88 
Book  Reviews. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  February,  1914. 
reason  we  are  compelled  to  omit  mention  of  the  numerous  offices 
and  honors  the  distinguished  writer  has  been  honored  with  and 
which  he  mentions  on  page  one.  It  suffices  to  say  that  he  is  "  an 
active  pharmacist  for  51  years";  that  the  little  volume  is  copy- 
righted, and  all  rights  are  reserved,  whatever  that  may  mean. 
We  have  been  rather  hopeful  that  the  day  of  cramming  books 
was  over,  but  this  short-cut  to  the  study  of  pharmacy  and  allied 
branches  seems  like  evidence  to  the  contrary. 
The  study  of  a  science  and  art  like  pharmacy  by  the  "  absorp- 
tion "  of  isolated  facts  is  a  survival  of  the  day  when  the  unschooled 
errand  boy  of  the  retail  drug  store  developed  into  a  clerk  and  squeezed 
through  a  board  of  pharmacy  examination  by  heroically  attempting 
to  memorize  the  dispensatory.  In  the  past,  board  of  pharmacy  ex- 
aminations consisted  very  much  of  "  catch  "  questions  and  a  student 
expected  them  and  prepared  for  them  ;  if  he  answered  them  correctly 
the  board  assumed  that  he  was  fit  to  practise  pharmacy ;  all  of  which 
was  not  conducive  to  the  best  interests  of  the  public  and  cer- 
tainly lowered  the  level  of  the  profession.  Indeed,  the  inefficiency 
of  many  pharmacists,  who  must,  because  of  such  inefficiency,  depend 
upon  manufacturing  houses  for  many  pharmaceuticals  that  they 
should  make  themselves,  can  be  traced  to  this  method  of  education 
or  lack  of  education  in  their  chosen  profession. 
Happily,  in  the  larger  centres  of  our  country  there  is  beginning 
to  manifest  itself  by  the  public  a  demand  for  a  higher  type  of  man 
for  the  professions,  ours  included.  And  this  demand  is  being  met 
and  complied  with  by  the  better  class  of  schools  with  more  stringent 
requirements  as  to  preliminary  education  and  a  broadening  of  the 
curriculum.  This  is  as  it  should  be,  and  in  the  evolution  of  things 
schools  of  other  centres  must  do  likewise  or  cease  to  exist. 
John  K.  Thum. 
Materia  Medica,  Pharmacology,  Therapeutics,  Prescrip- 
tion Writing,  for  Students  and  Practitioners.  By  Walter  A. 
Bastedo,  Associate  in  Pharmacology  and  Therapeutics  at  Columbia 
University,  etc. 
This  book,  which  is  from  the  press  of  the  W.  B.  Saunders  Co., 
is  a  medium  8vo.  in  size,  of  602  pages,  price  $3.50  net.  It  is  an  ex- 
cellent specimen  of  the  book-making  art,  the  binding  and  paper 
being  excellent,  the  type  clear  and  distinct. 
