Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Jan.,  1881.  j 
Editorial — ReviewSy  etc. 
41 
If  the  statement  that  certain  changes  were  made  in  the  names  of  the  units 
in  difew  nations  was  taken  to  ajoply  to  the  adoption  by  most  nations  of  the 
unchanged  French  orthography  it  would  be  erroneous;  for  in  Portuguese, 
Spanish,  ItaUaii,  German  and  Dutch,  and  undoubtedly  in  other  European 
languages,  the  French  terms  have  been  adopted,  but  in  all  cases  the 
orthography  was  modified  so  as  to  adapt  it  to  the  language  of  the  country. 
This  certainly  cannot  be  called  eaprice.  Precisely  the  same  course  is  pro- 
posed for  the  English  language.  It  is  true  that  the  latter  has  adopted 
numerous  French  words  without  change  of  orthography,  but  it  is  equally 
true  that  in  a  large  number  the  spelling  has  been  slightly  changed,  even 
when  the  French  termination  has  been  re;  render,  encounter,  powder, 
batter  are  examples  which  could  be  multiplied  without  difficulty.  The 
French  employ  the  word  nifetre  for  the  abstract  measure  as  well  as  for  the 
measuring  instruments;  the  latter  are  rendered  meter  in  English  (pyro- 
naeter,  barometer,  thermometer,  etc.),  and  the  instrument  used  for  measur- 
ing the  metric  unit  of  length  should  therefore  likewise  be  called  a  meter. 
Why  change  the  spelling  for  the  unite  itself  and  make  a  metre  (the  abstract 
measure)  to  be  measured  by  a  meter 
The  apparently  most  weighty  objection  is  the  great  similarity  of  the  word 
gram  with  grain;  but  the  danger  is  not  near  as  great  as  it  might  appear  to 
be  at  first  sight.  The  abbreviation  for  gram  as  adopted  in  the  scientific 
literature  of  Central  and  Northern  Europe  is  grm.^  ov  gm.,  and  in  France 
and  Italy  it  is  usually  gr. ;  in  the  latter  case  it  is  identical  with,  in  the 
former  sufficiently  distinct  from,  the  universally  acknowledged  abbrevia- 
tion for  the  word  grain.  In  formulas  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  mistake  the 
one  value  for  the  other,  because  the  quantities  of  the  different  ingredients 
would  indicate  at  once  whether  gr.  referred  to  a  value  of  the  old  or  the 
metric  system.  And  in  prescriptions  there  is  even  less  likelihood  to  con- 
found the  two,  because  from  long-established  custom  grains  are  indicated 
by  Roman  numerals,  while  metric  values  are  designated  in  the  ordinary 
Arabian  numerals,  without  the  addition  of  any  sign  or  letter.  In  the  metric 
prescriptions  of  Continental  Europe  lO'O  means  ten  grams,  while  in  the  old 
style  ten  grains  are  designated  gr  x. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGEAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Historical  Sketch  of  the  Progress  of  Pharmacy  in  Great  Britain.  By  Jacob 
Bell  and  Theophilus  Redwood.    London,  1880.    Pp.  445, 
The  first  part  of  this  work  was  written  by  the  iate  Jacob  Bell  as  an  intro- 
duction to  the  "  Pharmaceutical  Journal."  It  contains  an  account  of  the 
early,  but  unsuccessful  attempts  made  to  separate  pharmacy  from  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  in  Great  Britain,  and  of  the  efforts  which,  at  a  later  period, 
were  unsuccessfully  made  to  found  an  institution  with  the  object  of  raising 
up  a  race  of  qualified  men  devoted  to  the  practice  of  jDharmacy  as  a  dis- 
tinct occupation.  The  second  part  was  written  by  Professor  Redwood  in 
compliance  with  a  desire  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Council,  and  is  a  record 
