Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1914.  / 
Book  Reviews. 
39 
as  imported.  It  is  often  received  in  barrels  in  a  pasty  condition, 
containing  nearly  twice  the  amount  of  water  permitted  by  the 
U.  S.  P.  It  is  further  remarked  by  the  author  that  when  in  this 
condition  the  only  recourse  is  rejection  of  the  shipment  as  abnormal 
as  to  its  physical  appearance,  or,  it  being  satisfactory  as  to  identity 
and  purity,  to  dry  so  that  sample  is  of  proper  U.  S.  P.  quality.  A 
tabulation  of  five  samples  is  given ;  all  contained  twice  the  quantity 
of  water  allowable ;  they  also  failed  to  pass  the  alcohol  test  for 
limit  of  gums,  dextrins  and  impurities.  While  Kraemer  and  others 
state  that  aloes  should  not  yield  more  than  4  per  cent,  of  ash  all  of 
these  samples  were  slightly  higher.  As  is  well  known  and  has  been 
for  some  time,  no  aloes  is  obtained  from  Soeotra. 
The  Microscopic  Examination  of  Ointments. 
By  Fritz  Heidlberg  and  Chas.  E.  Vanderkleed. 
The  value  of  an  ointment,  the  authors  state,  consists  mainly  in 
the  fineness  or  subdivision  of  the  active  ingredient  suspended  in 
the  vehicle.  And  to  properly  determine  when  the  ointment  has 
been  manipulated  long  enough  for  the  active  ingredient  to  be  uni- 
formly and  evenly  divided  they  advise  the  use  of  the  microscope. 
They  state  that  this  is  the  only  satisfactory  way  to  tell  whether 
uniform  results  have  been  obtained.  They  also  give  their  technic 
for  preparing  slides  for  this  purpose  and  illustrate  by  showing 
micro-pho'togriaphs  of  mercury  ointments. 
BOOK  REVIEWS. 
Digest  of  Comments  on  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United 
States  of  America  (8th  Decennial  Revision)  and  on  the 
National  Formulary  (3RD  Edition)  for  the  Calendar  Year 
Ending  December  31,  191  i.  By  Murray  Gait  Motter  and  Martin 
I.  Wilbert. 
The  foregoing  title,  known  also  as  Bulletin  No.  87,  Hygienic 
Laboratory,  needs  little  introduction  to  the  progressive  members 
of  the  pharmaceutical  profession.  It  speaks  for  itself.  It  is  suffi- 
cient to  say  that  the  literature  covered  in  this  review  embraces 
matters  that  must,  if  thoroughly  and  painstakingly  studied  by  the 
