162 
Reviezvs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X     March,  1897. 
REVIEWvS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Principles  and  Practice  of  Agricultural  Analysis.  By  Harvey  W. 
Wiley,  chemist  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  Volume  III,  Agricul- 
tural Products.    Chemical  Publishing  Company,  Easton,  Pa.  1897. 
The  third  and  final  volume  of  this  valuable  work  has  recently  been  com- 
pleted, and  occupies  665  octavo  pages.  The  three  volumes  cover  about  1600 
pages.  Volume  I  deals  with  soils  and  their  analysis  ;  Volume  II  treats  of  ferti- 
lizers, and  Volume  III  of  agricultural  products.  All  are  full  of  special  informa- 
tion for  the  analyst,  but  the  third  volume  appeals  especially  to  the  pharmacist. 
It  first  considers  the  operations  of  sampling,  drying,  incinerating  and  extract- 
ing, and  then  takes  up  the  special  processes  involved  in  estimating  sugars  and 
starches,  carbohydrates  in  crude  or  manufactured  agricultural  products,  fats 
and  oils,  nitrogenous  bodies,  dairy  products  and  miscellaneous  agricultural  pro- 
ducts. The  citation  of  authorities  throughout  the  work  has  been  on  a  liberal 
scale,  so  that  one  has  at  his  command  a  complete  view  of  the  whole  subject. 
There  is  no  other  book  like  it  in  the  English  language,  and  its  possession  is 
almost  a  necessity  to  every  one  having  to  do  with  the  analysis  of  organic  sub- 
stances. 
Proceedings  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  at  the 
Forty-fourth  Annual  Meeting,  held  at  Montreal,  Canada,  August,  1896,  also 
the  constitution,  by-laws  and  roll  of  members.  Published  by  the  American 
Pharmaceutical  Association.    Baltimore.  1896. 
It  is  with  considerable  satisfaction  that  we  note  the  publication  of  the  Pro- 
ceedings some  three  months  earlier  than  they  appeared  last  year.  It  is  to  be 
hoped  that  ere  long  they  may  appear  within  three  months  of  the  adjournment 
of  the  meeting. 
The  something  over  500  pages  of  Report  on  the  Progress  of  Pharmacy  are  a 
part  of  this  volume,  which  will  be  of  lasting  value.  Professor  Diehl  has  made 
an  excellent  collection  of  abstracts,  which  are  both  readable  and  instructive. 
The  original  papers  are  an  improvement  over  those  which  have  appeared  in 
some  previous  volumes,  although,  as  many  of  them  were  not  thought  suffi- 
ciently well  of  by  the  members  at  the  meeting  to  admit  of  their  being  more 
than  read  by  title,  it  is  a  question  whether  they  should  not  have  been  curtailed 
somewhat  or  omitted  altogether. 
A  Simple  Method  of  Water  Analysis,  especially  designed  for  the  use 
of  medical  officers  of  health.  By  John  C.  Thresh,  M.D.  (Vic),  D.Sc.  (Lond.), 
D.P.H.  (Camb.).    J.  &  A.  Churchill,  London.  1897. 
What  we  took  for  a  valuable  work  on  water  analysis  for  health  officers  and 
physicians  came  to  an  untimely  end  in  our  estimation  before  we  passed  the 
introduction.  The  claims  for  recognition  by  this  book  appear  to  be  based  on 
the  use  by  the  author  of  a  prepared  reagent,  called  a  "  soloid,"  whereby  he  is 
able  to  give  the  free  ammonia,  chlorine,  nitrites,  nitrates,  hardness,  absorbed 
oxygen,  etc.,  in  water,  with  a  facility  that  is  little  short  of  magical.  It  is  a 
kind  of  tablet  medication  applied  to  chemistry. 
The  author  apologizes  for  this  mechanical  method  of  conducting  water 
examinations  on  the  score  of  necessity,  but  it  strikes  us  that  the  water  had 
