Am"j^ne'i8P84artn'}  Reviews,  etc.  345 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Pipmenthol. — This  name,  we  think,  should  be  given  to  the  stearopten 
from  the  oil  of  peppermint.  The  menthol  at  present  in  the  market  is  ob- 
tained from  a  Chinese  or  JapaDese  volatile  oil  which  Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes 
has  shown  to  be  obtained  from  one  or  two  varieties  of  Mentha  arvensis  (see 
"Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1883,  p.  15).  We  have  now  before  us  specimens  of  a 
menthol,  prepared  by  Mr.  Albert  M.  Todd,  of  Nottawa,  St.  Josephs  co., 
Michigan,  which  we  are  informed  is  obtained  from  oil  of  peppermint  pre- 
pared in  Michigan,  and  which  has  not  merely  a  mint-like  odor,  but  has  the 
odor  of  peppermint.  It  is  in  snow-white  acicular  glossy  crystals,  and 
another  specimen  in  delicate  white  needles  forming  stellate  groups  and  of 
a  satiny  lustre.  Even  if  it  should  prove  to  be  chemically  identical  with 
the  menthol  as  hitherto  seen,  we  believe  it  to  deserve  a  distinctive  name  to 
denote  its  origin.  Mr.  Todd  informs  us  that  he  has  succeeded  in  devising 
a  commercially  practical  process  by  which  it  can  be  prepared,  and  we  hope 
to  be  soon  in  the  position  of  giving  our  readers  further  information  con- 
cerning its  origin  and  composition. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Handbuchder  qualitativen  Analyse  anorganischer  und  organischer  Substan- 
zen,  nebst  Anieitung  zur  volumetrischen  Analyse.  Bearbeitet  fur  Apothe- 
ker  und  Gerichtschemiker,  sowie  zura  Gebrauche  beim  Unterricht  in 
chemischen  Laboratorien,  von  Arthur  Meyer,  Assistent  am  pharma- 
ceutischen  Institute  der  Universitat  Strassburg.  Mit  in  den  Text  einge- 
druckten  Holzschnitten.  Berlin  :  R.  Gaertner's  Verlagsbuchhandlung, 
1884.    8vo,  pp.  208. 
Handbook  of  the  Qualitative  Analysis  of  Inorganic  and  Organic  Sub- 
stances, with  a  guide  to  volumetric  analysis.  For  apothecaries  and 
forensic  chemists,  and  for  use  in  chemical  laboratories. 
This  work  differs  very  materially  from  the  text-books  on  analytical 
chemistry  which  are  generally  used,  and  that  it  has  been  written  for  a 
special  purpose  and  with  the  full  conception  of  the  means  for  attaining  this 
purpose,  soon  becomes  evident  on  examining  it.  It  was  not  written  for  the 
tyro  in  analytical  work,  but  he  who  has  acquired  the  requisite  proficiency, 
will  find  it  of  very  valuable  assistance  in  such  investigations  as  are  pointed 
out  on  the  title  page.  The  reactions  are  described  with  sufficient  minute- 
ness, but  without  prolixity,  to  be  readily  understood  and  executed,  and 
those  are  chiefly  considered  which  serve  either  for  determining  the  group 
to  which  the  compounds  belong,  or  for  distinguishing  them  from  other 
similar  ones. 
The  first  portion  of  the  work  relates  to  eighteen  organic  compounds, 
mostly  alkaloids,  and  employed  in  medicine.  Of  these  the  reactions  are 
given  as  observed  in  the  isolated  state,  and  next  in  mixtures,  such  as  natu- 
rally occur,  or  which  are  often  made  for  medicinal  purposes.  The  quanti- 
tative determination  of  some  of  the  alkaloids  is  then  treated  of,  and  finally 
their  recognition  when  mixed  with  other  organic  matters.  Next  in  order 
sixteen  organic  acids  are  considered,  all  of  these  being  employed,  medi- 
