876 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 29, 1671. 
action of remedies on the human system and their mode 
of application. 
Very rarely indeed do we find a single man to have 
mastered, in all their details, half-a-dozen sciences, and 
it is a fair question to consider whether the division of such 
a vast undertaking- among different specialists would not 
result in a work more satisfactory to the authors and to 
their readers. We do not pretend to he endowed with suffi¬ 
cient insight into all these sciences to pass a critical verdict 
upon this hook as a whole, and gladly we will restrict 
ourselves to the pharmaceutical or rather chemical part; 
we do so the more readily, because the first volume now 
before us,—after a short introduction and a discourse on 
general pharmacology,—embraces that part of special 
pharmacology which treats of remedies derived from the 
inorganic world. 
The author states in tlio preface that in the general 
plan and arrangement of his book he followed Pereira’s 
‘ Elements,’ third edition of 1851,—the last edition of 1864 
is evidently not known to him; he also gives a number 
of other books used by him generally, and for phar¬ 
maceutical preparations he quotes Mohr’s ‘ Commentar ’ 
as his authority ; i. e. he has copied him wherever pos¬ 
sible. 
We might have expected in this volume, which treats 
chiefly of the elements and then- combinations, some re¬ 
ferences, however slight, to chemistry in general, to the 
development and changes in the interpretations of a 
science which, during the last twenty years and more, 
have made its study both so difficult and.' so fascinating; 
but not a word is said on the subject: there are the 
antiquated names and formulas, as if settled for all time; 
the formulas very often wrongly given, and, on reading 
article after article, one is often tempted to look back 
to the title-page to see whether the book really has been 
written in this century. 
It is evident chemistry is not the author’s speciality; 
it is also equally evident that the chemical part, written 
in the most dreary style imaginable, must deter any stu¬ 
dent, be he ever so enthusiastic, from following up his 
chemical pursuits, if left to this book. 
The author has not the grasp of mind to see before 
him the whole field, to systematically work out a plan; 
it is only too clear that in compiling the work he has 
consulted many others; he has copied here a bit and 
there a bit, without having the capacity of welding the 
parts into one homogeneous and harmonious whole. The 
inevitable consequence is—as the result of much labour, 
we are sorry to say so—complete failure and. disap¬ 
pointment. 
Now, in a book of reference like this, including so 
many different topics, the strictest adhesion possible to a 
clear and well-digested system is absolutely necessary ; 
and, we must confess, it is exactly the defiance of this 
necessary rule which struck us first on reading this 
book. 
To substantiate such serious accusations, we have only 
one difficulty, viz. to select a few from the many proofs 
we meet with on every page. 
The inorganic world is divided into Class I., non-me- 
tallic substances ; and we expected, of course, to come in 
due time to Class II., metallic substances, but at the end 
of the ten non-metals and their compounds, grouped into 
so many orders, the author has forgotten his system, 
goes on without division to Order XI., potassium, and so 
on to the end of the book with all metals. 
A confusion more tantalizing, because constantly re¬ 
peated, is the truly impartial freedom with which the 
different scales of temperature are made use of. Fahren¬ 
heit, Celsius and Reaumur are given indiscriminately; 
and this ia the more surprising in a German book, as 
Fahrenheit s scale is utterly unknown in Germany. 
Sometimes two scales, in charming- harmony, are brought 
together in one sentence; so on page 100 , we read, “ water 
expands at 32° F., it forms crystals (a novel way of de¬ 
scribing the freezing of water), and it boils at 100° C.” ; 
or at page 151, “iodine melts at 107° C., and becomes 
gaseous at 140°-144° R.” .Then again, sometimes no 
scale is given at all, as under iodoform, page 165, where 
an alcoholic solution of iodine is to be warmed to 35°-40°. 
From the liberal use of Fahrenheit’s scale, and much 
internal evidence, it is only too apparent that the book 
is chiefly a mere translation of Pereira of 1851; but 
by great curtailment of the original, much valuable in¬ 
formation is omitted. There is not a single woodcut; 
the diagrams of chemical decomposition, giving such 
clear representation of the process, are left out, and 
verbal descriptions, often hazy and incorrect, are sub¬ 
stituted. 
The greatest carelessness is shown in the enumeration 
of the elements and their compounds; sometimes their 
symbols and equivalents are given, sometimes not, as 
under Na, Ba, Al, etc.; the same with pharmaceutical 
preparations, the composition of which is given after the 
name, but just as often not. 
After carbon we read, vapour density (?) of carbon=l; 
and we must assume from the query, that the author 
could not realize the idea of carbon vapour density. 
Most apparent is the absence of systematical arrange¬ 
ment in nomenclature. We will quote a few of the head¬ 
ings of the iron salts. Here we have, ferrum sulphuri- 
cum crystallizatum, persulphas ferri, ferrum chloratum, 
fen-urn bromatum in maximo, ferrum ammoniato-sul- 
phuricum, ammoniaeum hydrochloratum ferratum;—and 
this is a fair specimen of the style throughout the book. 
We will conclude with a few extracts, taken at ran¬ 
dom, which, better than any words, will show the value 
of the book. 
Creasote and petroleum are essential oils. 
Graphite is brought from Borrowdale to London, and 
sold byj auction, or in a public-house in Essex Street^ 
Strand, every first Monday in the month. 
Phosphorus is made from bone-ash (3CaOPO^), 
which on being mixed with water and sulphuric acid, 
gives off carbonic acid. 
Sulphuretted hydrogen is at 55° F. a transparent 
liquid;—the slight matter of a pressure of 15° to le 0 
atmosphere being forgotten. 
Sesquicarbonate of ammonia is frequently used for 
effervescing powders. 
Kali picronitricum, nitrophenol and picric acid are one 
and the same substance. 
Kali causticum, the formula of which is K 0, is brought 
into the market in solution, as a fine powder and fused. 
Forty pages further on, we find again kali hydricum 
fusum and solution, as separate articles. 
British soda-water often contains copper and lead. 
Soda-saltpetre is only found in South America. 
And so we might go on and copy the whole book. 
The directions for making the pharmaceutical pre¬ 
parations are throughout correct; as before stated, they 
are taken from Mohr’s ‘Commentar,’ a valuable book, 
well known in this country, as translated by Dr. Red¬ 
wood. 
Altogether we must agree with the author of this book, 
when he states in the preface, it is possible—nay, even 
probable—-that a more experienced pen than his might 
have been more successful in collecting, arranging and 
digesting- the different substances. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Select- Methods in Chemical Analysis (chieely Or¬ 
ganic). By William Crookes, F.R.S., etc. London: 
Longmans. 1871. From the Publishers. 
George W. Childs. A Biographical Sketch. By James 
Parton. Philadelphia. 1870. From the Author. 
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