476 
Book  Reviews. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t     October,  1914. 
certainly  pass  judgment  upon  the  identity  of  a  given  silk  sample, 
the  operator  should  have  at  hand  a  collection  of  true  type  samples 
obtained  directly  from  the  artificial  silk  manufacturers  and  to  make 
the  above  outlined  reactions  repeatedly,  systematically  and  with 
care.  By  care  is  meant  not  being  too  hasty  in  forming  a  con- 
clusion, and  to  disregard  and  reject  completely  any  test  that  one 
may  have  made,  into  which  the  element  of  doubt  enters. 
With  such  a  set  of  proved  samples  at  hand  and  a  set  of  reagents 
as  above  outlined,  when  unusual  lots  are  received  by  the  dye-house, 
or  where  silk  is  received  from  unfamiliar  sources,  its  identity  can 
be  accurately  determined. 
The  foregoing  details  refer  to  undyed  artificial  silk,  but  to  identify 
dyed  silk  by  chemical  means  requires  that  it  should  be  stripped 
of  its  color,  which  is  generally  very  easily  accomplished  by  means  of 
Hyraldite  or  some  other  equally  efficient  stripping  agent. 
BOOK  REVIEWS. 
The  Art  of  Compounding.  A  Text-Book  for  Students  and  A 
Reference  Book  for  Pharmacists  at  the  Prescription  Counter.  By 
Wilbur  L.  Scoville,  Ph.  G.,  formerly  Professor  of  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Pharmacy  in  the  Massachusetts  College  of  Pharmacy ;  member 
of  the  Eighth  Committee  on  Revision  of  the  United  States  Pharma- 
copoeia and  of  the  Second  and  Third  Committees  of  the  Revision  of 
the  National  Fomulary.  Fourth  edition,  revised  and  enlarged,  with 
76  illustrations.  Philadelphia :  P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co.,  1012  Walnut 
Street.   $3  net. 
This  excellent  volume,  prepared  by  the  author  when  he  was  a 
professor  in  the  Massachusetts  College  of  Pharmacy,  has  become  one 
of  the  most  popular  books  on  the  prescription  and  its  compounding 
that  we  have.  That  it  has  run  through  four  editions  shows  that  both 
the  publisher  and  author  are  alive  to  the  progress  that  is  being  made 
in  pharmacy  and  the  development  of  this  subject  in  particular. 
Among  the  innovations  in  the  present  volume  may  be  mentioned  the 
inclusion  of  illustrations.  These  are  numerous,  and  not  only  include 
the  implements  for  preparing  small  quantities  of  remedies-,  as  in 
general  prescription  work,  but  also  the  forms  and  apparatus  in  use  by 
manufacturers.    The  author's  wide  experience  in  all  phases  of  the 
