766 
Book  Reviews. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
October,  1920. 
Despite  the  fact  that  it  is  a  private  pubUcation  covering  commercial 
products  of  the  pubHshers,  there  is  a  total  absence  of  any  attempt 
to  advertise  their  business  and  contrary  to  the  customary  procedure 
in  such  "house  publications"  nowhere  throughout  the  text  occurs 
any  reference  to  trade  interests  or  even  a  suggestion  that  preference 
should  be  given  to  their  products.  We  esteem  it  all  the  more  highly 
because  of  this  exceptional  character  and  altruistic  attitude. 
The  major  portion  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  monographs  in 
alphabetical  sequence  and  in  style  copying  somewhat  that  of  the 
U.  S.  P.  but  more  condensed  and  at  times  more  directly  to  the 
point.  The  International  Atomic  Weights  for  1920  are  given  in 
tabular  form,  although  the  atomic  weights  of  191 5  had  been  used 
in  the  preparation  of  the  book.  For  all  practical  purposes  this  is 
immaterial.  We  note  that  in  this  table  sulphur  is  spelled  "sulfur," 
but  we  are  happy  to  note  that  elsewhere  throughout  the  book  the 
official  spelling  of  the  U.  S.  P.  is  closely  followed  even  to  the  dropping 
of  the  final  "e"  from  such  words  as  dextrin  and  glycerin  and  the  reten- 
tion of  the  final  "e"  in  words  ending  in  "ine,"  "ide,"  etc.  In  these 
monographs  the  official  chemicals  and  standards  are  designated  as 
U.  S.  P.  and  the  standards  for  technical  grades  are  stated  separately. 
In  the  Appendix  are  given  a  number  of  important  tables  and 
data  commonly  needed  by,  analysts  in  the  examination  of  the  chemi- 
cal products  treated  of  in  the  book  and  these  handy  references  will 
add  very  materially  to  the  usefulness  of  the  work.  The  closing 
chapter  on  Poisons  and  Their  Antidotes  is  a  practical  and  terse 
presentation  of  another  subject  that  may  require  the  attention  of 
the  pharmacist  or  chemist  at  any  moment  and  the  advice  of  the 
first  sentence,  ''The  first  thing  to  do  in  case  of  poisoning  is  to  call  for 
a  physician,''  should  be  heeded. 
In  this  exemplary  publication,  this  manufacturing  chemical 
house  has  compiled  much  valuable  information  and  despite  their 
modesty  and  self -obliteration  the  service  they  have  thus  performed 
merits  commendation  and  should  bring  to  them  evidence  of  approval 
as  well  as  continued  material  support.  G.  M.  B. 
