i5« 
Reviews. 
•  Am.  .lour.  Phami. 
\      March,  1890. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Hand-book  of  Materia  Medica,  Pharmacy  and.  Therapeutics,  including  the 
physiological  action  of  drugs,  the  special  therapeutics  of  disease,  official 
and  extemporaneous  pharmacy  and  minute  directions  for  prescription  writ- 
ing. By  S.  O.  L.  Potter,  M.D.,  Professor  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine 
in  the  Cooper  Medical  College  of  San  Francisco,  etc.  Second  edition,  revised 
and  enlarged.  Philadelphia,  P.  Blakiston,  Son  &  Co.  1890.  8vo.  Pp.  766. 
Price,  cloth,  $4  ;  leather,  $5. 
The  first  edition  of  this  work  has  been  noticed  at  some  length  in  this  Journal, 
April,  1887,  p.  222.  The  author  states  that  in  the  second  edition  all  known 
errors  have  been  corrected,  many  articles  have  been  entirely  re-written,  much 
new  matter  has  been  incorporated  and  the  original  text  has  received  a  thorough 
revision.  In  looking  over  the  pages  and  comparing  the  text  with  that  of  the 
first  edition,  it  becomes  evident  that  much  care  has  been  bestowed  upon  every 
part  that  is  of  special  interest  to  the  physician  ;  but  the  chemical  and  pharma- 
ceutical pages  have  not  received  the  same  attention.  Most  of  the  errors  which 
we  noticed  in  the  first  edition,  to  some  of  which  we  referred  in  the  previous 
review,  remain  uncorrected,  or  like  that  relating  to  the  sources  of  salicin,  have 
been  insufficiently  altered.  The  general  correctness  of  all  that  belongs  to  the 
therapeutical  uses  and  the  physiological  action  of  medicines  will  render  the 
book  of  as  great  practical  value  to  the  physician  as  the  preceding  edition  has 
been,  and  the  larger  size  of  the  page  and  the  clear  type  will  facilitate  its  use  as 
a  work  of  reference. 
Spinal  Concussion — surgically  considered  as  a  cause  of  spinal  injury, 
and  neurologically  restricted  to  a  certain  s}7mptom  group,  for  which  is  sug- 
gested the  designation  Erichsen's  Disease,  as  one  form  of  the  traumatic 
neuroses.  By  S.  V.  Clevenger,  M.D.,  Consulting  Physician  in  the  Reese  and 
Alexian  Hospitals,  etc.  With  30  wood  engravings.  Philadelphia  and  London  : 
F.  A.  Davis,  publisher,  1890.    8vo.    Pp.  338.    Price,  $2.50. 
Physicians  and  lawyers  will  recognize  this  work  as  one  of  especial  importance 
to  their  respective  professions,  it  treating  of  a  subject  which  for  more  than 
twenty  years  has  occasioned  bitter  contention  in  law-courts,  and  the  voluminous 
literature  of  which  has  been  carefully  reviewed  by  the  author  and  supplemented 
by  his  own  observations. 
The  Chapters  are :  Historical  Introduction  ;  Erichsen  on  Spinal  Concus- 
sion ;  Page  on  Injuries  of  the  Spine  and  Spinal  Cord ;  Recent  Discussions  of 
Spinal  Concussion  ;  Oppenheim  on  Traumatic  Neuroses  ;  Illustrative  Cases  of 
Spinal  Disease  ;  Traumatic  Insanity  ;  The  Spinal  Column  ;  Symptoms ;  Diag- 
nosis ;  Electro-diagnosis  ;  Differential  Diagnosis  ;  Pathology ;  Treatment  ; 
Medico-legal  Considerations.  Some  of  the  special  features  consist  in  a  descrip- 
tion of  modern  methods  of  diagnosis  by  electricity,  a  discussion  of  the  contro- 
versy concerning  hysteria,  and  the  author's  original  pathological  view  that  the 
lesion  is  one  involving  the  spinal  sympathetic  nervous  system.  In  this  latter 
respect  entirely  new  ground  is  taken,  and  the  diversity  of  opinion  concerning 
the  functional  and  organic  nature  of  the  disease  is  afforded  a  basis  for  recon- 
ciliation. 
The  following  Proceedings  of  State  Pharmaceutical  Associations  have  been 
received  : 
