Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1896. 
Reviews. 
345 
publishing  the  Proceedings,  for  it  is  probable  that  no  individual  is  at  fault. 
There  is  probably  a  reason  for  the  delay,  and  the  fault  lies  with  the  Association 
in  not  creating  meatis  whereby  members  may  have  the  Proceedings  promptly. 
The  papers  read  at  the  meetings  of  the  Association  are  usually  published  at 
once  in  various  pharmaceutical  journals,  but  the  Report  on  the  Progress  of 
Pharmacy  does  not  thus  become  public;  it  is  too  long  to  read  at  the  meetings 
or  to  publish  by  private  enterprise,  so  it  is  allowed  to  become  partly  useless  by 
delay.  It  strikes  us  that  this  Report  might  be  issued  immediately  after  the 
meeting,  in  paper  cover,  although  before  considering  that  question  it  would  be 
just  as  well  to  determine  whether  or  not  it  is  possible  to  issue  the  complete 
Proceedings  within  two  months  after  the  adjournment  of  the  meeting. 
Recherches  sur  i,a  Cinchonicine.  Thesis  presented  to  the  Ecole 
Supericure  de  Pharmacie  de  Paris,  to  obtain  the  diploma  of  "Pharmacien  de 
premier  classe,"  by  M.  Ferdinand  Roques.  Presented  and  sustained  the  23d  of 
April,  1896. 
The  author  has  shown  that  cinchonicine,  instead  of  being  amorphous  and 
resinous,  as  heretofore  supposed,  is  crystallizable,  although  he  had  previously 
stated  this  fact  {Compt.  rend.,  120,  1170).  He  also  describes  the  preparation  of 
numerous  new  derivatives  of  cinchonicine  and  some  new  salts. 
A  Course  of  Home  Study  for  Pharmacists.  First  Lessons  in  the  Study 
of  Pharmacy.  By  Oscar  Oldberg,  Ph.D.  Second  edition.  Chicago:  The  W. 
T.  Keener  Company,  1896. 
We  learn  from  the  preface  that  the  "  Home  Study  for  Young  Pharmacists" 
is  designed  to  be  read  without  a,id  or  guidance  from  any  teacher.  It  will  be  in 
order,  therefore,  to  examine  how  far  the  author  has  accomplished  his  purpose. 
The  introduction,  of  twelve  pages,  is  quite  readable,  and  could  in  part  be  com- 
prehended by  the  young  beginner,  especially  in  that  portion  where  he  is  told 
that  the  "Home  study  in  pharmacy  is  of  tried  value  as  a  course  of  preparatory 
reading.  At  the  school  of  pharmacy,  the  difference  between  the  student 
who  has  carefully  read  that  book  and  the  student  who  has  not  pursued  any 
such  preliminary  reading  is  very  marked." 
We  presume  by  school  of  pharmacy  that  the  author  means  the  one  in  which 
he  is  Dean.  He,  therefore,  evidently  takes  the  trouble  to  inform  himself  as  to 
whether  the  students  have  read  his  book  or  not,  for  we  can  hardly  believe  that 
the  difference  between  those  who  have  read  it  and  those  who  have  not  is  so 
apparent  that  he  can  distinguish  them  without  inquiry. 
Nearly  four  pages  of  the  introduction  are  occupied  with  the  question  whether 
a  student  shall  take  his  store  experience  before  or  after  he  attends  a  college  of 
pharmacy.  These  four  pages  possess,  in  a  high  degree,  a  resemblance  to  a 
number  of  papers  which  the  author  has  from  time  to  time  presented  to  the 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
Leaving  the  introduction,  we  come  to  the  course  of  study  proper. 
Part  I,  we  are  told  by  the  author,  covers  the  whole  field  of  physics,  but 
"  only  such  as  have  a  special  interest  to  the  student  of  pharmacy  are  treated  at 
any  length." 
Part  II  is  devoted  to  chemistry,  and  a  large  number  of  the  symbolic  formu- 
las have  been  printed  in  two  colors.    This  has  not  been  a  mechanical  success, 
