222 
Book  Reviews. 
[Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  19 18. 
the  last  two  years  in  the  province  of  Bornu.  The  method  of  col- 
lecting and  preparing  the  product  is  given  as  follows :  Small  pieces 
of  the  bark  are  chipped  out  of  the  tree  with  a  narrow  native  axe. 
The  latex  that  slowly  exudes  from  these  cuts  is  scraped  off,  as  it 
contains  impurities  such  as  dirt,  bark,  etc.  It  is  then  boiled  until 
the  impurities  float  to  the  top  when  they  are  removed.  The  latex 
then  coagulates  and  in  this  form  is  known  as  gutta-percha.  It  is 
not  advisable  to  tap  trees  of  less  girth  than  30  inches.  The  Shea 
butter  tree  is  abundant  in  many  parts  of  the  Northern  Provinces, 
and  especially  so  in  Meko,  Shaki  and  Oyo  districts  of  the  Southern 
Provinces  and  in  Ilorin.  When  collecting  this  product,  the  tappers 
could  with  advantage  collect  the  Shea  nuts  and  thus  help  to  stimu- 
late the  trade  in  Shea  butter.  (From  The  Journal  of  Industrial 
and  Engineering  Chemistry.) 
Cardamom  Production  in  South  India. — The  American  con- 
sulate at  Madras  has  received  a  letter  from  the  Director  of  Indus- 
tries and  Commerce  at  Bangalore,  Mysore,  stating  that  considerable 
quantities  of  cardamom  seed  were  formerly  exported  from  the 
Mysore  State,  but  that  because  of  the  stoppage  of  export  for  the 
past  two  years  the  trade  is  almost  at  a  standstill.  The  Director, 
therefore,  requests  to  be  informed  if  arrangements  can  be  made  for 
shipping  about  2,000  tons  of  seeds  to  America,  and  if  it  is  not  pos- 
sible to  find  space  to  ship  a  large  quantity  of  seeds  he  desires  to 
know  the  names  of  any  firms  in  the  United  States  which  might  be 
interested  in  purchasing  cardamom  oil  or  who  are  wholesale  dealers 
in  same.  He  states  that  he  is  prepared  to  offer  samples  of  seeds  or 
of  oil  and  to  quote  prices  f.  o.  b.  Bombay  or  Madras.  It  is  sug- 
gested that  any  firm  interested  should  write  direct  to  the  Director 
of  Industries,  Mysore  State,  India.    (From  Commerce  Reports.) 
BOOK  REVIEWS. 
The  Action  of  Drugs. — A  course  of  Elementary  Lectures  for 
Students  of  Pharmacy,  by  Torald  Sollman,  M.D.,  Professor  of 
Pharmacology  and.  Materia  Medica  in  the  School  of  Medicine  of 
Western  Reserve  University,  Cleveland,  Ohio.  Published  by  W. 
B.  Saunders  Company,  Philadelphia. 
Some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  book  can  be  obtained  from 
