378  Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.     {Am-  juuiy,S?rm' 
forbids  the  sale  of  non-medicated  liquors  except  upon  a  physician's  written 
order.    The  section  is  as  follows  : 
Section  17.  That  druggists  and  apothecaries  shall  not  be  required  to  ob- 
tain a  license  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  but  they  shall  not  sell  intoxi- 
cating liquors  except  upon  the  written  prescription  of  a  regularly  registered 
physician;  alcohol,  however,  or  any  preparation  containing  the  same,  may 
be  sold  for  scientific,  mechanical,  or  medicinal  purposes.  Any  one  violat- 
ing the  provisions  of  this  act  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  upon 
conviction  thereof  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  penalties  as  are  provided  in 
the  15th  section  of  this  act;  provided  that  no  spirituous,  vinous,  malt  or 
brewed  liquors  shall  be  sold  or  furnished  to  any  person  more  than  once  on 
iiny  one  prescription  of  a  physician ;  and  provided  further  that  any  physi- 
cian who  shall  wilfully  prescribe  any  intoxicating  liquors  as  a  beverage  to 
persons  of  known  intemperate  habits,  shall  be  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and 
upon  conviction  thereof  shall  be  subject  to  the  same  penalties  and  fines  as 
are  prescribed  in  section  15. 
Correction. — June  number  p.  305,. line  19  top,  for  .858  read  .853. 
p.  311,  "     2      "       +4     "  +44. 
EEVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Handbuch  der  praktischen  Pharmacie  fur  Apotheker,  Drogisten,  Aerzteund 
Medicinal-Beamte.  Von  Dr.  Heinrich  Beckurts,  Professor  an  der  herzogl. 
&  technischen  Hochschule  in  Braunschweig,  und  Dr.  Bruno  Hirsch, 
Apotheker  in  Frankfurt  am  Main.  Stuttgart :  Ferdinand  Enke,  1887.  1 
und  2  Lieferung.  8vo. 
Hand  book  of  practical  pharmacy  for  apothecaries,  druggists,  physicians 
and  medical  officers.  By  Prof.  Dr.  H.  Beckurts  and  Dr.  Bruno  Hirsck, 
apothecary.    Fascicles  1  and  2 ;  each  96  pages.    Price  2  marks  each. 
The  object  of  this  work  is  the  presentation  in  a  clear  and  logical  manner 
of  the  requirements  of  the  modern  pharmacist  who  aims  at  thorough  in- 
formation in  all  branches  of  his  profession.  Starting  with  an  exposition  of 
the  scope  of  modern  pharmacy,  the  authors  find  its  main  obligation  in  the 
acquisition  of  accurate  knowledge  concerning  all  medicinal  substances 
according  to  composition,  properties,  chemical  and  physical  behavior,  ex- 
amination and  valuation,  in  addition  to  the  rational  preparation  of  the  med- 
icaments. While  the  ideal  of  modern  pharmacy,  as  far  as  the  galenical 
preparations  are  concerned,  is  the  exact  determination  of  the  active  prin- 
ciples, in  most  cases  reliable  and  exact  methods  for  such  valuations  are  still 
unknown ;  and  the  pharmacist  is  therefore  in  duty  bound  to  prepare  him- 
self, from  drugs  of  undoubted  quality,  powders,  extracts,  tinctures  and  such 
other  medicaments,  for  which  the  control  by  means  of  chemical  and  micro- 
scopical examination  is  still  uncertain.  A  wide  field  is  open  for  scientific 
pharmacy  in  the  anatomical  examination  of  drugs,  the  elaboration  of 
methods  for  exact  valuation,  the  determination  of  causes  of  deterioration, 
and  in  researches  on  the  proper  preservation  of  the  various  medicaments ; 
obviously  the  technical  operations  must  not  be  neglected,  such  as  improve- 
ments in  apparatus,  manipulation,  dispensing,  and  in  the  conversion  of 
medicinal  substances  into  agreeable  and  therapeutically  active  forms.  Fo- 
rensic chemistry  and  public  hygiene  are  likewise  fields  which  naturally  fall 
within  the  scope  of  the  thoroughly  educated  pharmacist. 
