Am.  Jour.  Pharm.T 
March,  1908.  J 
Book  Reviews. 
145 
the  elementary  theoretical  chemistry  necessary  to  their  understand- 
ing. Intended  as  an  aid  to  students,  teachers  and  examiners.  By 
Oscar  Oldberg.  Fourth  edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  Chicago: 
Chicago  Medical  Book  Company.    Price,  $3.00. 
With  the  appearance  of  several  books  on  pharmaceutical  arith- 
metic, it  is  becoming  apparent  that  a  comparatively  small  proportion 
of  the  students  of  pharmacy  have  been  grounded  in  the  fundamental 
principles  of  arithmetic,  or  have  devoted  themselves  to  the  mastery 
of  these  principles  to  the  extent  of  being  able  to  apply  them  with 
certainty  in  solving  the  every-day  problems  of  the  laboratory  and 
prescription  counter.  This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  question 
as  to  why  this  deficiency  in  the  pharmaceutical  student's  education 
exists,  nor  to  consider  the  ways  for  remedying  this  defect.  Certain 
it  is  that  books  of  the  character  of  this  one,  by  Professor  Oldberg, 
are  always  welcome  to  both  students  of  pharmacy  and  pharmacists, 
and  when  the  subject  is  elaborated  and  presented  so  systematically, 
as  in  the  present  instance,  it  rises  to  the  dignity  of  a  distinct  branch 
and  presents  a  legitimate  claim  to  a  place  in  our  curriculum. 
The  book  contains  two  excellent  chapters,  of  about  45  pages 
each,  devoted  to  the  review  of  elementary  arithmetic  (including 
fractions,  reciprocals  of  numbers  and  their  uses,  proportion,  per- 
centage and  alligation),  and  elementary  theoretical  chemistry. 
The  chapters  on  weights  and  measures,  and  solutions  and  mix- 
tures, supplemented  as  they  are  by  miscellaneous  examples  in  pro- 
portion and  percentage,  are  of  particular  value  to  the  retail  pharma- 
cist. Teachers  and  the  examiners  on  boards  of  pharmacy  will  find 
not  only  in  the  problem?,  but  also  in  the  text,  a  large  amount  of 
material  that  will  be  helpful  in  framing  practical  questions. 
The  problems  and  exercises  relating  to  chemistry  are  equally  well 
presented,  and  the  chapters  on  the  periodic  system,  chemical  nota- 
tion, oxidation  and  reduction,  stoechiometry,  are  specially  commended 
for  the  manner  in  which  they  are  written.  Part  VI  treats  of  specific 
density  and  specific  volume,  and  will  be  found  of  great  practical 
value,  containing,  as  it  does,  a  large  number  of  miscellaneous  prob- 
lems on  the  relation  of  weight  and  volume,  and  rules  for  reducing 
Baume  degrees  to  specific  gravity  and  vice  versa. 
Professor  Oldberg's  book  is  the  best  one  we  have  seen  relating  to 
pharmaceutical  and  chemical  problems,  and  should  be  in  every  labor- 
atory and  on  the  dispensing  counter  of  every  pharmacist,  for  use  at 
a  moment's  notice. 
