392 
Book  Reviezvs. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     August,  1908. 
This  part  of  the  book  is  followed  by  an  addendum  containing  an 
enumeration  of  the  various  forms  of  medicaments,  an  alphabetical 
table  of  the  illustrations,  which  number  upwards  of  two  hundred, 
and  an  index. 
The  author  defines  pharmacy  as  the  total  of  the  knowledge, 
technical  and  scientific,  that  is  essential  for  the  preparation  of 
medicaments. 
Pharmacy,  he  asserts,  is  at  the  same  time  an  art  and  a  science. 
It  is  an  art  because  of  the  practical  and  laborious  apprenticeship 
that  is  required,  and  it  is  a  science  because  its  teachings  and  theories 
are  derived  from  chemistry,  natural  history  and  physics. 
Probation  and  study  are  the  paths  that  must  be  followed  by  the 
student  who  is  desirous  of  perfecting  himself  in  this  branch  of  the 
healing  art. 
Professor  Jadin  highly  commends  the  book,  in  the  introduction 
that  serves  as  a  preface,  and  very  properly  points  out  that  while  this 
little  book  may  well  be  the  constant  companion  of  the  apprentice 
or  student,  many  pharmacists  might  also  read  it  with  profit. 
Practically  all  of  the  several  pharmaceutical  operations,  such  as 
weighing,  measuring,  sifting,  levigation,  decantation,  expression, 
straining,  centrifugation,  filtration,  clarification,  the  various  processes 
used  for  effecting  comminution,  emulsification,  refrigeration,  desicca- 
tion, evaporation,  fusion,  sublimation,  distillation  and  crystallization 
are  all  enumerated  and  are  described  in  a  concise  but  readable 
manner. 
Upwards  of  forty  pages  are  devoted  to  a  description  of  the  several 
methods  that  may  be  used  for  sterilizing  pharmaceutical  preparations 
and  utensils.  Antisepsis  and  asepsis  are  thoroughly  defined,  their 
limitations  pointed  out  and  the  general  reasons  for  preferring  asepsis 
are  well  illustrated. 
The  simple  but  efficient  language  that  is  used  by  the  author 
throughout  the  book  amply  demonstrates  his  ability  as  a  teacher. 
The  book  is  to  be  recommended  to  teachers  of  pharmacy  as  an 
illustration  of  a  concise  method  of  presenting  information  regarding 
generally  well-known  processes.  To  students  and  pharmacists,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  book  will  prove  interesting  as  a  review,  not 
alone  of  pharmaceutical  processes,  but  also  oc  scholarly,  concise 
French. 
M.  I.  Wilbert., 
