Am'oT,im&Tm'}    Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.  543 
often  covering  extensive  areas.  Wood  heavy,  very  hard,  strong,  rather 
coarse-grained,  compact,  susceptible  of  a  high  polish;  layers  of  annual 
growth  clearly  marked  by  one  to  three  rows  of  open  ducts;  medullary  rays 
thin,  conspicuous;  color,  rich  bright  brown,  tinged  with  red,  the  thick, 
heavier  sap-wood  clear  light  yellow;  specific  gravity,  0.7342;  ash,  0.73." 
It  may,  perhaps,  be  objected  that  we  have  devoted  more  space  to  this 
subject  than  its  importance  deserves ;  but  the  mystery  which  has  been  un- 
necessarily thrown  around  it,  is  akin  to  mystification.  At  any  rate,  it  must 
be  acknowledged  that  the  plant  could  have  been  readily  identified,  before 
anything  with  scientific  pretense  was  published,  and  that  the  term  steno- 
carpine  has  not  the  shadow  of  a  right  to  be  applied  to  a  substance  claimed 
to  have  been  isolated  from  an  American  tree  which  seems  to  be  the  water- 
locust  of  our  Southern  States. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Pennsylvania  Poison  Register. — Prepared  in  accordance  with  the  late  Phar- 
macy Bill,  regulating  Sale  of  Poisons.  Lebanon,  Pa.,  1887.  Fred.  W. 
Frost.    Price  $1.50. 
This  is  a  blank  book  for  the  registration  of  the  sales  of  poisons.  It  is  well 
bound,  and  is  made  of  heavy  ledger  paper,  the  leaves  being  8xl0J  inches, 
neatly  ruled,  and  with  printed  headings  for  the  different  columns,  to  facili- 
tate full  compliance  with  the  requirements  of  the  law.  The  first  page  con- 
tains a  reprint  of  Section  10  of  the  Pharmacy  law,  which  relates  to  the  sale 
of  poisons;  and  this  is  followed  by  a  list  of  poisons  which  should  be  regis- 
tered in  conformity  with  the  law,  namely,  those  "  which  are  known  to  be 
destructive  to  adult  human  life  in  quantities  of  five  grains  or  less."  Only  a 
few  of  this  class  are  popularly  known  and  to  some  extent  employed,  mostly 
for  the  destruction  of  vermin,  such  as  arsenic,  corrosive  sublimate,  nux 
vomica  and  strychnine ;  or  for  medicinal  or  technical  purposes,  like  croton 
oil,  potassium  cyanide,  and  mercuric  oxide ;  the  largest  number  of  such 
poisons  are  found  among  the  alkaloids,  which  are  pretty  fully  enumerated  ; 
atropine,  however,  being  omitted,  while  daturine,  duboisine  and  hyos- 
cyamine  are  mentioned,  together  with  a  number  of  others. 
The  Register  can  be  recommended,  because  it  is  useful,  conveniently  ar- 
ranged, and  offered  at  a  low  price  considering  the  quality  of  the  work. 
Hand-buch  der  praktischen  Phormacie  fur  Apotheker,  Drogisten,  JErzte  und  Jle- 
dicinal-Beamte.  Bearbeitet  von  Dr.  H.  Beckurts  und  Dr.  Bruno  Hirsch. 
Stuttgart:  Ferdinand  Enke,  1887.   3-5  Lieferung. 
Hand-book  of  practical  pharmacy  for  apothecaries,  druggists,  physicians 
and  medical  officers.  Fascicles  3  to  5.    Price  2  marks  each. 
Referring  to  our  notice  of  this  excellent  work,  on  page  378,  in  our  July 
number,  it  remains  now  to  state  that  the  chapters  on  operations  and  appa- 
ratus are  brought  to  a  close  in  fascicle  3  by  a  very  lucid  account  of  polariza- 
tion and  description  of  apparatus  employed  for  this  purpose.  Part  I  closes 
with  a  chapter  on  pharmaceutical  book-keeping. 
Part  II  treats  of  the  medicaments  and  other  commodities  kept  in  phar- 
