EDITORIAL. 
319 
last  two  years  of  the  Rebellion.  The  author  remarks,  "  It  is  intended  as 
a  repertory  of  scientific  and  popular  knowledge  as  regards  the  medicinal, 
economical  and  useful  properties  of  trees,  plants  and  shrubs  found  within 
the  limits  of  the  Confederate  States,  whether  employed  in  the  arts  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  or  in  domestic  economy  to  supply  a  present  as 
well  as  a  future  want.  Treating  specially  of  our  medicinal  plants,  and  of 
the  best  substitutes  for  foreign  articles  of  vegetable  origin,  my  aim  has 
been  to  spare  no  exertions  compatible  with  the  limits  assigned  me  to  make 
it  applicable  as  well  to  the  requirements  of  the  surgeon  as  of  the  planter 
and  farmer;  and  I  trust  that,  after  the  war  shall  have  ceased,  there  shall 
still  be  no  diminution  in  the  desire  of  every  one  to  possess  a  source  from 
whence  his  curiosity  may  be  satisfied  on  matters  pertaining  to  our  useful 
plants." 
The  author  has  availed  himself  freely  of  the  botanical  and  medical 
works  of  the  United  States  published  before  the  rebellion,  as  well  as  of  the 
journals  and  Patent  Office  reports.  The  arrangement  is  that  of  the  natu- 
ral orders  of  plants,  the"author  bringing  in  important  subjects  under  the 
plant  that  most  concerns  them-— as  wine  under  the  grape,  sugar  under 
sorghum,  &c.  For  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  written  a  much  smaller 
book,  less  technical  and  more  practical,  would  probably  have  proved  much 
more  useful.  As  a  memento  of  the  extraordinary  condition  of  the  country 
requiring  its  publication  this  volume  is  interesting.  It  is  well  printed  on 
tolerably  good  paper,  and  is  altogether  a  creditable  specimen  of  Confede- 
rate work.  Not  the  least  curious  feature  of  the  book  is  a  pamphlet  glued 
in  the  forepart,  entitled,  "  Standard  supply  table  of  the  indigenous  reme- 
dies for  field  service  and  the  sick  in  general  hospitals,  1863,"  issued  from 
the  "  Surgeon-General's  Office, "  Richmond,  Va.,  and  signed  "  S.  P.  Moore, 
Surgeon-General  C.  S.  A."  The  tables  give  the  amounts  of  indigenous 
herbs,  roots,  barks,  etc.,  required  to  serve  500  men  for  12  months, 
The  Essentials  of  Materia  Medico,  and  Therapeutics.  By  Alfred  Baring 
Garrod,  M.  D.,  F.  R.  S.,  Prof,  of  Materia  Medica  at  King's  College,  Lon- 
don, &c.  &c.  New  York  :  William  Wood  &  Co.,  61  Walker  St.  1865. 
Pp.  439,  octavo.     (From  the  publishers.) 
This  volume  is  the  result  of  an  attempt  to  select  what  the  author  deems 
to  be  the  parts  of  materia  medica  and  therapeutics  most  essential  to  the 
student  and  practitioner,  to  the  exclusion  of  most  of  the  bulky  details 
which  swell  the  size  of  the  standard  works,  such  as  botanical  and  other 
scientific  descriptions,  references  to  authorities,  pharmaceutical  comments, 
etc.  Books  of  this  kind  owe  their  usefulness  in  great  measure  to  the  ac- 
curacy and  clearness  with  which  facts  are  stated,  by  the  careful  use  of 
terms  expressing  size,  shape,  color,  odor,  taste,  measure,  weight,  specific 
gravity,  solubility,  volatility  and  composition  by  symbols.  It  is  surpris- 
ing how  much  advantage  an  author  gains  by  attention  to  these  points  in 
