AmMay?i»5arm'}    Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.  .  265 
of  the  substance  as  originally  discovered,  but  from  the  sample  produced  in 
Sydney,  and  reputed  to  be  the  above,  there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  its  origin 
and  as  to  the  process  of  its  manufacture.  We  fear  the  learned  doctor  (Dr. 
Thos.  Caraman)  has  been  the  victim  of  a  practical  joke. 
Under  the  title  of  "  Natural  Eucalyptated  Honey,"  an  account  of  the  pre- 
tended discovery  of  the  medicinal  virtues  of  this  article  was  published  in 
this  journal,  1887,  page  471;  it  should  be  corrected  in -accordance  with  the 
above  information. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Hand-book  of  Materia  Medica,  Pharmacy  and  Therapeutics. — Compiled  for  the 
use  of  students  preparing  for  examination.  By  Cuthbert  Bowen,  M.  D., 
B.  A.,  editor  of  "  Notes  on  Practice."  Philadelphia  and  London.  F.  A. 
Davis,  publisher.    1888.    12mo.    Pp.366.    Price,  $1.40. 
This  book  is  intended  as  an  epitome  of  the  branches  named  in  the  title 
suitable  for  medical  students,  and  lays  particular  stress  upon  the  physiolo- 
gical action,  therapeutical  uses  and  doses  of  the  different  drugs,  which 
necessarily  are  classified  from  the  physician's  standpoint  according  to  their 
medical  properties  as  astringents,  tonics,  stimulants,  etc.  In  a  preliminary 
chapter  on  "  Method  of  Study,"  the  author  gives  some  sound  advice  insist- 
ing on  practical  work  by  the  student  himself,  with  which  we  fully  concur, 
only  wishing  that  the  importance  of  practical  labor  on  the  part  of  the  stu- 
dent had  been  still  more  forcibly  presented.  The  accounts  of  weights  and 
measures,  including  the  metric  system  of  prescription  writing,  combination 
of  drugs,  incompatibilities,  etc.,  though  brief,  give  the  salient  points  in  each 
case. 
The  remaining  portion  of  the  book  is  in  the  form  of  a  catechism,  which 
is  well  adapted  for  reviewing,  and  may  be  very  acceptable  to  students  accus- 
tomed to  memorize,  but  should  not  replace  more  systematic  study.  As  stated 
before,  it  is  intended  for  medical  students,  and  young  practitioners  will  doubt- 
less also  find  it  useful  inview  of  the  concise  manner  in  which  the  various 
statements  had  necessarily  to  be  made,  and  on  account  of  the  large  number 
of  prescriptions  introduced  into  the  text.  It  is  not  stated  why  the  author 
did  not  follow  the  Pharmacopoeia  in  all  cases;  for  instance,  in  the  origin 
of  acacia  (p.  325),  calumba  (p.  104),  elaterin  (p.  283),  squill  (p.  236),  etc. 
Some  of  the  statements  are  quite  vague  and,  therefore,  unsatisfactory; 
thus,  opium  is  the  concrete  milk  juice,  not  the  dried  juice,  of  the  poppy 
(p.  192);  starch  can  not  be  said  to  be  an  active  principle  of  calcumba 
(p.  104) ;  the  commercial  term  of  liquorice  is  used  for  the  extract,  not 
for  the  root  (p.  327) ;  phosphate  of  quinine  is  not  insoluble  in  water,  and 
acetate  of  quinine  (p.  16)  does  not  form  heavy,  but  on  the  contrary  very 
light  and  bulky  crystals.  If  the  place  of  growth  is  intended  for  the  coun- 
try in  which  medicinal  plants  are  indigenous,  then  the  habitat  of  hyoscya- 
mus  (p.  206),  cubeb  (p.  298)  and  benzoin  (p.  308)  is  given  incorrectly. 
The  mechanical  part  of  the  work — paper,  typography  and  binding — is 
quite  attractive,  and  but  few  typographical  errors  have  been  observed  by  us. 
