from Ganot’s ‘Ele¬ 
ments de Physique.’ By E. Atkinson, Ph.D., F.C.S, 
Fifth Edition. Illustrated by a Coloured Plate and 
726 Woodcuts. London: Longmans. 1872. From 
the Publishers. 
The First Book of Botany, designed to Cultivate the 
Observing Powers of Children. By Eliza A. You- 
mans. New and Enlarged Edition, with 300 Engrav¬ 
ings. London: H. S. King and Co. 1872. From 
the Publishers. 
