838 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 13, 1372. 
The Natural Orders of the plants forming the vege¬ 
table materia medica are given as before in a handy- 
tabular form in the Contents j^but we could wish that both 
here and in the body of the work Professor Bentley had 
felt himself at liberty to discard the Lindleian arrange¬ 
ment, which, following Jussieu, leads up from the simpler 
to the higher forms of vegetation, and to adopt that 
which is so familiar in his own valuable manual, and is 
followed in the works of Bentham and Balfour, and 
other well-known English botanists. The student is ac¬ 
customed Jo see the Natural Order Ranunculaceae 
placed at the head of the procession ; and he views the 
reverse arrangement much in the same light as ho would 
the alphabet printed backwards. 
The first part of the work is introduced by a short but 
clear exposition of the new method of Chemical Notation, 
and the formula) and decompositions are given in accord¬ 
ance therewith, as well as after the old mode. The 
pharmacopeia processes arc pretty generally given in full 
in displayed type, whilst, inserted in brackets, are occa¬ 
sional intercalations, which, though consisting of only 
a few words, supply something that is wanted to make 
the directions clear. In addition to this, are not unfre- 
quently further explanations of a very useful character, 
such as the reasons for using certain tests or the various 
reactions which take place. 
There is considerable original matter in connection 
with the new introductions into the Pharmacopoeia of 
1867 ; and the best that can be said of this is that it cor¬ 
responds in character with the rest. We suppose that 
as this is an abridgment, the editors were fearful of 
increasing the bulk; but we were disappointed in some 
of the new articles—carbolic acid, for instance—and 
more especially in the short page devoted to hydrate of 
chloral, in which no tests for purity are given; as con¬ 
sidering the great importance of chloral as a remedy, 
and the enormous extent of its use, wo should have ex¬ 
pected more to be said, both respecting its chemical his¬ 
tory and its physiological effects, although it_ be not yet 
introduced into the Pharmacopoeia. 
Here and there the therapeutics appear to bo some¬ 
what antiquated; for instance, under Bromide of Potas¬ 
sium, at page 154, we read, “ It is now again made 
officinal (by the bye why is ‘ official ’ generally substi¬ 
tuted for this better-known and less hackneyed word ?), 
chiefly on account of its sedative action on the generative 
organs .” This may be true, but its powers in this way 
are denied by some, whilst it is largely used as a 
hypnotic, and also as a specific in epilepsy. The belief 
in its resolvent properties, also alluded to, which it was 
considered to possess in common with the iodides, is now 
very much abandoned. 
In the second part of the work, ‘ Medicines derived 
from the Vegetable Kingdom,’ we find considerable new 
matter, and the researches of Mr. Hanbury, Professor 
Bentley himself, and other pharmacologists are made 
use of. Amongst the new facts we find that since the 
publication of the British Pharmacopoeia the name of 
the plant from which Sumbul is obtained, has been 
determined. It is the Eurgangium Sumbul belonging 
to the Nat. Order Umbelliferae, and the plant yielding it 
has recently flowered and fruited at Moscow. The same 
of Galbanum, which is the product of the Ferula 
Galbaniflua of Buhse, also an umbelliferous plant. 
Central Asia, from which these and other drugs come, is 
still the land of mystery, and the marvels of Sir John 
Mandeville and Sor Marco Polo, are not yet all disproved 
or set aside. There, drugs were valued and stored up as 
treasures, and their sources were kept secret lest the 
barbarians should discover them. Of rhubarb, largely 
as it is used, it cannot yet be affirmed beyond cavil what 
is the species of the plant that produces it, notwith¬ 
standing that expeditions have been sent out to discover 
it, and it seems still to hold good “that all the descrip¬ 
tions in all the materia medicas are incorrect.” Treat¬ 
ing of Russian rhubarb, the editor states that some 
former remarks respecting its being obtainable through 
Moscow merchants still hold good, but knowing that 
the genuine article had not been procurable for some 
years past, we wrote to Messrs Horner, and their reply 
is as follows : —- “ Untrimmed Russian rhubarb has 
within the last two years been offered to us through 
Moscow, but the samples sent us were hardly, if at all, 
different to that we receive direct from China ; and we 
much doubt that the root was ever subjected to the com¬ 
pulsory Russian mode of curing during the time of the 
Russian Government monopoly, namely, round the 
necks of the sheep and goats. As an article of commerce 
it cannot now be said to exist.” The concluding para¬ 
graph, under the head Russian Rhubarb, might, under 
these circumstances, have been spared. It states that 
“ as met with in the shops it is almost invariably mixed 
with the powder of English rhubarb.” The name 
“ Turkey Rhubarb,” serves to distinguish it with the 
public from garden rhubarb, but whatever might once 
have been the case, we think that the commercial 
morality of pharmaceutists has much improved since the* 
paragraph was written. There is also mentioned the 
discovery of Mr. Hanbury, that the ordinary Pareira 
Brava of commerce is not derived from the Cissampclos ~ 
Pareira, as stated in the British Pharmacopoeia but front 
some other menispermaceous plant of Brazil. Samples of 
the genuine drug are in the form of long cylindrical 
stems about half an inch in diameter, the large con¬ 
centric zones so strongly marked in the Pareira root of 
commerce being absent. 
The publishers have not been very liberal in the 
matter of woodcuts, some of those inserted not being" 
of very great importance. For example illustrations of 
hyoscyamus, belladonna, and stramonium plants would 
have had much more practical utility, than that of the- 
machine used for rasping the roots of tous-los-mois. Oa 
the other hand, there is a good illustration of aconite 
root. It is well for the pharmacist to have plates of 
important plants like these to turn to, so that if he has* 
necessity, he may moisten a leaf in his possession and 
spread it out for the purpose of comparison. Leaves,, 
roots, and seeds of indigenous plants, which were formerly 
almost entirely supplied by collectors here, are now im¬ 
ported from Germany rather extensively, and are not 
always genuine; moreover, they are sent over in a very 
careless manner, so that it is desirable to be well informed 
respecting them. The references to the plates in 
Stephenson and Churchill and other works are but of 
little use to the ordinary student or pharmacist, as but 
few possess them. If Professor Bentley would super¬ 
intend and Mr. Fitch would execute a series of wood 
engravings of medical plants, it would be a boon to the 
joint professions of medicine and pharmacy that ought 
to find support. 
In supplementing the Materia Medica of the Phar¬ 
macopoeia, the editors do not profess to have gone beyond 
the introduction of such other remedies only as are fre¬ 
quently used ; it would, therefore, be out of the question 
to expect an article upon Condurango; but amongst 
others omitted we could name such remedies as Nitrite 
of Amyl, a powerful agent not unfrequcntly employed, 
and Leptandrin, with others of the eclectic remedies, 
which we think deserved notice. There are many 
remedies that are only occasionally called for, concern¬ 
ing which a pharmaceutist may want information that 
ho finds it very difficult to obtain. If the same editors 
would undertake an edition of the unabridged work, 
bringing up the information to the present date in tho 
same able manner they have done in this, and introduc¬ 
ing all manner and kinds of medicinal substances, thus 
rendering the work a complete Encyclopaedia of Phar¬ 
macology, they would confer a boon upon the practical 
pharmacist as great as they have now done upon tho 
stndent. At present, in spite of a few deficiencies, tho 
work ranks as the best students’ text-book and ordinary- 
counter manual of Materia Medica. 
