Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
May,  1882.  j 
Reviews,  etc. 
265 
A  perennial  plant,  with  a  fusiform-cylindrical  white  fibrous  root,  a  30  to 
60  centimeters  high,  erect,  above  branching,  smooth,  angular-furrowed 
stem,  and  with  alternate  wand-like  branches.  The  leaves  are  clasping, 
large,  lyrate,  crenate,  auricled  at  the  base,  the  terminal  lobes  roundish, 
the  others  obovate,  smooth,  somewhat  glossy  green,  rigid.  The  small  yel- 
low flowers  form  terminal,  dense,  ovate  racemes,  which  in  fruit  are  con- 
siderably elongated.  The  younger  pods  are  obliquely  erect,  24  to  36  milli- 
meters long,  somewhat  conripressed,  obtuse,  four-angled,  and  contain  oval- 
roundish,  flat,  yellowish-brown  seeds.  Frequent  on  the  banks  of  rivers, 
•on  ditches  and  wet  meadows. 
Part  Used. — The  herb  5  its  taste  and  odor  are  cress-like,  but  somewhat 
milder,  the  taste  also  bitter. 
Principal  Constituents. — Acrid  volatile  oil,  bitter  principle.  Not  ana- 
lyzed. 
Uses. — Fresh,  like  water  cress  and  scurvy  grass  (cochlearia).  The  ten- 
der young  leaves  are  eaten  in  winter  (  when  they  usually  remain  green) 
and  spring  as  salad,  or  like  spinach  as  pot  herb. 
Historical.— The  plant  seems  to  have  first  attracted  attention  in  the  mid- 
dle ages.  Camerarius  (tl598)  calls  it  Bunium  adulter inum,  and  states  it  to 
be  also  known  as  Carpentaria^  Herha  sancta,  Fistularia  and  Nasturtium 
hyemale;  it  was  at  an  early  date  cultivated  in  German  gardens,  and  par- 
ticularly valued  as  a  remedy  for  the  cure  of  fistulas  and  sores. 
The  name  Barbarea  was  probably  cho?en  in  honor  of  St.  Barbara  (from 
Nicomedia,  in  Asia  Minor,  about  300  after  Christ).  Erysimum  from  i^vnv 
<to  help,  to  save)  in  relation  to  its  remedial  properties. 
In  a  similar  manner  the  other  drugs  are  described,  those  of  greater 
importance  being  treated  of  more  in  detail,  for  instance,  buchu,  ipecacu- 
anha, hyoscyamus,  benzoin,  valerian,  asafoetida  and  others.  The  excel- 
lent and  extensive  article  on  cinchona  barks  is  from  the  pen  of  Prof.  Dr. 
Oarcke. 
It  will  be  observed  from  the  foregoing  that  the  work,  when  completed, 
promises  to  be  a  most  useful  one  for  reference  and  information,  equal  to 
those  by  the  same  author  which  in  the  past  have  been  deservedly  regarded 
as  standard  works. 
In  regard  to  the  scope  of  the  work,  it  should  be  stated  that  it  is  confined 
altogether  to  drugs  of  vegetable  origin,  and  among  these  not  only  those 
which  are  generally'  used  in  Europe  at  the  present  day  have  been  selected, 
but  likewise  a  large  number  of  such  which,  though  more  or  less  antiquated 
or  fallen  into  disuse,  seem  to  deserve  notice  on  account  of  their  properties 
or  constituents. 
The  typography  being  clear  and  attractive,  and  the  paper  good,  the  vol- 
ume will  be  a  handsome  one,  and  thus,  both  on  account  of  its  internal 
value  and  convenience  for  consulting,  as  well  as  for  its  pretty  appearance, 
will  be  an  ornament  of  the  pharmaceutical  or  medical  library. 
Album  Micrographic  d^Histologie  gencrale  comprenant  Vetude  comparee 
des  tissus  vegctaux  et  animaux  sous  le  rap>port  des  textures  cellulaires. 
Par  L.  Creteur.  Bruxelles. 
Micrographic  Album  of  General  Histology,  embracing  a  Comparative 
Study  of  Vegetable  and  Animal  Tissues. 
This  album  contains  al)out  seventy  lithographic  plates,  large  quarto  size, 
of  microscopic  drawings  made  by  the  accomplished  author,  and  magnify- 
