March 22, 1S73.J 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
757 
therefore, who possess that knowledge, such a table 
would be of very little use, and those who have it not, the 
table, even if complete, would do very little to enlighten, 
and its employment would consume a great deal of time. 
We most cordially commend Mr. Valentin’s book, so far 
as its practical aspect is concerned, and, in all but one 
point, we consider it as nearly perfect as possible. We 
allude to the notation. It is certainly a most unfortunate 
thing that so many otherwise admirable books should be 
objectionable in this one respect. We could, at this 
moment, name several other chemical manuals in which 
some eccentricity in the notation adopted is actually a bar 
to their use by a great many teachers. 
The author in the work under review employs constitu¬ 
tional formulas, written on Frankland’s system, throughout 
the book, tables and all. He reminds one of a boy with a 
watch. He is not content with referring, when necessary, 
to see what o’clock it is, but must for everlasting be 
telling you the time of day. Added to this, the system 
employed is, as we have before taken occasion to point out, 
one which has a tendency to cramp the ideas of the student 
worse than almost any that can be conceived. We should 
not grumble if the author would consent to alter the shape 
of the formulae just now and then, but it seems to us pre¬ 
posterous to introduce into analytical tables formulae 
which are not unfrequently written on two or three lines, 
and are full of brackets and dashes. 
We have the same kind of objection, and one equally 
decided, to the invariable employment of systematic names, 
and indeed to the use of any one class of names to the 
exclusion of others. As very justly observed by Whately,* 
the disposition to do “this is that which chiefly constitutes 
what is called narrowness of mind”—a complaint from 
which chemists are no more exempt than other mortals. 
But to return to the book ;—though, as we have already 
explained, we have a strong objection to the system of 
notation employed, and should be glad to see it at least 
partially supplanted by some other and less rigid style of 
formulae, we confess to having thorough confidence in the 
practical part of its contents, and should have no hesitation 
in recommending it to students as a very excellent and 
trustworthy manual of qualitative analysis. 
Posological Tables ; being a Classification of all Offi¬ 
cinal Substances, for the Use of Students and Prac¬ 
titioners. By W. Handsel Griffiths, Ph.D., etc, etc. 
The compiler of this broad-sheet has endeavoured to 
provide for the student who would learn the authorized 
doses of medicines, and for the practitioner who may for 
the moment have forgotten them, a means of obtaining 
the required information more easily than by turning over 
the pages of the Pharmacopoeia,. 
The first part of his design is, he says, to make the 
Tables useful to students as an aid to memory, and we 
presume he calculates on doing this by a certain method 
of grouping. 
The tables are arranged under three headings, “ Inor¬ 
ganic Substances,” “ Organic Substances,” and “ Pharma- 
copoeial Croups.” 
The classification under each heading, instead of being 
alphabetical as commonly adopted, appears to be made 
with reference to the active power of the articles. Thus 
in the group of acids we find the dose of the first, “ Acid. 
Nitric.” to be Hq j—v, two others follow singly, marked 
respectively »qij—viij and liq v—xx ; then we have five 
bracketed as v—xxx, and tw T o more singly pq xxx—5j 
and Sj—5ij. A notable deviation from the ordinary 
method of posological tables is seen here in the fact that 
“Acid. Nitric. Dil.” does not immediately follow the strong 
acid, but stands among the five bracketed with the dose 
v—xxx. This necessarily involves some previous ac¬ 
quaintance with the acids in question and the proportions 
■* ‘ Logic.’ 
of their dilution, so that Dr. Griffiths’ table will be less 
likely than it otherwise might be, to be used as a kind of 
parrot-lesson by students. 
M e have mentioned the acids because they meet the 
e^e in the first column, but the last column gives a more 
perfect idea of the system of classification according to 
O-Oses. \\ 6 there find tinctures divided into groups, the 
first those of which the dose ranges from pqv —xx, then 
^R V ~ XX U fit v 5j, Itf xxx—5ij. Where the same medi¬ 
cine is gi\ en in varying doses for different purposes we 
find it put down at different points of the scale—thus, 
third under “Zincum,” “Sulphas (Tonic) gr. j—iij,” and 
eighth, “Emetic gr. x—xxx,” and similarly with “‘’ipeca¬ 
cuanha but we here notice that, doubtless by inad¬ 
vertence, the word emetic is omitted where the larger 
dose is stated. 
On the whole we think the Posological Tables form a 
convenient chart for reference ; and we like them the 
better because they are compiled apparently on the under¬ 
standing we hinted at before, that those who use them 
will do so with some previous knowledge of the power of 
the medicines passing through their hands, and would 
not, for example, when seeking the authorized dose of 
“Senna” expect to find it immediately following “Sabina”' 
and “Scilla.” 
Notice has been received of the death of the follow¬ 
ing :— 
On the 6th January, 1873, Mr. Thomas Simpson, 
Pharmaceutical Chemist, of Stowmarket. Aged 72. 
Mr. Simpson had been a member of the Pharmaceutical 
Society since 1842. 
On the 28th January, 1873, at the Cape, whither he 
had gone in the hope of re-establishing his health, Mr. R. 
C. Hopgood, Pharmaceutical Chemist, late of Chipping 
Norton. Aged 30. Mr. Hopgood had been a member of 
the Pharmaceutical Society since 1868. 
On the 7th March, 1873, Mr. Alexander Hugh Douglas, 
Chemist and Druggist, of Cheshunt. Aged 31. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Grundlagen den Pharmaceutischen Waarenkunde. 
Einleitung in das Studium der Pharmacognosie. Von 
Dr. F. A. Fluckiger. Berlin: Julius Springer. 1873. 
From the Author. 
The Origin, Extension, and Prevention of Fires, 
and the Relation of Mineral and Vegetable Oils, 
and other Materials to Fire. Four Letters to The 
Times, and an Appendix. By John Attfield, Ph.D., 
F.C.S., etc. London : Van Voorst. From the Author. 
Nug.-s Canor.e Medic.-e; Lays by the Poet Laureate of 
the New Town Dispensary. Second Edition. Edin¬ 
burgh: Edmonston and Douglas. 1873. 
Outlines of Physiological Chemistry, including the 
Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of the Tissues, 
Fluids, and Excretory Products. By Charles Henry 
Ralfe, M.A., M.B. London : H. K. Lewis. 1873. 
APPOINTMENT. 
Mr. R. W. Houghton, pharmaceutical chemist, formerly of 
Bermuda, has been appointed Dispenser in charge of medical 
stores at the Royal Naval Hospital, Jamaica. 
VACANCY. 
A Dispenser is required for the Southern Dispensary,. 
St. Marylebone, W., who must be a Licentiate of the Apo¬ 
thecaries’ Company or registered under the Pharmacy Act- 
For particulars, see advertisement. 
