208 
Reviews. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1894. 
synthetic  remedies  are  described.  An  example  of  the  thoroughness  of  this 
part  of  the  work  is  illustrated  in  the  article  "  Trional  and  Tetronal,"  in  which 
the  relation  to  each  other  as  well  as  that  to  Sulphonal  is  shown  and  explained 
by  the  constitutional  formulas. 
The  United  States  Dispensatory,  as  now  perfected,  stands  as  an  encyclo- 
paedia of  the  medical  and  pharmaceutical  sciences  without  a  counterpart. 
With  it  both  the  physician  and  pharmacist  are  equipped  with  the  means  of 
obtaining  the  latest  and  most  exact  information  concerning  the  natural  history, 
properties  and  uses  of  all  the  medicinal  agents  employed  and  handled  by  them. 
A  Standard  Dictionary  of  the  English  Language,  Vol.  i.  By  I.  K.  Funk, 
D.D.,  Editor-in-chief ;  F.  A.  March,  LJv.D.,  Consulting  Editor ;  D.  S.  Gregory, 
D.D.,  Managing  Editor,  and  the  following  Associate  Editors  :  John  Dennison 
Chaplain,  M.  A.;  Rossiter  Johnson,  Ph.D.;  Arthur  E.  Bostwick,  Ph.D.  New 
York,  Toronto  and  London  :  Funk  &  Wagnalls  Company.  1894. 
The  first  volume  of  this  grand  work  has  recently  reached  us.  It  has  been  in 
preparation  for  over  three  years,  and  when  one  comes  to  examine  it  carefully, 
he  is  surprised  to  find  so  much  has  been  accomplished. 
In  addition  to  the  above-mentioned  editors,  a  staff  of  specialists,  numbering 
over  two  hundred,  has  rendered  assistance  where  occasion  demanded  it.  The 
work  will  be  complete  in  two  volumes,  and  will  then  contain  about  300,000 
words  and  phrases. 
It  may  be  said  of  this  volume  that  it  is  a  dictionary  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the 
term.  Doubtless,  it  will  be  welcomed  by  everyone  who  desires  to  have  the 
latest  information  in  the  most  compact  form.  Illustrations  are  freely  dis- 
tributed through  the  text,  and  a  number  of  full-page  colored  plates  add  to  the 
value  as  well  as  beauty  of  the  work. 
Pharmacists,  chemists  and  physicians  will  be  especially  interested  in  this 
dictionary,  because  in  it  are  to  be  found  the  most  advanced  methods  of  spelling 
chemical  terms,  as  adopted  by  the  Chemical  Section  of  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science.  Although  we  believe  it  is  a  step  in  the  right 
direction,  we  refrain  from  too  sweeping  a  commendation  of  this  innovation, 
because  it  includes  the  dropping  of  the  final  e  from  the  names  of  the  alkaloids, 
whereby  they  lose  the  character  which  distinguishes  them  from  glucosides  and 
other  plant  compounds  which  do  not  contain  nitrogen.  Those  who  desire  to 
adopt  this  spelling  reform  can  now  do  so  with  the  knowledge  that  they  have  a 
standard  authority  back  of  them. 
The  question  of  price  is  such  an  important  one  in  a  large  work,  it  will 
interest  many  to  know  that,  when  complete,  the  one-volume  edition  will  be 
sold  at  $12  to  $18,  according  to  the  binding,  or  the  two-volume  edition  at  $7.50 
to  $11  per  volume. 
