Am.  Jour.  Pharm.\ 
March,  1897.  J 
Reviews. 
163 
better  be  let  alone  rather  than  to  be  tested  with  reagents  of  which  the 
so-called  analyst  can  know  nothing.  A  medical  officer,  with  a  case  of  ready- 
made  reagents  and  this  book,  would  be  a  dangerous  man.  We  believe  there  is 
no  better  way  to  explain  the  character  of  the  book  than  to  quote  the  following 
test  for  nitrites  : 
"Take  about  70  c.c.  of  the  water  in  one  of  the  tubes,  dissolve  therein  1 
soloid  of  compound  potassium  iodide,  add  a  soloid  of  acid  sulphate  and  dis- 
solve. Note  whether  any  blue  color  develops  within  five  minutes,  and  record 
whether  faint,  distinct,  very  distinct  or  dark  blue.  If  no  blue  color  develops 
in  five  minutes,  nitrites  are  absent.  The  blue  color,  if  produced,  will  be  pro- 
portionate to  the  amount  of  nitrites  present." 
Handbook  of  Structural  Formula,  for  use  of  students.  By  Henry 
Leffmann.    P.  Blakiston,  Son  &  Co.    Philadelphia.  1897. 
Almost  every  one  having  to  do  with  chemistry  has  felt  the  need  of  a  book 
with  the  foregoing  title.  Dr.  Leffmann  has,  in  compiling  such  a  work,  done  a 
real  service  to  students,  and,  we  might  add,  especially  to  those  who  are  inter- 
ested in  the  relation  between  chemical  composition  and  physiological  action. 
Only  alternate  pages  have  been  printed,  in  order  to  admit  of  the  addition  of 
new  compounds  and  of  notes.  A  table  of  elements  and  an  index  add  to  the 
completeness  of  the  work. 
Proceedings  of  the  Seventeenth  Annual  Meeting  oe  the  North 
Carolina  Pharmaceutical  Association,  held  at  Moorehead  City,  July  22 
and  23,  1896.    Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  1896. 
The  two  original  papers  are  :  "  Guaiacol,"  by  E.  V.  Howell,  and  "  Expenses 
in  Comparison  with  Purchases  of  Drugs,  and  Expenses  in  Comparison  with 
Sales  of  Soda  Water  for  a  Period  of  Ten  Years,"  by  H.  R.  Home. 
Des  Acanthacees  MedicinaeES.  By  Georges  Dethan.  These;  Ecole 
Superieure  de  Pharmacie  de  Paris.  1896-97. 
This  is  a  complete  illustrated  monograph  on  the  medicinal  members  of 
the  natural  order  Acanthacese.  The  work  is  divided  into  two  parts.  In  the 
first  part,  the  author  treats  the  members  of  the  order  in  general,  giving  the 
geographical  distribution,  history,  general  morphological  and  anatomical 
characters,  principles  of  classification,  properties  and  uses.  In  the  second 
part,  the  individual  plants  receive  special  treatment  in  regard  to  their 
morphology,  anatomic  structure,  properties  and  uses.  The  whole  comprises 
192  pages  of  valuable  reading  matter,  with  a  complete  index. 
On  the  Toxic  Action  of  Dissolved  Salts  and  Their  Electrolvtic 
Dissociation.  By  Louis  Kahlenberg  and  Rodney  H.  True.  Reprint  from 
Botanical  Gazette,  August,  1896. 
Native  Drugs  OF  Ceylon.  By  Professor  Rodney  H.  True.  Reprint  from 
Pharmaceutical  Review,  January,  1897.  Bassia  lougifolia  constitutes  the  special 
subject  of  this  interesting  communication. 
General  Report  on  a  Botanical  Survey  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene 
Mountains  in  Idaho  during  the  Summer  of  1895.    By  John  B.  Leiberg. 
