142 
Book  Review. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      March,  1914. 
full  strength.  Prolonged  action  of  the  glycerin,  however,  destroys 
the  virus,  but  more  rapidly  at  37 0  C.  than  in  the  cold ;  if  kept  at  from 
— 5°  to  — 150  C.  glycerinated  virus  may  remain  active  for  five  years. 
— /.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  1913,  v.  61,  p.  2074. 
"  Zymase  "  in  Fermentation  Tests. — Rosenbloom,  Jacob.  The 
zymase  of  yeast  can  readily  be  separated  by  grinding  compressed 
yeast  in  a  mortar  with  water  and  sand  and  adding  the  expressed  liquid 
to  5  times  its  volume  of  alcohol.  The  precipitate  is  allowed  to  settle, 
filtered  and  washed  with  alcohol  followed  by  ether.  The  precipitate 
is  then  dried  and  preserved  in  tightly  corked  amber  bottles.  Enzyme 
in  this  form  is  still  active  five  months  after  its  preparation. — /.  Am. 
M.  Assoc.,  1914,  v.  62,  p.  377. 
BOOK  REVIEW. 
E.  Merck's  Annual  Report  of  Recent  Advances  in  Pharma- 
ceutical Chemistry  and  Therapeutics.   1912.   Volume  xxvi. 
It  is  not  only  a  pleasure,  but  pleasure  combined  with  profit  to 
read  this  annual  report  devoted  to  pharmaceutical  chemistry  and 
therapeutics;  profitable  because  it  keeps  one  in  touch  with  current 
literature,  and  particularly  literature  from  foreign  sources,  that  em- 
braces these  two  branches  of  pharmacy  and  medicine.  This  is  clearly 
evidenced  in  the  first  article  which  in  quite  an  exhaustive  manner 
deals  with  Lecithin,  50  pages  being  required  to  deal  with  this  organic 
compound  which  is  so  widely  distributed  in  the  human  and  animal 
organisms,  and  21  pages  containing  references  to  the  literature  con- 
sulted, making  a  total  of  71  pages. 
Preparations  and  drugs  mainly  chemicals,  and  more  particularly 
the  action  of  synthetic  chemicals,  are  commented  upon  as  to  their 
advantages  and  disadvantages  when  introduced  into  the  human 
economy.  When  attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that  this  information 
requires  401  pages  one  can  readily  perceive  what  a  wide  field  is 
covered. 
Organotherapeutics  is  covered  very  thoroughly  and  many  in- 
teresting things  are  brought  to  light  in  connection  with  this  form  of 
medication. 
A  supplement  to  the  report  contains  a  very  informative  paper  by 
Professor  Dr.  R.  Heinz,  Director  of  the  Pharmacological  Institute 
of  the  University  of  Erlangen  on  "  The  Assay  and  Standardisation 
of  Digitalis  Preparations."  j0HN  K  Thum 
