Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ") 
May,  1878,  f 
Reviews,  etc. 
269 
it  become  a  law,  the  office  of  a  naval  apothecary  will  become  very  desirable,  both  in  pay  and  position 
and  the  office  should  be  filled  by  thoroughly  competent  men.  The  duties  involve  clerical  as  well  as 
pharmaceautical  work,  and  some  knowledge  of  dentistry  and  minor  surgery. 
This  would  be  a  splendid  field  for  "  Graduates  in  Pharmacy,"  and  no  one  who  is  not  a  graduate,  or 
who  cannot  pass  as  thorough  a  pharmaceutical  examination,  should  be  admitted  to  the  corps.  Now  is 
the  time  for  the  Colleges  of  Pharmacy  and  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  to  take  action  in 
this  matter;  memorialize  the  Secretary  and  Surgeon-General  of  the  Navy  in  favor  of  the  Graduate  of 
Pharmacy,  request  a  rigid  pharmaceutical  examination  for  apothecaries,  etc.,  etc  The  present 
incumbents,  as  a  rule,  are  very  badly  educated,  poor  pharmacists,  having  only  "  shop  knowledge,"  and 
many  are  intemperate  and  ignorant  of  pharmacy.  Let  all  have  a  fair  chance  before  an  examining 
board,  and  there  is  little  doubt  the  "  graduates  "  would  fill  the  60  or  80  appointments  that  will  have  to  be 
made  under  the  law. 
I  trust,  Mr.  Editor,  you  will  keep  this  subject  before  the  pharmacists  of  the  country  until  some 
decided  action  is  taken  thereon.  As  the  appointments  will  be  for  life,  with  retiring  pay  and  pensions  in 
case  of  disability,  it  is  all-important  that  no  time  be  lost  in  looking  after  this  matter.  Medicus. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Chemical  Experimentation ,  being  a  hand-book  of  lecture  experiments  in  Inorganic 
Chemistry,  systematically  arranged  for  the  use  of  lecturers  and  teachers  in  chem- 
istry, as  well  as  for  students  in  Normal  Schools  and  Colleges  and  for  private  study, 
By  Samuel  P.  Sadtler,  A.M.,  Ph.D.,  Assistant  Professor  of  Chemistry  in  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania.    Louisville:  John  P.  Morton  &  Co.     8vo,  pp.225. 
The  work  before  us  supplies  a  want  which,  we  think,  has  been  felt  by  most 
teachers  of  chemistry;  it  contains  descriptions  of  a  very  large  number  of  experi- 
ments, suited  for  the  lecture  room,  and  illustrating  chemical  reactions  and  the  phy- 
sical properties  of  the  elements  and  their  inorganic  compounds.  The  descriptions 
are  accurate  and  full,  but  free  from  prolixity,  and  can  readily  be  followed  by  those 
having  a  general  knowledge  of  chemical  manipulations,  even  if  not  experienced  in 
chemical  experimentation;  and  this  use  is  greatly  facilitated  by  139  excellent  cuts, 
illustrating  with  exactness  and  precision  the  arrangement  of  the  requisite  apparatus, 
Moreover,  the  number  of  experiments  described  is  so  large  that  the  teacher  will 
find  the  book  a  useful  aid  for  selecting  such  as  may  require  either  simple  or  more 
complicated  apparatus.  The  author  may  therefore  very  properly  express  the  hope 
that  by  its  use  "the  teaching  of  chemistry  might  be  sufficiently  facilitated  as  to 
allow  its  introduction  as  a  branch  of  study  in  many  schools,  where  as  yet  it  has  been 
excluded  or  very  greatly  slighted."  For  the  same  reasons  it  will  also  be  welcomed 
by  those  students  who  desire  to  repeat  the  experiments  seen  in  the  lecture  room  or 
to  vary  them  with  the  aid  of  simpler  apparatus. 
The  author  has  carefully  abstained  from  the  discussion  of  theoretical  questions, 
the  experiments  being  regarded  as  practical  demonstration  of  facts;  the  work  may 
therefore  be  used  as  a  supplement  to  any  good  text-book  on  chemistry. 
In  recommending  the  book  to  teachers  and  to  students  in  chemistry,  we  do  so 
from  the  belief  in  its  intrinsic  worth,  and  when  we  state  that  its  typographical  exe- 
cution is  excellent,  we  regard  this  fact  as  a  very  acceptable  addition  to  the  other 
merits. 
