Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Feb.,  1877.  J 
Reviews,  etc. 
95 
arranged  and  digested  report  on  the  progress  of  pharmacy,  giving  an  annual  synop- 
sis of  the  pharmaceutical  literature  of  the  civilized  world,  is  alone  worth  the  whole 
amount  of  the  annual  dues,  and  all  pharmacists  and  druggists  who  take  an  interest 
in  the  business  of  their  choice,  should  connect  themselves  with  this  Association, 
which  already  has  its  members  in  38  States  and  Territories  of  the  Union,  in  Canada 
and  some  Central  American  States  and  West  Indian  Islands. 
The  volume  will  be  mailed  by  the  Permanent  Secretary,  John  M.  Maisch,  on 
receipt  of  the  price. 
The  Aromatic  Group  in  the  Che?nistry  of  Plants.    By  Albert  B.  Prescott,  F.  C.  S., 
Professor  of  Organic  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Michigan.    8vo,  pp.  23. 
An  interesting  review  of  this  important  group  of  chemical  compounds,  reprinted 
from  the  "Proceedings  of  the  Ann  Arbor  Scientific  Association  for  1875-76." 
Boston  Society  of  Civil  Engineers.    Report  of  Standing  Committee  on  the  Metric  System 
of  Weights  and  Measures.    Boston,  December,  1876.    8vo,  pp.  12. 
The  society  mentioned  in  the  title  has  been  very  active  in  promoting  the  adop- 
tion of  the  metric  system  in  this  country,  and  has  been  in  correspondence  with 
other  societies,  boards  of  trade,  manufacturers,  etc.,  who  would  be  affected  by  the 
proposed  change.  The  report  before  us  gives  not  only  the  favorable  but  also  the 
unfavorable  action  and  views  of  the  parties  named.  We  learn,  also,  that  Sweden 
has  adopted  the  metric  system,  its  obligatory  use  to  date  from  1889,  in  order  to 
avoid  actual  compulsion  and  to  prepare  all  technical  books  in  the  new  system. 
Russia  is  likewise  moving  in  the  same  directions. 
Regarding  its  practical  introduction  in  this  country,  the  committee  conclude  their 
report  with  the  following  recommendation  : 
"After  advising  so  many  other  people  to  use  the  metric  weights  and  measures, 
we  think  it  would  be  a  graceful  thing  for  the  members  of  this  society  to  do  some- 
thing themselves  towards  actually  adopting  them.  We  think  that  the  place  to  begin 
is  in  writing  scales  on  plans.  We  recommend,  therefore,  that  upon  every  plan  that 
has  its  scale  shown  by  a  graduated  line,  indicating  feet,  miles,  etc.,  a  second  line 
should  be  drawn  as  a  scale  of  meters.  This  requires  very  little  additional  labor, 
does  not  injure  the  plan  for  present  use  and  may  enhance  its  future  value,  shows 
what  is  now  the  lawful  standard  of  the  United  States  and  how  long  the  meter  is  as 
compared  with  the  foot,  and  it  gives  the  draughtsman  his  first  lesson  as  to  the  diffi- 
culties that  lie  in  the  way  of  the  metric  system.  This  practice  can  perfectly  well 
be  adopted  by  a  very  few  persons,  or  even  by  a  single  individual,  unsuppoted  by 
the  rest  of  the  community. " 
Medicinal  Plants ;  being  Descriptions  with  Original  Figures  of  the  Principal  Plants 
employed  in  Medicine,  and  an  Account  of  their  Properties  and  Uses.  By  Robt. 
Bentley,  F.  L.  S.,  etc.,  and  Henry  Trimen,  M.  B.,  F.  L.  S.  Philadelphia: 
Lindsay  &  Blakiston.    Price,  per  part,  $2. 
Parts  13,  14  and  15  of  this  valuable  work  contain  the  colored  plates  and  descrip- 
tive accounts  of  the  following  plants :  Aconitum  napellus,  Tenospora  cordifolia 
(an  East  Indian  tonic,  antiperiodic  and  diuretic),  Mucuna  pruriens,  Inula  helenium, 
Anacyclus  pyrethrum,  Artemisia  pauciflora  (yielding  santonica),  Strychnos  nux- 
