44 
Reviews,  etc. 
J  Am  Jour.  Pharm, 
\       Jan.,  1877. 
By  Dr.  Robt.  Karl  Beer.  Baltimore,  1876:  Beer  &  Sadler.  i6mo,  pp.  80. 
Bound  5  price,  $1.50. 
The  lengthy  title  of  this  little  volume  explains  the  aims  the  author  had  in  view 
in  preparing  it.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  intended — so  the  preface  informs  us — to- 
be  used  by  physicians  who,  with  the  author,  are  reading  German  medical  works  in 
the  original  5  it  was  natural  to  endeavor  to  make  it  useful  and  acceptable  also  to  a 
larger  circle. 
The  first  and  smaller  portion  is  the  English-German  part,  containing  the  English 
and  Latin  names  of  the  U.  S  "  Pharmacopoeia,'1''  with  their  German  synonyms.  In 
this,  unnecessary  repetitions  have  been  very  judiciously  avoided  5  thus  infusions, 
tinctures,  etc.,  are  given  only  by  their  English  names,  without  repeating  them  again 
under  Infusum,  Tinctura,  etc. 
The  second,  or  German-English  part  comprises  nearly  two-thirds  of  the  whole,, 
and  does  not  contain  the  Latin  terms  as  officinal  in  Germany,  except  occasionally 
as  the  equivalent  of  the  German  word,  in  which  connection  it  should  have  been 
replaced  either  by  the  English  synonym  or  by  the  Latin  term  as  employed  in  our 
"  Pharmacopoeia. "  On  the  whole,  however,  these  will  not  occasion  much  inconve- 
nience ;  but  for  some  of  the  Latin  terms  employed  in  this  part  we  should  have  pre- 
ferred the  proper  English  term,  if  known  here,  or  the  full  botanical  name  ;  thus, 
instead  of  radix  hydrolapathi,  root  of  Rumex  aquaticus  would  have  been  clearer  to 
the  great  majority  of  American  pharmacists. 
We  believe  the  little  work  to  be  useful  to  all  those  classes  enumerated  in  the  title 
in  their  intercourse  with  the  German-speaking  population,  and  in  reading  pharma- 
ceutical works  in  the  German  language,  and  as  such  recommend  it  to  our  readers. 
The  Chemists*  and  Druggists''  Diary,  1877.    Published  at  the  office  of  the  "  Chemist 
and  Druggist,"  London. 
This  annual  publication  contains  a  large  number  of  formulas  and  recipes,  old  and 
new,  collected  from  various  sources  and  embracing  pharmacy,  medicine,  perfumery,, 
specialties,  etc.,  also  a  great  deal  of  information  which  is  of  special  interest  to  the 
British  pharmacist. 
Medicinal  Plants,  being  descriptions  with  original  figures  of  the  principal  plants 
employed  in  medicine,  and  an  account  of  their  properties  and  uses.  By  Robert 
Bently,  F.L.S.  and  Henry  Trimen,  M.B.,  F.L.S,  etc.  Philadelphia:  Lindsay 
&  Blakiston.    Parts  9-12.    Price,  $2.00  each. 
The  descriptions  and  plants  contained  in  the  four  numbers  before  us  comprise  the 
following  species :  Cissampelos  pareira,  Podophyllum  peltatum,  Cistus  creticus> 
Geranium  maculatum,  Polygonum  bistorta,  Myristica  fragrans,  Curcuma  longa, 
Vanilla  planifolia,  Viola  odorata,  Cinnamodendron  corticosum,  Krameria  triandra 
and  ixina,  Toluifera  Pereirae,  Tamarindus  indica,  Valeriana  officinalis,  Hyoscya- 
mus  niger,  Jateorhiza  calumba,  Aegle  marmelos,  Picraena  excelsa,  Rhamnus  fran- 
gula,  Rubus  villosus,  Artemisia  absinthium,  Taxus  baccata,  Cochlearia  armoracia,. 
Trigonella  foenum-graecum,  Rosa  gallica,  Fraxinus'ornus,  Thymus  vulgaris,  Daphne 
mezereum  and  Pinus  sylvestris. 
As  heretofore,  the  plates  are  excellently  executed  in  design  and  coloring,  and  the 
descriptive  text  is  clear  and  reliable.  Regarding  the  illustration  of  the  Peru  balsam 
tree,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  that  the  figure  of  the  fruit  is  a  true  representation 
of  what  was  handed  to  us  nearly  fifteen  years  ago  as  the  fruit  of  the  tree  from  which 
Peru  balsam  is  produced,  and  which  may  have  come  from  Dr.  Dorat,  from  whose 
specimens  the  figures  were  drawn  5  but  we  were  unable  to  trace  our  specimens 
beyond  the  United  States.  At  the  late  International  Exposition  the  Mexican 
Society  of  Natural  Sciences  exhibited  an  extensive  collection  of  drugs,  among  which 
were  specimens  of  a  fruit  labeled  Myrospermum  Pereira,  which,  though  agreeing  in 
