264 
Reviews,  etc. 
f  Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
X      May,  1882. 
opium  to  be  better  than  is  often  supposed.  In  12  lots,  comprising  230  cases, 
and  amongst  these  four  lots  of  opium  of  poor  appearance,  the  minimum 
morphine  yield  was  9*6  per  cent,  and  a  maximum  yield  =  12'7  per  cent, 
for  crude  opium.  Commercial  samples  of  powdered  opium — excluding 
two,  which  had  probably  been  reduced  in  strength  by  some  gummy  admix- 
ture and  assayed  9*5  and  12'5  per  cent. — were  found  to  contain  between 
13"9  and  15*1  or  an  average  of  13*52  per  cent,  of  pure  morphine;  the 
strength  of  good  powdered  opium  of  this  market  is  therefore  14  per  cent., 
with  a  variation  of  about  1  per  cent,  between  the  extremes  of  morphine 
strength.  These  are  imjoortant  facts  against  the  official  recognition  of 
opium  of  10  per  cent.,  which  would  necessitate  the  addition  of  admixtures 
that  could  only  be  regarded  in  the  light  of  adulterations.  The  process 
adopted  by  Dr.  Squibb  for  assaying  opium  is  a  modification  of  that  j^ro- 
posed  by  Fluckiger ;  the  accurate  results  obtained  b^^  it  depend  in  a  great 
measure  upon  details,  given  in  full  in  his  paper,  which  we  publish  in  this 
number.    (See  page  244.) 
The  other  important  papers  relate  to  the  adulteration  bill  before  Con- 
gress, to  clinical  thermometers,  to  the  elixir  nuisance,  and  to  the  new  code 
of  ethics  of  the  Medical  Society  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Other  shorter 
articles  on  Chian  turpentine,  winter  eczema,  various  salicylates,  are  like- 
wise deserving  attention. 
Handworterbuch  der  Pharmakognosie  des  Pflanzenreiehs.  Herausgegeben 
von  Prof.  Dr.  G.  C.  Wittstein.    Breslau :  Eduard  Trewendt,  1882. 
Dictionary  of  Pharmacognosy  of  the  Vegetable  Kingdom. 
We  have  before  us  Part  1  of  this  work,  a  handsome  pamphlet  of  144 
large  octavo  pages,  which  is  being  published  as  a  part  of  the  "  Encyclo- 
pedia of  the  Natural  Sciences,"  comprising  botany,  zoology,  pharmacog- 
nosy, mineralogy,  mathematics,  chemistry,  physics  and  astronomy,  and 
in  course  of  publication  since  1879. 
As  indicated  by  the  title,  the  work  before  us  is  a  dictionary,  and  its 
arrangement  is  therefore  alphabetical.  The  most  popular  German  names 
have  been  chosen  for  the  heading,  and  where  there  is  no  common  name 
in  that  language  the  commercial  designation  has  been  selected.  This  is 
followed  by  the  different  synonyms  in  the  vernacular,  then  by  the  offici- 
nal Latin  names  as  used  in  Germany,  by  the  systematic  names  of  the 
plants  and  the  classes  and  orders  of  the  Linnean  as  well  as  of  the  natural 
system.  A  brief  characteristic  of  the  plant  is  next  given,  including  its 
habitat,  and  followed  by  a  full  description  of  the  medicinal  part,  the  prin-" 
cipal  chemical  constituents,  a  descriiDtion  of  substitutions  or  adulterations, 
medical  uses,  historical  and  etymological  notes.  As  a  specimen  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  subject  has  been  treated  by  the  author,  we  translate 
the  article  on  a  plant  quite  common  in  some  parts  of  North  America,  and 
known  here  as  winter  cress  and  yellow  rocket. 
Barbarakraut. 
(Winterkresse,  Winterbrunnenkresse),  Herha  BarbarecB. 
Barbarea  vulgaris,  R.  Br.  {B.  arcuata,  Sturm;  B.  iberica,  D.  C,  Erysi- 
mum Barbarea,  Ijin.) 
Tetr adynamia  Silquosa. — Cruciferce. 
