298 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[October 8, 1870. 
he lived in the reign of Candace. Riding in his chariot 
he read. A strange thing, for it was an age when com¬ 
mon people read seldom and dignitaries almost never. 
“ Understandest thou what thou readest?” was the 
question. “How can I, except some man should guide 
me P” was the answer. 
The annotators were, James Collins, Daniel Hanbury, 
A. F. Haselden, F. T. Marzials, John Moss, Richard 
Reynolds, W. A. Tilden and Joseph Ince. 
The chief object of interest was the collection lent by 
Daniel Hanbury which was the one shown during the 
reading of the paper at Liverpool. We quote his own 
remarks on the following books :— 
Pomet.—Histoire Generate des Drogues, traitant des Plantes , 
dcs Animaux et des Mineraux, Ouvrage enrichy de plus de 
quatre cent Figures en Taille-douce tirees d'apres Nature ; 
avec un discours qui explique leurs differens Noms, les pays 
(Vou elles viennent, la maniere de connoitre les veritables 
d'avec les falsi fees , et leurs proprietez, ou Von decowvre 
Verreur des Anciens et des Modernes; le tout tres utile 
au public. Par le Sieur Pierre Pomet , Marchand Fpicier 
et Droguiste. Paris , 1694. fol. 
No work of its class has enjoyed a more deserved and 
extensive reputation than Pomet’s History of Drugs. 
Here is the first edition published in Paris in 1694, at 
which period Pomet was keeping a shop in the Rue des 
Lombards, the great drug-street of that capital, as his 
advertisement at the end of the volume makes manifest. 
But what a marvellous contrast is a History of Drugs in 
the seventeenth century to the Manual of Materia Medica 
which suffices for the nineteenth ! Would any modem 
student have the courage to sit down to the perusal of 
the stately folio of 528 pages, illustrated by 400 en¬ 
gravings F To speak seriously Pomet’s book is of great 
utility and excellence, not so much by reason of its eru¬ 
dition and research, as on account of the information 
which the author gives as the result of his own observa¬ 
tion and experience. Although it is profusely illustrated 
by engravings which must have been produced at no 
small cost, the figures are often poor and spiritless, and 
in some instances entirely imaginary, thus contrasting 
unfavourably with the rude but life-like wood-cuts of 
Brunfels published a century and a half before. 
Monardes (Nicolaus). Historia de las Cosas que se traen 
de nuestras Lidias Occidentals que sirven en Medicina. 
Sevilla , 1574. 4°. 
The writer who first gave to Europe an account of the 
more useful plants and vegetable products discovered by 
the Spanish adventurers in the New World was Dr. 
Monardes, a physician of Seville, who in 1569 published 
a small volume under the above title. Other editions of 
this work were printed in 1571 and 1580. In 1596 
an English version made by one Frampton was pub¬ 
lished as “ Joy full Newcs out of the New-found Worlde ; ” 
the work also appeared in French, the translator being 
Antoine Cohn, Maistre Apoticaire Jure de la ville de 
Lyon, and in Italian. Better known than the original 
Spanish or than the English, French or Italian transla¬ 
tions, is the excellent Latin version included in the Libri 
Exoticorum of the learned Clusius, which appeared in 
1605. 
Monardes never visited America, but derived his in¬ 
formation and specimens from the navigators and ex¬ 
plorers who were doubtless at that period frequently 
arriving at Seville. . Among the drugs he describes are 
Copal, Anime, Liquidambar, Balsam, Guaiacum, Sarsa¬ 
parilla, Tobacco (of which there is a woodcut), Sassafras, 
Coca Leaves and Cevadilla, besides many which now 
find no application in Europe. Of this latter class is 
Nephritic Wood , a substance the origin of which is still 
entirely unknown; it is remarkable for its aqueous in¬ 
fusion exhibiting a beautiful blue layer on the surface 
(like a solution of quinine), a fact which Monardes did 
not fail to observe. 
