EDITORIAL. 
479 
entirely  of  a  pecuniary  nature,  and  an  intentional  criticism  unjustly  aimed 
at  him  is  equally  wrong,  and  unworthy  of  the  impartial  editor  ;  yet,  the 
conductor  of  a  journal  will  fall  far  short  of  his  duty  if,  for  fear  of  giving 
offence  -to  a  publishing  house,  he  withholds  needful  criticism  or  glosses 
over  error. 
A  Universal  Formulary  ;  Containing  the  Methods  of  Preparing  and  Admin- 
istering Officinal  and  other  Medicines.  The  whole  adapted  to  Physicians 
and  Pharmaceutists.  By  R.  Eglesfeld  Griffith,  M.D.  A  new  edition, 
carefully  revised  and  much  extended,  by  Robert  P.  Thomas,  M.D.,  with 
illustrations.    Philadelphia,  Blanchard  &  Lea,  1854 ;  pp.  651. 
It  is  now  more  than  four  years  since  the  author  of  this  work,  then  a  con- 
firmed invalid,  (since  deceased)  and  working  under  depressing  circum- 
stances, finished  its  preparation  and  put  his  sheets  in  the  hands  of  the 
publisher.  It  was  a  work  requiring  much  perseverance,  and  when  pub- 
lished was  looked  upon  as  by  far  the  best  work  of  its  kind  that  had  issued 
from  the  American  press,  being  free  of  much  of  the  trashy,  and  embracing 
most  of  the  non-officinal  formulae  used  or  known  in  American,  English  or 
French  practice,  arranged  under  the  heads  of  the  several  constituent  drugs, 
placing  the  recipe  under  its  more  important  constituent.  Dr.  Griffith 
availed  himself  extensively  of  Mohr  and  Redwood's  treatise  on  pharmacy, 
then  just  re^  published  here,  in  reference  to  weights  and  measures  and 
remarks  on  pharmaceutical  processes.  One  of  his  most  useful  chapters 
is  the  "  Index  of  Diseases  and  their  Remedies/'  by  which  the  physician 
or  apothecary,  desirous  of  turning  to  formulae  applicable  to  a  certain  form 
of  disease,  can  readily  do  so.  Another  useful  chapter  is  that  on  poisons 
and  antidotes. 
The  edition  then  published  having  been  exhausted,  the  present  one  has 
been  brought  out  under  the  superintendence  of  Prof.  R.  P.  Thomas,  of  the 
Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  On  comparing  the  two  editions,  it  ap- 
pears that  more  than  eighty  pages  have  beeu  added ;  this  is  due  partly  to 
the  illustrations  which  have  been  introduced,  but  mainly  to  new  matter 
interpolated  by  the  editor,  who  appears  to  have  gone  over  the  text  with 
great  care,  as  he  found  numerous  errors  of  the  press  and  some  of  fact,  of 
greater  or  less  importance,  which  had  escaped  the  author's  notice.  The 
new  formulas  of  the  current  journals  have  been  added,  many  from  Dor- 
vault's  L'Officine,  and  those  of  the  United  States,  London  and  Dublin  phar- 
macopoeias which  are  new  or  altered,  these  codes  having  been  revised  since 
the  first  edition  was  printed.  The  addition  of  the  wood  cuts,  from  Mohr 
and  Redwood,  before  alluded  to,  are  appropriate,  and  assist  in  conveying 
many  ideas  in  practical  pharmacy  to  medical  readers  not  so  readily  acquired 
by  mere  description.  Prof.  Thomas  has  certainly  improved,  as  well  as  added 
to  this  formulary,  and  lias  rendered  it  additionally  deserving  of  the  confi- 
dence of  pharmaceutists  and  physicians. 
