430 
Revieios,  etc. 
•r  - 
\  Am.  Jour.  Pliarm 
t      Aug.,  1881. 
tense  in  misleading  the  pnblic  by  false  statements  of  their  composition, 
and  that  confine  themselves  to  a  laudation  of  their  virtues  in  all  sorts  of 
disease,  seems  to  us  verj^  doubtful.  But  a  species  of  fraud  which  is  fre- 
quently helped  and  assisted  by  physicians  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  we 
believe,  is  not  affected  by  this  law  ;  we  refer  to  those  preparations  which 
consist  of  cheap  ingredients  and,  frequently  protected  by  trade-mark,  are 
sold  under  fanciful  names  at  exorbitant  prices. 
KEYIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGIIA.PHICAL  NOTICES. 
A  Medical  Formulary  based  on  the  United  States  and  British  Pharmaco- 
%)(xias ;  together  with  numerous  French,  German  and  UnofRcinal  Pre- 
parations. By  Laurence  Johnson,  A.M.,  M.D.,  Lecturer  on  Medical 
Botany,  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  New  York,  etc.  New 
York  :'  William  AVood  &  Co.,  1881.    8vo,  pp.  402. 
The  title  indicates  the  scope  of  the  work.  The  intention  of  the  author 
was  not  to  include  all  the  drugs  contained  in  the  authorities  mentioned; 
hence  many  of  the  less  important  have  been  omitted,  and  of  those  not 
recognized  by  any  pharmacopoeia  only  the  more  important  ones  have  been 
admitted.  The  arrangement  is  alphabetical  by  the  Latin  titles  as  recog- 
nized in  the  United  States  and  British  Pharmacopoeias.  LTnder  each  head, 
in  the  case  of  animal  and  vegetable  drugs,  a  brief  explanation  is  given, 
indicating  the  part  used,  the  source,  natural  order,  habitat,  together  with 
brief  descriptions  of  a  few  physical  characters  and  of  the  medicinal  pro- 
perties. In  the  case  of  chemicals,  either  their  source  is  indicated  or  for- 
mulas for  their  j)i'eparation  are  given,  followed  by  brief  descriptions,  as 
before.  Next  are  mentioned  the  various  galenical  preparations  into  which 
the  drug  enters,  together  with  the  officinal  formulas,  the  language  of  which 
has  been  materially  condensed  without  rendering  it  obscure.  The  titles 
of  those  officinal  in  the  United  States  are  in  Latin,  and  printed  in  a  dif- 
ferent type ;  all  other  loreparations  have  an  English  name  only,  including 
those  which  have  been  selected  from  the  formularies  of  hospitals  and  dis- 
pensaries, as  well  as  those  which  have  been  contributed  by  prominent 
authors.  All  formulas  are  given  in  the  English  language,  and  are  followed 
by  a  statement  of  uses  and  dose,  thus  illustrating  the  manner  in  which  the 
drugs  are  combined  by  prominent  practitioners.  In  our  opinion,  it  is  to 
be  regretted  that  the  author  has  adopted  the  term  "ounce"  indisi  rimi- 
nately  for  the  avoirdupois  and  tro^^ounce,  as  well  as  for  the  fluidounce  of 
the  United  States  and  Great  Britain,  thus  designating  four  different  values 
by  one  and  the  same  term.  Although  this  has  been  explained  in  the  pre- 
face, we  question  the  utility  of  this  plan. 
In  examining  the  formulary  we  have  observed  few  typographical  errors 
and  mistakes;  the  most  important  ones  noticed  are  on  page  156,  where 
Secale  cornutum,  the  old  name  for  ergot,  is  given  as  the  botanical  name  of 
rye,  Secale  cereale.  In  the  formula  for  leptandrin,  on  page  245,  the  direc- 
tion is  omitted  to  mix  the  precipitated  and  powdered  resin  with  the  evap- 
orated extract. 
