"^A^rir^92o;}  Comments  on  Magendie's  Formulary.  219 
such  a  constellation  of  stars  of  the  first  magnitude  as  those  given  in 
Magendie's  little  book. 
Many  additional  interesting  views  are  then  given  by  the  translator 
who  develops  quite  a  narrative  style  at  times  and  concludes  as  fol- 
lows: 
"The  translator  has  added  notes,  which  comprise  a  reference, 
he  believes,  to  almost  all  the  authorities  on  the  subjects  treated  of. 
He  wishes  he  could  add  records  of  the  several  remedies  having  been 
employed  by  British  practitioners;  but,  with  the  exception  of  the 
prussic  acid  and  iodine,  which  have  been  somewhat  extensively 
used,  he  believes  that  the  other  preparations  have  not  even  been 
seen  in  this  country,  except  as  matters  of  curiosity.  It  were  to  be 
wished  that  M.  Magendie  had  given  the  particulars  of  his  experience 
of  their  prescription  in  the  human  subject.  Several  French  journals, 
and  especially  his  own  excellent  Journal  de  Physiologie,  contain  an 
abundance  of  cases  in  which  the  Sulphate  of  Quinine  has  been  used 
with  marked  benefit  in  the  latter  stages  of  malignant  fevers,  in  all 
forms  of  intermittent  fever,  and  especially  in  many  varieties  of 
neuralgia;  but  the  translator  is  ignorant  that  any  published  cases 
exist  in  which  other  alkalis  have  been  employed." 
In  the  author's  preface,  which  is  quite  short  by  comparison  with 
that  of  the  translator,  the  following  interesting  statements  occur: 
''In  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  physicians  of  the  seventeenth 
century  (notwithstanding  the  celebrated  decree  of  parliament  which 
prescribed  tartar  emetic,  and  in  spite  of  the  spiritual  sarcasms  of 
Guy  Patin),  the  utility  of  antimonial  remedies  has  been  long  recog- 
nized.   For  once,  at  least,  prejudice  gave  way  before  evidence.*  *  * 
These  substances  *  *  *  *  act,  when  given  in  small  doses. 
Every  principle  which  might  mask  or  hinder  their  action  has  been 
separated  from  them;  their  effects  bear  a  decisive  character  which 
cannot  be  misunderstood  for  they  have  been  studied  with  care  both 
on  animals  and  on  man  when  in  health  and  when  in  disease ;  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  their  chemical  properties  and  great  accuracy  in  their 
mode  of  preparation  are  sufficient  to  secure  uniformity  with  regard  to 
their  strength  and  manner  of  action;  and,  lastly,  each  of  them  forms 
a  medicine  in  its  most  simple  and  energetic  state. 
"Time  alone  can  pronounce  definitively  on  the  advantages  and 
inconveniences  of  these  new  remedies ;  but  which  ever  way  it  may  be, 
the  following  pages  may  be  useful,  by  teaching  the  mode  of  preparing 
them  without  making  it  necessary  to  consult  general  treatises  in 
