Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
October,  1920. 
Book  Reviews. 
parts.  Part  I  consists  of  reprints  of  a  number  of  contributions 
from  the  Laboratory.  Among  these  we  consider  of  especial  value 
the  examinations  of  American-made  synthetic  drugs,  such  as  procaine, 
barbital,  holocaine,  and  cinchophen.  In  many  of  these  the  methods 
employed  had  to  be  original  in  the  absence  of  official  standards. 
The  conclusions  arrived  at,  "that  American  chemists  were  pro- 
ducing synthetic  drugs  formerly  controlled  by  Germany  and  have 
thus  declared  their  independence  of  German  chemicals  and  from 
the  evidence  at  hand  the  quality  of  American  synthetics  will  be 
second  to  none,"  is  indeed  welcome  and  satisfying. 
Part  II  contains  reports  abstracted  from  the  Journal  of  the  A. 
M.  A.  and  from  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  Council  on  Pharmacy 
and  Chemistry  and  these,  as  well  as  some  of  the  articles  in  Part  I, 
deal  with  the  unwarranted  and  at  times  fraudulent  claims  made  for 
proprietaries.  These  exposures  should  have  a  very  salutary  effect 
upon  the  practice  of  medication  especially  that  of  self -medication. 
Part  III  contains  reports  not  previously  published.  Among 
these  important  contributions  we  mention  "Note  on  Melting  Point 
of  Acetylsalicylic  Acid,"  "The  Examination  of  Acrifiavine  and 
Proflavine,"  "The  Examination  of  Commercial  Barbital-Sodium," 
"The  Examination  of  Luminal  and  Luminal-Sodium."  Here  also 
are  given  some  additional  reports  upon  proprietaries. 
In  each  examination  reported  upon,  the  methods  employed  are 
reported  in  sufficient  detail  for  the  information  of  the  chemist  reader 
and  the  conclusions  and  deductions  are  set  forth  clearly.  The  methods 
employed  at  times  are  original  and  oft  times  ingenious  and  will 
prove  valuable  as  suggestive  to  other  analysts  who  have  similar 
problems  to  cope  with.  G.  M.  B. 
P-W-R  Manual.  Published  by  Powers-Weightman-Rosengar- 
ten  Co.,  Manufacturing  Chemists,  Philadelphia,  Pa. — This  book  of 
471  pages,  with  its  clear  type,  good  paper  and  binding  and  with 
rounded  corners  to  its  pages  is  noteworthy  and  exhibits  a  practical 
application  of  the  printers'  art.  The  contents  of  this  book  evidence 
the  highest  ideals.  It  is  a  commendable  effort  on  the  part  of  a 
manufacturing  corporation  to  impart  accurate  information  con- 
cerning its  products,  standards  of  quality,  and  methods  of  testing. 
The  clear,  concise  and  scientific  method  of  presentation  of  the 
subjects  demonstrates  the  reliabihty  of  the  work. 
Above  all  the  impartial  manner  of  the  statements  appeals  to  us. 
