47  8 
Reviews,  etc. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  :S77. 
the  splendid  cinchona  exhibit  of  the  Dutch  Colonies  at  Fairmount  Park,  in  1876, 
can  very  well  appreciate  the  scientific  value  of  such  a  collection. 
The  Practitioner 's  Reference  Book  ;  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  Physician,  the  Pharmacist 
and  the  Student.  By  Richard  J.  Dunglison,  M.  D.  Philadelphia  :  Lindsay  & 
Blakiston,  1877.    8vo.  341.    Price,  cloth,  $3-50. 
After  the  Hippocratic  oath,  which  is  given  as  an  introduction  to  the  work,  we 
find  in  the  first  division,  headed  "  General  Information  for  the  Practitioner,"  a 
number  of  well  arranged  tables  on  weights  and  measures,  solubilities  of  medicines,, 
abbreviations  in  common  use,  and  thermometric  scales.  When  giving  the  number 
of  drops  in  a  fluidrachm,  the  author  very  properly  calls  attention  to  the  uncertainty 
of  thus  measuring  doses.  We  should  have  been  still  more  pleased  if  he  had  gone  a 
step  farther,  and  advocated  the  discontinuance  of  the  practice.  The  table  of  solu- 
bilities has  been  prepared  with  great  care,  and  we  have  noticed  few  omissions  or 
statements  requiring  particular  corrections.  Yellow  and  red  oxide  of  mercury  are 
practically  insoluble*  in  water  5  Wallace  gives  the  solubility  of  the  former  as  1  in 
200,000  parts  of  water,  and  Bineau  that  of  both  varieties  as  1  in  20,000  parts.  The 
mercuric  iodide,  reported  as  being  insoluble,  dissolves,  according  to  Wurtz,  in  150 
parts,  and  the  green  iodide,  according  to  Saladin,  in  2,375  Parts  °f  water. 
The  other  three  divisions  of  the  work  are  entitled:  "Therapeutic  and  Practical 
Hints,"  "Dietetic  Rules  and  Precepts"  and  "How  to  conduct  a  Post-mortem  Exa- 
mination." They  are  chiefly  useful  to  the  physician,  but  some  portions  of  it  are 
also  of  importance  to  pharmacists,  particularly  the  very  complete  posological  tables. 
The  table  of  maximum  doses,  we  think,  will  be  very  welcome  to  physicians  and 
pharmacists;  it  is  based  on  that  of  the  German  Pharmacopoeia,  and  gives  the  maxi- 
mum single  and  daily  doses  for  adults  of  nearly  all  poisonous  medicines  commonly 
prescribed,  both  in  apothecaries'  and  metric  weights. 
The  list  of  incompatibles  is  very  full,  but  as  such  tables  necessarily  must  be, 
it  cannot  be  expected  to  give  information  in  all  possible  cases,  and  in  some  others 
the  information  given  is  vague;  among  the  latter  we  class  the  sweeping  statement 
that  nitrate  of  silver  is  incompatible  with  salts  of  copper,  while  it  is  well  known 
that  the  two  metals  may  exist  in  solution  together. 
The  work  has  been  prepared  with  commendable  judgment  and  care,  and  the  pub- 
lishers have  spared  nothing  to  present  it  in  a  durable  and  attractive  style,  which 
must  enhance  its  practical  usefulness. 
The  American  Medical  Association  and  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia.    Brooklyn,  1877. 
8vo,  pp.  157. 
This  is  a  reprint  of  the  carious  pamphlets  which  have  appeared  during  the  past 
year  and  to  which  we  have  referred  on  previous  occasions ;  in  addition  thereto  it 
contains  the  rejoinder  to  these  papers,  addressed  by  Dr.  E.  R.  Squibb  to  the  Ameri- 
can Medical  Association.  It  fairly  represents  the  arguments  advanced  by  both 
sides,  and  will  be  of  value  to  those  who  feel  interested  in  the  subject,  and  who  may 
obtain  it  free  of  cost  by  applying  to  Dr.  Squibb.    We  may  be  permitted  to  state  in 
