366 
Editorial. — Reviews,  etc. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       July,  1878. 
drachms  and  ounces  formerly  in  use  in  Prussia,  were  not  identical  with  the  corres" 
ponding  Troy  values,  but  were  almost  equivalent  to  our  apothecaries'  measure, 
weighed  as  water.  We  give  place  to  the  concluding  remarks  of  Dr.  Wiggleworth's 
paper : 
In  our  old  "  systemless  system"  some  fluids  were  measured.  How  shall  we  obtain,  with  weights, 
the  desired  bulks  of  fluids  with  varying  weights  ?    Must  we  learn  the  specific  gravities  of  all  fluids  ? 
Not  at  all ! 
1.  Fixed  oils,  honey,  liquid  acids  and  chloroform,  must  at  present  be  prescribed  in  our  old  weights, 
not  measures,  according  to  the  Pharmacopoeia.    Here  change  old  weights  to  metric  ones. 
2.  Not  enough  chloroform  or  ether  is  included  in  any  one  prescription  to  admit  of  harm  arising  from 
the  amount  contained  in  a  single  dose,  even  were  their  weights  regarded  as  the  same  with  that  of  water. 
Moreover,  it  is  not  difficult  to  remember  that  ether  weighs  seven-tenths  as  much  as  water,  chloroform 
twice  as  much  as  ether. 
3.  There  remain  infusions  and  tinctures,  glycerins  and  syrups.  These  four  are  used  in  bulk  as  doses, 
or  as  solvents  or  vehicles.  The  former  two  may  be  regarded  as  identical  in  weight  with  water ;  the  latter 
two  as  one-third  heavier,  and  when  prescribing  these  we  need  merely  write,  by  weight,  for  four-thirds  as 
much  as  we  should  write  for  were  we  prescribing  water,  and  we  obtain  an  equal  bulk.  The  teaspoon  or 
tablespoon  dose  will  then  contain  the  desired  amount  of  the  drugs  employed. 
Or,  simplest  of  all,  we  can  make  any  mixture  up  to  any  desired  bulk  by  merely  directing  the  druggist 
to  use  enough  of  the  vehicle  to  bring  the  whole  mixture  up  to  the  requisite  weight  for  that  bulk. 
The  Metric  Bureau,  32  Hawley  street,  Boston,  will  furnish  metric  prescription-blanks  to  order,  to 
druggists  or  physicians,  at  four-fifths  printers'  rates,  or  any  blank  can  be  made  sufficiently  metric  by  a 
perpendicular  line  at  the  right,  headed  Grams. 
Old  Style.  Metric. 
Gins. 
IT\  i  or  gr.  i  .  .  equals  .  .  .  .  .         ..  06 
f  5i  "  oi  .  "  .  .  .  .  .  4 
f  Si  "  Si  .  "   32 
The  decimal  LINE  instead  of  POINTS  makes  errors  impossible. 
A  teaspoon  is  5  Gins ;  a  tablespoon,  20  Gms. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Medicinal  Plants,  being  descriptions  with  original  figures  of  the  principal  plants 
employed  in  medicine,  and  an  account  of  their  properties  and  uses.  By  Robert 
Bentley,  F.L.S  ,  and  Henry  Trimen,  M.B.,  F.L.S.  Philadelphia :  Lindsay  & 
Blakiston.    Parts  27  and  28.    Price,  $2.00  each. 
The  parts  of  this  excellent  work  now  before  us  contain  Aconitum  ferox,  Wall. 
(yields  bish  or  bikh  root);  Aeon,  heterophyllum,  Wall,  (used  in  India  as  a  tonic  and 
antiperiodic);  Andropogon  nardus,  Lin.  (yields  oil  of  citronella);  Capsicum  fastigi- 
atum,  Blume  (bird-pepper  or  chillies);  Cicuta  virosa,  Lin.  (water  hemlock);  Daucus 
caiota,  Lin.;  Glycyrrhiza  glabra,  Lin.;  Liquidambar  orientale,  Miller  (yields  storax); 
Matricaria  chamomilla,  Lin.;  Melia  azadirachta,  Lin.  (the  nimor  margosa  of  India); 
CEnanthe  crocata,  Lin.  (water  dropwort  of  Western  Europe);  Origanum  vulgare, 
Lin.;  Papaver  somniferum,  Lin.,  and  Piper  cubeba,  Lin. 
Die  allgemeinsten  chemischen  Formeln,  ihre  Entivicklung  und  Anuoendung  zur  Ablei- 
tung  chemischer  Verbindungen.  Von  Dr.  C.  Willgerodt,  Docent  der  Chemie  an  der 
Universitat  zu  Freiburg.  Heidelberg:  Carl  Winter's  Universitats-Buchhandlung 
1878.  8vo,  pp.  208. 
Chemical  formulas  generalized,  their  evolution  and  application  for  the  derivation  of 
chemical  compounds. 
As  indicated  in  the  title,  this  work  is  not  intended  for  a  mere  enumeration  of  the 
