288 
EDITORIAL. 
Annual  Bep art  of  the  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for  the  year 
1868.    Washington,  D.  C,  pp.  18,  octavo.    (From  Dr.  Toner.) 
This  report  consists  of  a  few  general  remarks  under  various  heads, 
among  which  are  "  agricultural  education,"  "  international  exchanges," 
"  cattle  diseases,"  "grapes  and  wine,"  "cinchona  planting,"  chemical  la- 
boratory for  analysis,  "entomology,"  the  museum,  garden  and  arboretum, 
and  distribution  of  seeds. 
We  learn  from  the  report  that  a  system  of  international  exchanges  has 
been  established  with  several  of  the  governments  of  Europe,  Asia  and 
South  America,  and  that  valuable  exchanges  have  been  arranged  for  with 
the  directory  of  Kew  Gardens,  the  Garden  of  Melbourne,  in  Australia, 
and  other  places.  The  tropical  and  subtropical  fruits  are  being  introdpced 
on  trial  into  Florida,  and  the  culture  of  cinchona  is  advocated.  The  che- 
mical department  of  the  patent  office  has  been  re-modelled,  to  be  placed 
in  the  new  building,  now  nearly  completed,  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
department  of  Agriculture,  and  from  the  report  we  judge  that  the  new 
laboratory  will  be  fitted  up  in  accordance  with  the  modern  improvements 
in  the  experimental  laboratories  of  Europe.  From  the  tone  of  the  report 
we  must  infer  that  the  organization  of  the  laboratory  is  not  yet  complete 
as  regards  the  objects  to  which  it  is  to  be  devoted.  The  idea  of  testing 
soils,  manures,  and  even  carrying  on  chemico-physiological  researches  in 
connection  with  questions  in  agriculture,  may  all  be  appropriate,  but  the 
system  under  which  the  work  is  to  be  prosecuted  should  be  well  digested 
and  clearly  defined  before  starting,  that  its  action  may  be  limited  to  its 
legitimate  channels,  and  not  become  subservient  to  private  interests.  For 
instance,  inquiry  into  the  best  chemical  remedies  for  the  cattle  plague,  or 
for  destroying  the  mildew  in  the  grape,  or  for  the  preservation  of  timber 
etc.,  would  be  quite  proper,  because  of  general  utility,  whilst  specimens 
of  soil  for  analysis  from  the  plantations  of  Congressmen  A,  B  and  C 
would  be  illegitimate  employment  for  government  chemists,  unless  in  some 
way  connected  with  experimental  culture  for  the  general  benefit. 
Half  Yearly  Compendium  of  Medical  Science. — A  synopsis  of  the  Amer- 
ican and  foreign  literature  of  Medicine,  Surgery  and  the  Collateral 
Sciences  for  six  months.    Edited  by  S.  W.Butler,  M.D.,  and  D.  G. 
Biinton,  M.D.    Part  3.    Jan.,  1869.    Phila.,  S.  W.  Butler,  115  south 
7th  St.,  1869;  pp.  336,  octavo.    Price  $3  per  annum. 
The  authors  feel  encouraged  at  the  success  which  has  attended  their 
enterprise  thus  far.    "  This  number  contains  nearly  400  articles,  collated 
from  nearly  250  American  and  230  foreign  writers  and  speakers."  The 
statistics  of  opium  poisoning  and  other  branches  of  toxicology  are  well 
worthy  of  examination. 
Maw  ^  Son's  Quarterly  Price  Current  of  Surgeon's  Instruments  and 
appliances  ,  also  the  apparatus,  implements,  utensils  and  other  requisites 
employed  in  pharmacy,  the  dispensing  of  medicines,  &c.,  &c. 
Also  Book  of  Illustrations  to  Maw  &  Sons  Quarterly  Price  Current. 
London,  11  and  12  Aldgate  street.  1869  ;  pp.  344. 
