224 
Book  Reviews. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
*      March,  19 18. 
fraudulent  claims,  at  least  as  to  activity.  Lithia  water  is  a  flagrant 
example.  Government  investigation  has  shown  that  the  most 
popular  lithium  water  contains  no  more  lithium  than  does  the 
water  of  the  Potomac  river,  and  that  one  could  not  get  an  effective 
dose  of  lithium  by  drowning  himself  in  the  water.  Such  waters 
are  of  course  absolute  frauds.'' 
Of  the  digestants  it  is  said:  "The  various  compound  digestive 
elixirs  are  devoid  of  digestive  action."'  Of  the  uterine  sedatives  he 
says:  "They  are  largely  sold  in  the  form  of  'patent  medicines'  for 
"  female  weakness':  but  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  they  have  any 
action  beyond  the  pyschic  effect  of  the  contained  alcohol." 
Of  tobacco  it  is  said:  "  More  serious  is  the  occasional  occur- 
rence of  blindness  in  inveterate  excessive  smokers."  This  state- 
ment of  Dr.  Sollman  many  smokers  will  consider  an  exaggeration, 
but  we  can  verify  it  from  our  own  knowledge.  He  emphasizes 
the  value  of  10  per  cent,  solutions  of  alcohol  in  phenol  poisoning, 
afterwards  washing  out  the  stomach.  "Of  chemical  antidotes  only 
syrup  of  lime  and  potassium  permanganate  are  of  any  value." 
In  speaking  of  headache  powders  containing  acetanilide  or  acet- 
phenetidin,  "  the  danger  lies  in  repeating  the  dose  at  short  intervals; 
the  adjuvants  caffeine,  ammonium  carbonate,  sodium  carbonate  do 
not  diminish  the  danger." 
Of  liquid  petrolatum  he  says  :  The  Russian  is  no  better  than 
the  American.'"  In  the  physiological  testing  of  ergot.  Dr.  Sollman 
considers  the  cocks-comb  method  as  preferable  to  the  bood-pres- 
sure  or  uterine  methods.  Many  more  interesting  excerpts  might 
be  quoted  from  this  work. 
C.  B.  Lowe,  M.D. 
MeRULIUS  IX  NORTH  AMERICA. 
In  Annals  of  the  Missouri  Botanical  Garden,  vol.  xv,  no.  4,  for 
November,  19 17.  Edward  A.  Burt  describes  42  species  of  the  genus 
Merulius  that  are  found  in  North  America.  Thirty-nine  figures, 
for  the  most  part  of  spores,  accompanv  the  descriptions,  while  3 
plates  comprising  36  figures  supplement  the  article.  A  key  to  the 
identification  of  the  species  is  also  given. 
In  surveying  this  excellent  monograph  one  is  delightfully  im- 
pressed with  the  care  observed  by  the  writer  in  employing  technical 
color  terms  found  in  conjunction  with  color  plates  in  a  standard 
