489 
of  every  conceivable  article  tbat  any  commercial  people  in  any  part  of  the 
world  have  to  sell.  He  not  only  can  see  the  raw  material,  but  specimens  of 
the  manufactured  articles  of  the  country.  If  the  inquirer  wants  to  sell,  or  to 
manufacture  for  a  particular  people,  he  can  see  samples  of  that  which  they 
buy,  or  that  they  most  desire.  If  there  is  a  particular  fprm  of  shoe,  or  a  prefer- 
ence for  colors,  or  for  shades  in  textiles,  he  can  be  instructed  in  all  of  this  in 
these  ample  sample  rooms.  To-day  this  institution  has  in  every  part  of  the 
inhabitable  world  its  trained,  intelligent  agents,  whose  duty  it  is  to  study  care- 
fully the  wants  and  resources  of  every  people,  whether  they  be  buyers  or 
sellers.  And  with  the  utmost  fidelity  they  report  what  the  buyers  want,  and 
what  the  sellers  have  ;  and  they  inform  themselves  with  every  detail  that  will 
be  necessary  to  the  conduct  of  an  intelligent  commercial  transaction.  They 
not  only  make  these  reports,  but  they  are  gathering  the  material  for  object- 
lessons  for  the  eye,  as  you  may  see  them  in  these  neighboring  rooms.  Here, 
too,  are  gathered  all  of  the  trade  journals  of  the  world.  Their  important 
statements  are  culled,  translated,  classified  and  tabulated  for  instant  use.  So 
that,  in  a  moment,  inquiries  as  to  articles,  quantities,  prices,  modes  of  carriage, 
transportation  prices,  commissions,  insurance,  exchange,  time  of  transit  and  all 
other  factors  of  cost  can  be  as  completely  answered  as  could  be  after  months 
of  travel  and  inquiry  under  the  old  methods  of  acquiring  a  knowledge  of 
trade."  If  we  study  the  present  in  the  light  of  the  past,  we  see  how  naturally 
present  methods  and  institutions  have  been  evolved  and  that  our  specializations 
of  to-day  are  but  the  fruition  of  principles  which  long  ago  were  started  germi- 
nating. 
REVIEWvS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
A  Text-Book  of  Pharmacology  and  Therapeutics,  or  the  Action  of 
Drugs  in  Health  and  Disease.  For  the  use  of  students  and  practitioners 
of  medicine.  By  Arthur  R.  Cushny,  M.A.,  M.D.  (Aberd.),  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Therapeutics  in  the  University  of  Michigan,  Medical  Department, 
Ann  Arbor.  In  one  handsome  octavo  volume  of  728  pages,  with  47  engravings. 
Cloth,  $3.75,  net.    Philadelphia  and  New  York  :  Lea  Brothers  &  Co.  1899. 
A  work  which  is  inspired  by  the  writings  of  and  dedicated  to  Schmiedeberg 
must  have  in  it  more  than  ordinary  value.  Professor  Cushny  has  shown  in  his 
text-book  a  remarkable  grasp  on  this  coming  and  most  interesting  subject, 
which  will  place  the  studies  of  the  clinician  and  the  practice  of  medicine 
generally  on  a  more  scientific  basis.  While  appreciating  sharp  demarcations 
and  the  necessity  for  them,  the  author  has  allowed  himself  to  present  the  sub- 
ject in  such  a  way  that  it  may  be  considered  to  be  the  entering  wedge  between 
the  old  empiricism  and  the  new  way  of  studying  the  changes  produced  by  drugs 
on  living  organisms.  The  work  is  divided  into  six  parts,  besides  having  an  in- 
troduction. In  the  introduction  are  considered  ( 1)  the  mode  of  action  of  drugs, 
stimulation,  depression,  irritation;  (2)  elective  affinity  of  drugs,  protoplasm, 
poisons  ;  (3)  remote,  local  and  general  action ;  (4)  chemical  composition  and 
pharmacological  action  ;  (5)  conditions  modifying  the  effects  of  drugs;  (6) 
methods  of  administration  ;  (7)  chemical  characters  of  drugs  ;  (8)  pharma- 
copoeias and  pharmacopoeial  preparations  ;  (9)  classification  of  drugs. 
In  Part  I  those  organic  substances  are  considered  which  are  characterized 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1  Renrifw  C 
October,  1899.     /  J\euitW±. 
