320 
EDITORIAL. 
compressing  knowledge  into  a  small  volume.  Judged  by  this  standard, 
Dr.  Garrod's  book  compares  well  with  any  of  its  class  that  we  have  ex- 
amined. The  author  is  evidently  master  of  his  subject,  and  handles  it 
very  well.  He  gives  a  few  pages  of  introductory  comments  on  pharma- 
ceutical preparations,  weights  and  measures,  then  three-eighths  of  his  space 
to  inorganic  substances,  and  the  remainder  to  organic  drugs  and  prepara- 
tions, under  the  two  heads,  Vegetable  Kingdom  and  Animal  Kingdom. 
The  arrangement  is  according  to  the  natural  system  in  each  case,  giving 
the  preparations  of  each  drug  under  its  description,  and  though  generally 
very  brief,  in  some  of  the  more  important  drugs,  as  cinchona,  opium,  digi- 
talis, &c,  more  detail  is  permitted.  The  work  is  evidently  intended 
more  for  the  medical  student  and  practitioner  than  for  the  pharmaceutist. 
The  therapeutical  part  of  the  book,  including  the  statement  of  doses,  is 
brought  under  the  same  rule  as  the  materia  medica — most  space  and 
comment  being  given  to  the  important  drugs.  On  the  whole,  we  believe 
this  book  is  the  best  of  its  kind  that  has  issued  from  the  press,  and  will 
be  found  highly  useful  to  the  student  and  practitioner  of  medicine  as  well 
as  to  the  apothecary.  In  passing  through  the  American  press  several 
formulae  and  a  few  notices  of  American  drugs  have  been  introduced,  but 
many  of  value  are  omitted  ;  nor  has  as  much  accuracy  been  exhibited  a3 
would  have  been  desirable  in  some  of  them. 
OBITUARY. 
Thomas  B.  Wilson. — .The  scientific  world  has  sustained  a  severe  loss  in 
the  death  of  Dr.  Thos.  B.  Wilson,  the  late  President  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  in  this  city,  which  took  place  on  the  15th  of  March  last, 
at  his  late  residence  in  Newark,  Delaware.  Dr.  Wilson,  who  was  a  native 
of  Philadelphia,  has  for  many  years  devoted  himself  to  the  encouragement 
and  promotion  of  zoological  science,  especially  in  connection  with  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  an  institution  which,  mainly  by  his  energy, 
ability  and  princely  liberality,  has  been  raised  from  comparative  medioc- 
rity to  an  equality  with  the  leading  kindred  institutions  of  the  Old  World. 
The  superb  collection  of  Birds,  which  ranks  as  the  third  in  importance  in 
the  world,  and  the  invaluable  Library  of  the  Academy,  are  but  a  partial 
evidence  of  Dr.  Wilson's  unostentatious  munificence.  Every  department 
of  the  institution  bears  his  mark  and  will  feel  his  loss.  He  has  also  con- 
tributed largely  of  late  to  the  Entomological  Society  at  Philadelphia.  Al- 
though his  residence  had  been  removed  to  Newark,  Delaware,  half  of  his 
time  was  regularly  spent  in  his  native  city  and  occupied  with  his  favorite 
pursuits.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  value  of  such  men  to  the  cause  of 
science,  or  the  loss  which  a  community  sustains  when  their  labors  are  cut 
short. — Daily  Evening  Bulletin,  Philadelphia,  March  21. 
