EDITORIAL. 
93 
distinguish  it  from  the  mechanical  electrical  current  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  galvanic  or  chemical  electrical  current  on  the  other.  Our  correspond- 
ent will  find  a  full  account  of  the  apparatus,  illustrated  by  a  wood-cut, 
and  its  mode  of  application,  together  with  the  theory  of  its  action,  at  page 
507,  vol.  i.,  of  Prof.  Wood's  Therapeutics  and  Pharmacology,  ed.  1856, 
and  Messrs.  McAllister,  Chestnut  street,  Philada.,  can  give  him  the  infor- 
mation of  its  cost,  etc. 
The  Spectroscope  of  Bunsen  was  described  and  figured  in  this  Journal 
for  May,  1861,  to  which  our  correspondent  is  referred.  We  would  alao 
inform  him  that  Prof.  Robert  Bridges,  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Phar- 
macy, has  a  good  Spectroscope  in  working  order  at  the  Hall  of  the  Col- 
lege, and  would  give  our  correspondent  an  opportunity  to  witness  its 
wonderful  powers  if  applied  to.  Dr.  Bridges  has  specimens  of  salts  of 
Fieveral  of  the  new  metals  prepared  for  the  Spectroscope.  McAllister  (as 
above)  imports  the  instrument,  and  we  believe  some  excellent  instruments 
have  been  made  in  this  country. 
Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain. — We  acknowledge  the  re- 
ception of  a  pamphlet  of  36  pages,  exhibiting  the  present  condition  and 
scope  of  this  Institution,  and  embracing  extracts  from  the  Charter,  Phar- 
macy Act,  and  By-Laws  of  the  Society,  and  the  regulations  of  the  Board  of 
Examiners  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  etc.  We  have  not  space  to  devote 
to  an  analysis  of  this  pamphlet,  but  will  say  that  it  exhibits  a  prosperous 
condition  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society,  and  an  outline  of  the  labors  car- 
ried on  under  its  auspices,  in  its  School  of  Pharmacy,  its  Museum,  its  La- 
boratory, and  the  various  examinations  imposed  on  it  by  the  Pharmacy 
Act,  etc.  With  ample  means,  and  a  large  and  varied  amount  of  talent  in 
the  ranks  of  its  members,  this  Society  has  made  great  advances  in  the 
improvement  of  our  scientific  art,  and  has  shed  its  light  freely  for  the  advan- 
tage of  the  profession  at  large. 
The  Medical  Formulary :  being  a  collection   of  prescriptions,  derived 
from  the  writings  and  practice  of  many  of  the  most  eminent  physicians  in 
America  and  Europe,  together  with  the  usual  dietetic  preparations  and 
antidotes  for  poisons.     To  which  is  added  an  appendix  on  the  endermic 
use  of  medicines,  and  on  the  use  of  ether  and  chloroform.  The  whole  ac- 
companied by  a  few  brief  pharmaceutical  and  medical  observations.  By 
Benjamin  Ellis,  M.  D.  Eleventh  edition,  carefully  revised  and  much  ex- 
tended, by  Robert  P.  Thomas,  M.  D.,  Prof.  Mat.  Med.  in  the  Philadelphia 
College  of  Pharmacy.    Blanchard  and  Lea,  1864  ;  pp.  341,  octavo. 
One  of  the  best  tests  of  the  practical  usefulness,  or  general  merit  of  a 
formulary  is,  that  it  sells  well,  that  it  is  sought  for  by  medical  men  as 
suggestive  of  remedies  in  cases  that  are  daily  presented  in  practice,  and 
that  its  suggestions  have  proved  reliable  and  useful.     Measured  by  this 
rule,  "  Ellis's  Medical  Formulary  "  must  be  considered  one  of  the  very 
