EDITORIAL. 
189 
iodide  of  iron]]  by  the  addition  of  sugar  to  filtered  liquor,  which,  also,  is 
mot  evaporated.  In  this  manner  decomposition  is  prevented.  The  solu- 
tion is  of  a  pale  green  color,  and  has  a  strong  inky  taste."  This  descrip- 
tion follows  immediately  after  a  succinct  account  of  the  Iodide  of  Iron,  but 
in  neither  is  any  clue  given  to  the  proportion  of  salt  in  the  solution.  As 
this  course  is  frequently  adopted,  it  is  clearly  the  object  of  the  author  to 
convey  in  general  terms,  an  idea  of  the  nature  and  characters  of  each 
pharmaceutical  preparation,  to  aid  the  student  or  physician  who  may 
consult  the  work,  to  keep  them  in  remembrance  J  whilst  it  is  intended 
that  for  exact  information  in  regard  to  manipulation  and  quantities,  he 
should  employ  the  Pharmacopoeia  or  Dispensatory.  In  a  word,  the  work  is 
addressed  to  the  Physician,  not  to  the  .Apothecary,  to  the  prescriber  and 
not  to  the  preparer  of  medicines;  the  great  object  of  the  book  is  to  exhibit 
the  action  of  medicines  upon  the  human  economy,  both  in  its  healthy  and 
morbid  conditions,  and  to  point  out  when  these  agents  may  be  most  cer- 
tainly and  efficiently  employed  in  curing  disease.  In  pursuit  of  this  end 
the  author  has  devoted  much  time  and  research  to  ascertain  the  testimony 
of  medical  writers,  pro  and  con,  in  relation  to  the  curative  powers  of  rem- 
edies, believing  that  "  our  knowledge  of  the  usefulness  of  medicines  rests 
altogether  upon  experience,  but  not  upon  that  of  any  one  man,  however 
skilful,  or  of  any  age,  however  enlightened ;"  and  "that  their  efficacy  is 
attested  by  a  multitude  of  witnesses,  and  is  confirmed  by  time,  which  re- 
duces the  opinions  of  individuals  to  their  just  value,  outlives  the  fashions  of 
the  day,  and  is  unmoved  by  the  prejudices  of  the  schools.  To  experience, 
then,  we  must  turn  as  to  the  ultimate  and  decisive  arbiter  of  all  questions 
respecting  the  curative  powers  of  medicines,  feeling  assured  that  whenever 
the  particular  application  of  a  remedy  could  be  sustained  by  the  testimony 
of  the  great  Physicians  of  successive  ages,  our  employment  of  it  possesses 
the  highest  possible  sanction." 
The  introduction  includes  general  observations  on  the  sources  from 
which  medicines  are  derived;  the  sources  of  knowledge  in  Therapeutics; 
the  sources  of  knowledge  respecting  the  action  of  medicines;  the  physio- 
logical, local,  and  remote  action  of  medicines  •  the  avenues  by  which 
medicines  gain  access  to,  and  their  effects  in,  the  system ;  their  curative 
action ;  their  administration ;  the  art  of  prescribing  them ;  and  lastly, 
their  classification. 
So  far  as  we  have  observed  Dr  Stille  has  no  favorite  theories  to  establish 
that  have  swayed  his  judgment  in  developing  the  subject;  at  every  step 
we  are  struck  with  the  careful  and  laborious  research  which  has  mani- 
festly been  employed  to  gather  the  views  and  experience  of  so  many  ob- 
servers, with  references  to  their  original  papers  and  volumes,  a  feature  that 
will  prove  of  great  utility  to  the  student  who  may  desire  to  consult  them. 
The  work  is  written  in  a  clear  and  classical  style;  no  redundancy  in  words 
or  expression  mars  his  descriptions.  The  merit  of  the  work  as  a  treatise 
on  Therapeutics,  from  the  stand  point  of  the  Physician,  we  leave  to  our  med 
ical  cotemporaries;  it  is  for  them  to  judge  whether  the  author,  in  producing 
