598 
Reviews. 
[Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I  December,  1894. 
nium  (U.S.P)."  "  Caustic  potassium  "  is  neither  the  correct  popular  name  nor 
the  correct  scientific  title  for  potassium  hydrate. 
The  author  gives  his  own  method  for  the  estimation  of  glucose.  It  is  volu- 
metrically  determined  by  an  ammoniacal  Fehling's  solution.  We  do  not  believe 
that  any  one  in  following  his  method  will  obtain  "a  perfectly  transparent  and 
colorless'1''  end  reaction,  unless  phosphates  are  first  removed,  and  nothing  is 
said  about  that.  As  long  as  physicians  adhere  to  the  volumetric  process  for 
estimation  of  glucose,  just  so  long  will  they  be  disappointed.  The  gravi- 
metric method  is  the  only  one  that  will  give  exact  results,  and  there  is  nothing 
said  about  it  in  this  work. 
We  are  inclined  to  overlook  the  chemical  shortcomings  when  we  consider 
the  excellent  illustrations,  and  the  appendix,  which  is  devoted  to  the  examina- 
tion of  uiine  for  life  insurance. 
Modern  Materia  Med ica.  By  H.  Helbing,  F.C.S.  Fourth  enlarged  edition. 
New  York  :  Lehn  &  Fink.    London  :  H.  K.  Lewis.    Pp.  295. 
In  the  two  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  publication  of  the  third  edition, 
the  list  of  synthetic  remedies  has  been  enormously  increased,  yet  the  author 
has  endeavored  to  include  them,  and  with  fair  success. 
Two  additional  tables  have  been  added  in  this  edition,  which  greatly  enhance 
the  value  of  the  work,  namely,  a  table  for  the  detection  of  the  new  remedies  in 
urine,  and  a  table  of  commercial  names. 
To  illustrate  how  closely  this  work  has  been  revised,  we  may  state  that  a 
page  is  devoted  to  diphtheria  antitoxine,  wherein  one  may  learn  the  nature  and 
source  of  this  substance,  as  well  as  its  properties  and  uses. 
Every  pharmacist  should  have  this  work  within  easy  reach,  and  he  will  not 
then  be  "  all  at  sea  "  wheu  a  prescription  is  presented  for  a  new  remedy  which 
he  may  easily  have  missed  hearing  about. 
The  Manufacture  of  Liquors  and  Preserves.  Translated  from  the  French 
of  J.  De  Brevans.    New  York  :  Munn  &  Co. 
The  value  of  this  work  consists  in  the  large  number  of  formulas  contained 
in  it. 
A  Text-Book  of  Volumetric  Analysis.  By  Henry  W.  Schimpf,  Ph.G.  New 
York  :  John  Wiley  &  Sons.    1894.    Pp.  400. 
An  American  text-book  of  400  pages  has  long  been  needed.  This  one  strikes 
us  as  partly  meeting  that  requirement.  When,  however,  the  author  undertakes 
gasometric  analysis  he  fails  to  make  it  full  enough  to  be  of  much  value  to 
either  the  pharmacist  or  the  pharmacy  student.  We  fail  to  understand  what 
place  the  chapter  on  glucosides,  of  less  than  a  page,  has  in  a  book  on  volu- 
metric analysis.  It  is  also  misleading  to  consider  milk  as  a  substance  to  be 
estimated  volumetrically.  The  same  may  be  said  of  a  page  devoted  to  the 
analysis  of  urinary  calculi,  which  was  taken  from  Muter's  "Analytical  Chem- 
istry." 
Volumetric  analysis  has  its  limitations,  and  if  the  author  will  revise  with 
that  fact  more  prominently  in  view,  he  may  yet  produce  a  standard  text- book. 
Consular  Reports.    Vol.  XLVI,  No.  169. 
The  most  interesting  report  in  this  number  is  that  on  the  cultivation  of 
"  Chicory  in  Belgium."    We  learn  that  Belgium  produces  annually  280,000  to 
