Am.  Jour  Pharm  ) 
Jan.,  1877.  i 
Editorial — Reviews,  etc. 
43 
The  last  figure  gives  probably  the  strength  which  is  intended  ;  but  by  a  slight 
modification  of  the  weights  a  much  more  convenient  formula  will  be  obtained, 
since  the  weights  can  be  accurately  reduced  to  a  single  fluidounce.  We  propose 
therefore  to  take 
fji  water,"  80  grains    .    .    potassium  bromide,  100  grains    .    .    tartaric  acid, 
Oi       "       2  troyoz.  320  grs.     "  "  3  troyoz.  160  grs.  "  " 
Oiv     "     10     "      320  grs.     "  "  13     "        160  "    "  « 
The  bromide  should  be  dissolved  in  three-fourths  of  the  water  and  the  tartaric 
acid  in  the  other  fourth  5  after  mixing  the  solutions  well,  it  will  be  found  advanta- 
geous to  expose  the  mixture  for  some  time  to  a  temperature  of  about  320  F  ,  and 
allow  the  greater  portion  of  the  cream  of  tartar  to  crystallize  out.  With  the  above 
proportions  there  will  still  be  a  slight  excess  of  potassium  bromide,  and  the  prepara- 
tion will  be  equal  in  strength  to  that  obtained  by  Dr.  Wade's  formula.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  remark  that  the  cream  of  tartar  thus  obtained,  after  having  been 
washed  with  cold  water,  is  very  pure  and  may  be  utilized. 
Our  readers  are  aware  that  in  the  preparation  of  monobromated  camphor  (see 
"  Amer.  Jour.  Phar ,"  1 872,  p.  337)  one-half  the  bromine  used  is  converted  into 
hydrobromic  acid  and  may  be  obtained  without  trouble  by  passing  the  gas  into 
water. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
The  Popular  Health  Almanac  for  1877.  Edited  by  Frederick  Hoffmann.  New  York  : 
E.  Steiger. 
A  year  ago  we  had  the  pleasure  of  noticing  the  first  issue  of  this  publication  5  it 
entered  upon  its  mission  with  the  praiseworthy  object,  to  furnish  useful  information 
on  matters  of  health,  and  we  believe  that  it  has  fulfilled  its  mission  creditably.  That 
it  has  met  with  favor,  wherever  it  became  known,  is  evidenced  by  the  issue  now 
before  us,  which  in  every  respect  fulfills  the  expectation  formed  on  perusing  the 
former,  and  we  hope  that  it  may  find  its  way  into  the  home  of  every  family,  for 
each  will  find  in  it  information  useful  for  every  member. 
The  health  articles  are  on  the  subjects  of  hygiene,  water  supplies,  cleanliness  and 
bathing,  furnace-heating,  care  of  the  teeth,  first  help  in  accidents  and  emergencies, 
first  treatment  and  antidotes  for  poisons,  nostrums  and  their  composition,  and  statis- 
tics of  mortality.  Besides  these,  various  other  articles  and  notes  aim  to  impart  use- 
ful knowledge,  among  them  tables  comparing  the  metric  with  the  common  weights 
and  measures.  An  appendix  contains  an  acceptable  Kindergarten  tract,  and  some 
instructive  information  on  the  use  of  salicylic  acid  in  the  household  5  the  latter  found 
its  way  here  evidently  as  an  advertisement,  and  we  cannot  therefore  hold  the  editor 
responsible  for  information  belonging  in  a  medical  treatise  rather  than  in  a  popular 
health  guide,  like  the  directions  for  the  use  of  salicylic  acid  in  diphtheria,  acute 
rheumatism,  epidemic  fevers,  etc. 
The  almanac  deserves  the  hearty  support  of  physicians  and  pharmacists,  both 
being  particularly  interested  in  its  widest  distribution. 
Pharmacological  Dictionary,  a  Lexicon  of  Pharmaceutical  Terminology  ;  containing 
all  the  Terms  of  the  "  Pharmacopoeias  "  of  the  United  States  and  Germany,  in 
English,  German  and  Latin,  with  all  Popular  Dialectic  or  Provincial  German 
Names  of  Drugs,  Herbs,  Medicines,  Preparations,  Concoctions,  Decoctions,  In- 
fusions, and  their  English  Synonyms,  Alphabetically  arranged.  For  the  use  of 
Druggists,  Physicians,  Chemists,  Students,  and  the  German-American  Public. 