Hieronymus Prunschwyg on the Art of Distillation. 
A work of which there are numberless editions, in¬ 
cluding an English version printed in Southwark in 1525 
and entitled Noble Experience of the Virtuous Handywork 
of Surgery—and of Distillation. The present edition ap¬ 
peared at Strasburg in 1515 ; appended to it, is the Book 
of Life of Marsilius Ficinus , the Florentine , which con¬ 
tains curious representations of mediaeval herb gardens, 
an apothecary’s shop, laboratory, studio, besides various 
scenes of domestic life. The volume has been much mu¬ 
tilated, but it is of interest as having belonged to Philip 
Melancthon, in whose hand it is probable are some of 
the manuscript notes on the fly-leaves at the end. 
Prosperi Alpini de Plantis Aegypti Liber. Venetiis. 1592. 
4o. 
Prosper Alpinus, a celebrated physician and professor 
at Padua visited Egypt between the years 1580 and 
1584, publishing on his return several works bearing 
upon medicine. One of these is a small volume on the 
plants of Egypt, in which the author describes and 
figures various useful trees, shrubs and herbs, at that 
day but little known. Among the number are Cassia 
Fistula, the Sycomore Fig, Date, Palm, Tamarind, Cot¬ 
ton and Sesamum. The first edition of this book ap¬ 
peared in 1591 ; the second published at Venice in 1592, 
is that herewith. 
{To be continued.') 
We regret having to record the death of Dr. William 
Allen Miller, one of the honorary members of the 
Pharmaceutical Society, on the 30th September. He 
was born at Ipswich on December 17th, 1817. 
After having been assistant to the late Mr. Daniell, he 
succeeded him as professor of chemistry at King’s Col¬ 
lege in 1845. In the same year he was elected a Fellow 
of the Royal Society. In later years he became Trea¬ 
surer and one of the Vice-Presidents of the Royal So¬ 
ciety. In 1851, he was appointed one of the assayers to 
the Mint. He was one of the members of the recently 
appointed Royal Commission to inquire into the condi¬ 
tion of science in this country. He was one of the Vice- 
Presidents of the Chemical Society, having occupied the 
President’s chair. 
His best known work is his textbook on * Chemistry,’ 
originally published in the years 1855 and 1857. His 
first scientific publication was a ‘Research on the Electro¬ 
lysis of Secondary Compounds’ (1844). This research 
was done conjointly with Mr. Daniell. 
In 1845, he published a paper on the spectra of heated 
vapours. In 1849, he wrote on the atomic volumes of 
analogous organic liquids. 
Within the last few years he has given a discourse to 
the Chemical Society on the “Analysis of Potable Water.” 
Some analyses of gutta percha, and a paper on 
“ Transparency,” complete the list. He joined Mr. 
Higgins in the investigation of the spectra of the fixed 
stars. 
The following journals have been received:—The ‘British 
Medical Journal,’ Oct. 1; the ‘Medical Times and Gazette,’ 
Oct. 1; the ‘ Lancet,’ Oct. 1; ‘ Nature,’ Sept. 29; the ‘ Chemi¬ 
cal News,’ Sept. 30; ‘ Journal of the Society of Arts,’ Sept. 29; 
‘ Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ Oct. 1 ; the ‘ Grocer,’ Oct. 1; the 
‘English Mechanic,’ Sept. 30; the ‘Produce Markets Re¬ 
view,’ Oct. 1; the ‘Practitioner’ for October; the ‘Food 
Journal ’ for October; ‘Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie r 
for July; ‘ Gazette M4dicale d’Orient ’ for July and August; 
the ‘Journal of Applied Science’ for October; the ‘Educa¬ 
tional Times ’ for October; the ‘Quarterly Journal of Micro¬ 
scopical Science ’ for October; the ‘ Philadelphia Medical and 
Surgical Reporter,’ Nos. 703-705. 
