Am.  Jonr.  Pharm."! 
Nov.,  1884.  J 
Reviews,  etc. 
605 
The  authors  certainly  deserve  the  fullest  acknowledgments  for  their 
arduous  labors  and  are  entitled  to  the  sincere  thanks  of  the  pharmaceutical 
and  medical  professions. 
E.  SCHEFFER. 
Louisville,  September,  1884. 
Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  an  introduction  to  the  rational  treat- 
ment of  disease.  By  J.  Mitchell  Bruce,  M.  A.,  M.  D.,  etc.  Philadelphia: 
Henry  C.  Lea's  Son  &  Co.    1884.    12mo.,  pp.  547. 
The  scope  of  this  work  is  therapeutical  as  indicated  by  the  title.  In  the 
introduction  the  various  pharmaceutical  preparations  and  processes  are 
briefly  defined  and  explained  ;  also  the  art  of  prescribing  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  drugs.  The  materia  medica  is  divided  into  two  parts,  entitled 
inorganic  and  organic  materia  medica.  These  titles  are  not  entirely  correct, 
inasmuch  as  the  first  part  contains  not  only  the  inorganic  compounds  of  the 
metallic  and  non-metallic  elements,  but  also  a  number  of  carbon  com- 
pounds, which  are  usually  denominated  organic.  This  group  is  termed  the 
"  carbohydrates  and  other  carbon  compounds,"  though  not  a  single  carbo- 
hydrate is  here  considered,  although  their  derivates  like  alcohol,  etc., 
have  found  a  place  under  this  heading.  Nitrous  oxide  has  been  placed  in 
this  group  (p.  153)  for  no  other  obvious  reason,  except  that  it  is  conveniently 
considered  with  ether  and  the  various  chlorine  and  bromine  compounds 
possessing  anaesthetic  properties.  On  the  other  hand  a  number  of  definite 
chemical  compounds  like  tannin,  gallic  acid,  santonin  and  the  vegetable 
alkaloids  are  treated  of  in  connection  with  the  drugs  from  which  they  are 
usually  prepared ;  this  is  likewise  the  case  with  such  products  like  fats, 
volatile  oils,  resins,  and  the  carbohydrates  gum,  starch,  sugar  and  milk- 
sugar. 
The  organic  materia  medica  is  divided  into  two  groups  according  to  the 
origin  of  the  drugs  from  plants  or  animals,  both  groups  being  arrangad  ac- 
cording to  the  natural  system.  The  drugs  comprise  those  of  the  British 
Pharmacopoeia,  together  with  a  number  of  more  or  less  important  ones, 
which  are  not  recognized  by  this  authority,  a  number  of  the  latter  being  of 
American  origin.  A  few  of  the  vegetable  drugs  have  been  assigned  a 
wrong  position,  like  Podophyllum  (p.  178)  which  has  been  placed  among 
the  Ranunculacese,  while  botanists  now  refer  it  to  the  Berberidacese ;  and 
Cimicifuga  (p.  179)  which  has  been  referred  to  the  Magnoliaceae,  but 
properly  belongs  to  the  Ranunculacese.  The  drugs  are  briefly  defined  ac- 
cording to  the  botanical,  name,  part  and  habitat  of  the  plant;  a  brief 
description,  the  composition  and  dose  are  given,  and  then  in  accordance 
with  the  plan  of  the  work,  more  in  detail,  their  action  and  uses.  The  descrip- 
tions are  usually  those  given  by  the  British  Pharmacopoeia ;  unofficinal 
drugs  are  described  in  a  similar  brief,  but  generally  more  vague  manner, 
the  description  being,  in  some  cases,  positively  wrong.  Thus  Spigelia  is  said  to 
be  "  a  thick  globular  brown  head,  with  numerous  fine  branching  rootlets  " 
(p.  291).  In  some  cases  the  terminology  is  wrong  or  at  least  inconsistent; 
thus  duboisia  (p.  307)  is  defined  to  be  an  alkaloid  from  Duboisia  myoporoides, 
but  on  p.  388  it  is  given  as  the  plant;  leaves  would  be  better.  Similar 
