Am.  Jour.  Pharm.l 
Jan.,  1893.  J 
Reviews. 
5  3 
possible  structural  and  histological  characters  have  been  chosen  for  the  classi- 
fication of  plant  parts,  and  that  the  subterraneous  axes  are  considered  together 
in  one  group,  which  is  explained  by  the  impossibility  of  strictly  separating 
root  drugs  from  rhizome  drugs,  since  with  few  exceptions  the  commercial  drugs 
consist  of  both  organs. 
In  the  descriptions  of  the  different  drugs,  the  author  lays  particular  stress 
upon  the  histological  characteristics,  as  seen  by  means  of  a  pocket  lens  and 
under  the  microscope,  and  these  descriptions  are  so  clear  that  the  reader 
scarcely  notices  the  absence  of  micro-drawings,  which  are  given  only  for  a 
limited  number  of  drugs  ;  but  frequent  references  are  made  to  the  pharma- 
cognostical  atlas  published  by  the  author  a  few  years  ago. 
The  second  class  of  vegetable  drugs  comprises  those  possessing  a  distinct 
structure,  recognizable  only  by  means  of  the  microscope,  like  the  starches, 
glands  and  hairs  ;  and  in  the  third  class  are  found  the  sugars,  gums,  milk 
juices,  resins,  balsams  (oleoresins),  volatile  oils,  fats  and  extracts,  or  in  other 
words,  those  drugs  which  are  destitute  of  cellular  structure.  All  these  are 
treated  with  the  same  comprehensiveness  as  those  of  the  first  class,  in  regard 
to  origin,  characteristics,  varieties,  composition,  etc. 
Over  one  hundred  pages  of  the  work  are  devoted  to  the  methods  of  examina- 
tion by  means  of  the  microscope,  the  preparation  of  the  material,  the  micro- 
chemical  reagents,  the  vegetable  cell,  its  contents  and  the  different  tissues. 
A  concluding  chapter  gives  information  on  the  collection  of  medicinal  plants 
and  plant  parts  ;  on  the  influence  of  cultivation  and  climate  upon  the  constitu- 
ents ;  upon  drying,  garbling  and  other  modes  of  preparing  the  drugs  for 
commerce ;  upon  the  influence  of  moisture,  air  and  light,  and  upon  proper 
methods  of  preservation. 
The  Pharmacy  a?id  Poison  Laws  of  the  United  Kingdom  :  their  history  and 
interpretation.  With  a  brief  account  of  the  Pharmacy  laws  in  force  in  Aus- 
tralasia, Canada  and  Cape  Colony.  London  :  Office  of  the  Chemist  and  Drug- 
gist.   Pp.  220.    Price,  2S.  6d. 
A  very  interesting  historical  account  of  pharmaceutical  legislation  in  Great 
Britain,  and  of  the  legal  decisions  on  prosecutions  having  arisen  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  various  acts.  A  knowledge  of  the  history  of  their  inception,  of 
the  opposition  to  their  enactments,  of  their  gradual  perfection,  and  of  their 
legal  interpretations  is  undoubtedly  most  conducive  to  the  correct  appreciation 
of  the  objects  of  these  statutes.  We  heartily  recommend  this  volume  to  the 
careful  perusal  of  those  who  take  an  interest  in  pharmaceutical  legislation  in 
the  United  States,  since  the  experience  of  other  countries  should  throw  light 
upon  the  probable  results  of  analogous  legislative  action.  Pharmaceutical 
legislation  in  the  United  States  dates  back  little  more  than  twenty  years  ;  yet 
its  history  is  but  very  imperfectly  known,  and  in  a  number  of  cases  entirely 
ignored  ';  a  critically  prepared  and  reliable  work  like  the  one  before  us,  but 
applying  to  the  struggles  for  pharmaceutical  legislation  in  the  different  States 
of  the  Union,  would  be  highly  instructive  and  of  great  value  to  those  who  have 
the  future  welfare  of  pharmacy  at  heart. 
