Amju°?^marm" }     The  Pharmacopoeia  of  Switzerland.  347 
educated  pharmacist  or  physician  in  that  it  is  indicative  of  scientific 
rather  than  slipshod  training  on  the  part  of  medical  practitioners. 
The  large  number  of  general  headings,  or  directions  for  making 
certain  classes  of  preparations,  readily  makes  up  for  the  apparent 
lack  of  numbers  in  some  of  the  different  classes. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  is  further  augmented  by  a  series  of  twenty- 
three  tables  which  serve  as  an  elaboration  of  the  several  mono- 
graphs. 
Among  the  more  interesting  of  these  tables  is  a  list  of  reagents 
for  medical  purposes.  This  includes  formulae  for  the  tests  and 
stains  that  are  used  in  the  examination  of  the  several  secretions 
and  excretions,  the  examination  of  blood  and  the  staining  of  micro- 
organisms. Then  there  are  a  number  of  tables  that  are  of  special 
interest  to  the  student  or  the  physician.  For  example,  there  is  a 
list  of  articles  that  are  to  be  kept  apart  from  others,  a  list  of  the 
poisonous  or  potent  articles,  a  table  of  maximum  single  and  daily 
doses,  and  a  table  of  the  per  cent,  content  of  active  ingredient  in 
the  several  galenical  preparations. 
The  table  or  list  of  atomic  weights  is,  in  accordance  with  the 
generally  adopted  practice  in  Europe,  based  on  oxygen  =16. 
An  index  and  list  of  synonyms,  covering  fifty-two  double  column 
pages,  serves  as  a  ready  reference  t©  the  material  contained  in  the 
book. 
Altogether  it  may  be  confidently  expected  that  this  new  pharma- 
copoeia will  surely  serve  to  retain  for  the  Swiss  pharmacist  the 
respect  of  the  medical  profession  in  his  own  country,  in  that  it 
will  necessitate  his  continuing  the  practice  of  his  calling  along 
scientific  lines,  and  thus  secure  for  him  recognition  far  outside  the 
limits  of  his  own  country.  The  admiration  and  the  praise  that  has 
been  so  generally  expressed  throughout  Europe,  for  the  scientific 
character  and  the  practical  value  of  the  material  presented  in  the 
Swiss  Pharmacopoeia  is  amply  justified  and  the  book  itself  is  certainly 
well  worth  careful  study  and  consideration  on  the  part  of  all  who 
are  in  any  way  interested  in  the  elaboration  or  improvement  of  our 
own  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States. 
