Am.  Jour.  Pharaa.  i 
Feb.,  1890.  J 
Obituary. 
1 1 1 
of  the  two  meetings,  including  a  synopsis  of  the  various  papers,  were  pub- 
lished in  the  August  and  September  numbers  of  our  preceding  volume.  The 
"Unofficial  Formulary  Addenda"  contains  formulas  for  nine  preparations, 
which  we  intend  to  republish  in  our  next  issue. 
A  Manual  of  Organic  Materia  Medica,  being  a  guide  to  materia  medica  of 
the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  for  the  use  of  students,  druggists,  phar- 
macists and  physicians.  By  John  M.  Maisch,  Ph.  M.,  Phar.  D.,  etc.  Fourth 
edition,  with  259  illustrations.  Philadelphia  :  Lea  Brothers  &  Co.  i2mo. 
Pp-  539- 
The  publication  of  four  editions  of  this  work  within  eight  years  indicates 
that  there  was  a  need  for  such  a  work,  which  has  been  filled  by  the  one  bear- 
ing the  above  title.  The  preface  of  the  present  edition  states  that  "  it  is  in 
the  nature  of  descriptive  works  that  a  certain  monotony,  inseparable  from  the 
material  treated  of,  renders  the  text  uninviting  to  casual  readers  not  interested 
in  the  subjects,  or  ignorant  of  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  various  details." 
It  is  then  shown  that  for  practical  application  a  description  of  the  essential 
physical,  histological  and  chemical  characters  of  organic  drugs  :s  needful  as  a 
guide  in  studying  the  different  drugs  and  determining  the  variations  caused  by 
diverse  agencies  ;  also  how  such  studies  may  lead  to  further  original  research. 
The  literature  on  the  subject  has  been  carefully  collected  and  condensed  ;  but 
though  also  a  few  dru^s  have  been  added,  the  principal  change  was  made  in  the 
list  of  drugs  arranged  according  to  origin,  in  which  Beatham  and  Hooker's 
Genera  plantarum  has  been  followed,  which  seemed  to  be  particularly 
appropriate  in  view  of  the  approaching  revision  of  the  United  States  Pharma- 
copoeia. 
The  following  Proceedings  of  State  Pharmaceutical  Associations  have  been 
received  : 
Arkansas. — Seventh  Annual  Meeting.    Pp.  64.    See  our  last  volume,  p.  377. 
New  Hampshire . — Sixteenth  Annual  Meeting.    Pp.  46.    Next  meeting  at  The 
Weirs,  September  9th.    Geo.  F.  Underhill,  Concord,  is  President, 
and  Chas.  B  Spofford,  Claremont,  Secretary. 
North  Dakota. — Fourth  Annual  Meeting.    Pp.  32.    See  last  volume,  p.  538. 
South  Dakota. — Fourth  Annual  Meeting.    Pp.  57.    See  last  vol.,  p.  539. 
Wisconsin. — Tenth  Annual  Meeting.    Pp.  64,  and  Report  of  the  State  Board 
of  Pharmacy,  Pp.  40,  — .    See  last  volume,  p.  539. 
OBITUARY. 
Professor  Philipp  Weselsky  died  in  his  native  town  Saar,  Moravia,  Novem- 
ber 14,  1889,  in  the  sixty -second  year  of  his  age.  He  served  an  apprenticeship 
in  pharmacy,  then  studied  in  Vienna,  and  in  1854  became  the  assistant  of  Pro- 
fessor Schroetter  in  the  chemical  laboratory  of  the  Vienna  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, who  in  1869  was  succeeded  by  H.  H.  Hlasiwetz.  After  the  sudden  death 
of  the  latter  in  1875,  Weselsky  became  his  successor  until,  in  1883,  failing 
health  induced  him  to  resign  the  position  in  an  institute  where  he  had  labored 
successfully  for  twenty-nine  years.  His  original  investigations  led  to  the  dis- 
covery of  coloring  matters,  derivatives  of  phloroglucin  and  resorcin,  and 
