Am.  Jour.  Pharm."! 
September,  1907.  J 
Book  Reviews. 
443 
ing  any  substance  presented  for  examination.  Over  200  chemicals 
and  industrial  products  are  considered.  Almost  all  of  the  informa- 
tion contained  in  this  book  will  be  found  in  standard  works,  as  the 
pharmacopoeia  or  dispensatories  and  works  on  food  analysis.  The 
greatest  difficulty  with  a  book  of  this  kind  is  that  the  tests  are 
inadequate  for  many  substances,  as  that  for  black  pepper.  In  other 
instances  they  are  unwarranted,  as  in  that  given  for  the  detection  of 
acacia  in  tragacanth.  In  still  other  cases  they  are  impracticable,  as 
in  the  determination  of  the  purity  of  arrowroot.  The  idea  of  the 
author  is  good  ;  but  the  book,  as  it  is  developed,  is  unnecessary  and 
more  confusing  than  helpful. 
Chemical  Reagents,  their  purity  and  tests.  A  new  and  improved 
test  based  on  and  replacing  the  latest  edition  of  Krauch's  "  Die 
Priifung  der  chemischen  Reagentien  auf  Reinheit."  By  E.  Merck. 
Authorized  translation  by  Henry  Schenck.  New  York:  D.  Van 
Nostrand  Company.    1907.    250  pp.   $1.50  net. 
The  tests  given  in  this  book  may  be  taken  as  reliable,  and  maybe 
considered  to  furnish  an  excellent  basis  for  uniform  standards  of 
such  chemicals  as  are  used  in  analytical  work.  The  book  will  con- 
tinue to  be  used  until  the  Committee  on  Purity  of  Reagents, 
appointed  by  the  American  Chemical  Society  in  1902,  shall  present 
a  final  report  on  all  chemical  reagents,  which  will  be  then  accepted 
by  the  chemists  of  the  United  States. 
The  issuance  of  this  book  in  its  revised  form  will  be  appreciated 
by  chemists  generally,  as  the  statement  is  made  that  the  initials  C. 
P.,  etc.,  have  no  meaning  unless  manufacturers  and  analysts  insist 
that  C.  P.  chemicals  conform  to  certain  uniform  standards.  If  there 
is  any  place  where  nearly  absolute  purity  is  required,  it  is  in  chemi- 
cal reagents,  and  it  is  fortunate  that  analytical  chemists  are  realizing 
the  importance  of  this  subject. 
Beasley's  Druggists'  Receipt  Book.  Rewritten  by  E.  W.  Lucas. 
Eleventh  edition.  Philadelphia  :  P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co.  1907. 
451  pp.  $2.50. 
This  work,  which  is  well  known  to  druggists,  contains  :  (1)  A 
veterinary  materia  medica,  with  prescriptions  illustrating  the  em- 
ployment of  drugs  in  general  use  for  the  treatment  of  the  more 
