Reviews. 
Am.  Jour.  Phnrii:. 
April,  1893. 
the  largest  space,  about  27  pages,  being  required  for  the  arsenical  compounds. 
From  French  statistics  quoted  by  the  author  it  is  of  interest  to  note  that  during 
the  three  decades  commencing  1845,  not  only  has  the  total  number  of  cases 
of  poisoning  decreased,  but  the  proportion  of  arsenical  poisoning  has  decreased 
to  a  still  greater  extent,  showing  that  other  agents  are  now  more  largely 
made  use  of,  proportionately,  for  the  destruction  of  human  life.  During  the 
three  decades  the  cases  of  arsenical  poisoning  were  68*5,  277  and  18*5  per 
cent.,  respectively,  as  compared  with  the  total  number.  Part  III  discusses  in 
two  sections  the  poisonous  gases  (C0,C02,H2S,S02,C1,HC1,NH3  and  allied 
compounds)  and  volatile  elements  and  compounds,  like  bromine,  iodine, 
cyanides,  chloroform,  chloral,  benzol,  phosphorus,  the  mineral  acids,  etc.  In 
Part  IV,  we  find  in  the  first  section  the  common  organic  acids  considered, 
together  with  the  caustic  fixed  alkalies  and  their  compounds  and  barium, 
while  the  second  section  is  reserved  for.  other,  mostly  non-volatile  organic 
compounds,  among  which  there  are  many  that  are  not  likely  to  be  used  for 
criminal  poisoning,  such  as  nitroglycerin,  resorcin,  santonin,  cantharidin, 
picrotoxin,  digitalin,  helleborein,  saponin,  aloin,  colocynthin  and  the  resins 
of  jalap  and  scammony.  This  second  section  closes  with  the  most  important 
portion  of  the  work  which,  in  over  two  hundred  pages,  is  devoted  to  the 
alkaloids,  of  which  about  one-sixth  is  occupied  by  general  considerations,  the 
toxic  action,  absorption,  diffusion,  localization  and  elimination  ;  the  difficulties 
encountered  by  the  toxicological  chemist  ;  the  physico-chemical  characters  of 
the  alkaloids  ;  the  group  reagents,  color  reactions,  micro-chemical  recognition 
and  the  isolation  of  the  alkaloids  from  the  material  and  their  quantitative 
determination.  In  the  special  part  we  meet  with  a  large  number  of  alkaloids, 
embracing  not  only  those  usually  recognized  by  the  pharmacopoeias,  but  also 
such  as  are  rather  rarely  seen  and  not  frequently  used  in  medicine,  like  lobeline, 
quebrachine,  gelsemine,  the  pomegranate  alkaloids,  taxine,  ergot  constituents, 
muscarine  and  poisonous  fungi,  the  artificial  alkaloids  (aniline,  kairine,  thai- 
line,  antipyrine),  and  finally  the  ptomaines.  An  appendix  contains  descrip- 
tions of  the  processes  recommended  by  different  authors,  for  the  isolation  of 
poisons,  when  the  nature  of  the  latter  is  not  known  ;  also  some  additions 
to  various  chapters,  which  became  known  while  the  work  passed  through  the 
press,  among  them  a  process  elaborated  by  Prof.  Vitali,  for  the  quantitative 
determination  of  small  quantities  of  arsenic. 
It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  that  Prof.  Vitali's  manual  covers  the 
ground  of  toxicological  chemistry  very  thoroughly,  and  more  comprehensively 
than  is  done  by  other  similar  works.  In  his  endeavor  to  give  the  latest  inform- 
ation, the  author  has  not  only  availed  himself  of  the  literature  of  the  different 
countries,  but  has  also  made  many  experiments  and  researches,  the  results  of 
which  are  scattered  through  the  work.  A  comprehensive  and  reliable  work  is 
thus  produced,  which  will  be  consulted  with  profit  by  those  interested  in  the 
important  subject  of  which  it  deals. 
Further  Studies  of  Yuccas  and  their  publication.   By  Wm.  Trelease.   Pp.  46. 
A  continuation  of  the  author's  work,  noticed  in  our  preceding  volume.  The 
essay  is  a  reprint  from  the  fourth  annual  report  of  the  Missouri  Botanical 
Garden,  and  is  illustrated  by  23  plates,  mostly  phototypes  of  different  species 
of  Yucca  and  fruit. 
