Am.  Jour.  Pharni. ) 
April,  1890.  j 
Obit uar  y. 
207 
It  was  the  aim  of  the  authors  to  produce  an  intelligible  account  of  the 
science  of  electricity  and  a  trustworthy  guide  to  its  applications  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  and  surgery.  In  this  endeavor  they  have  well  succeeded. 
The  diction  is  clear  and  concise,  always  keeping  the  object  in  view.  It  is  a 
practical  and  useful  work,  for  which  more  than  250  illustrations  have  been 
judiciously  selected. 
The  following  pamphlets  have  been  received  : 
The  Cause  of  Death  from  Chloroform.— By  H.  C.  Wood,  M.D.,  and  H.  A, 
Hare,  M.D. — Reprint  from  the  Medical  News. 
Without  special  title,  published  by  E.  Merck,  of  Darmstadt,  giving  an 
account  of  recently  introduced  remedies. 
Chloralamid. — A  collection  of  papers  by  different  authors  on  this  new 
hypnotic. — Published  by  Lehn  and  Fink. 
Twenty-ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Woman's  Hospital  of  Philadelphia. 
January,  1890. 
Seventh  Annual  Report  of  the  Philadelphia  Polyclinic  and  College  for 
Graduates  in  Medicine.  1890. 
Twentieth  Annual  Report  of  the  State  Board  of  Health  of  Massachusetts. 
Boston  :    1889.    Svo.    Pp.  325. 
Among  other  matters  of  general  interest  this  publication  contains  special 
reports  on  water  supply  and  sewerage,  on  food  and  drug  inspection,  on  the  sale 
and  use  of  opium  in  Massachusetts,  etc.  The  last  report  states  that  25  empiri- 
cal preparations  (patent  medicines),  reputed  to  contain  opium,  were  analyzed, 
of  which  number  one  was  found  to  be  free  from  opium,  two  doubtful,  two  very 
slight  or  slight,  while  in  the  remaining  twenty,  opium  was  "present."  seven 
containing  "much." 
OBITUARY. 
Dr.  George  Kerner  died  in  Frankfurt-on-the  Main,  February  9th,  at  the  age 
of  54  years.  He  was  a  pharmacist  by  profession,  and  studied  chemistry  under 
Fresenius,  in  Wiesbaden,  remaining  in  the  institution  for  some  years  as 
assistant.  While  here  he  made  several  elaborate  investigations  together  with 
Prof.  Neubauer  on  guanine,  on  urea  and  on  the  determination  of  chlorine  in 
organic  compounds.  He  then  held,  until  a  few  years  ago,  the  position  of 
chemist  in  Zimmer's  quinine  manufactory  near  Frankfort,  where  he  devoted 
his  time  chiefly  to  the  perfection  of  the  processes  for  the  isolation  of  the 
cinchona  alkaloids  and  for  determining  the  purity  of  quinine.  His  essay  on 
the  latter  subject  resulting  in  the  universally  known  "  Kerner's  Test,"  was 
republished  in  this  journal  in  1862,  p.  517.  Since  that  time  several  other  papers 
from  his  pen  on  the  same  subject  appeared  in  Archiv  der  Pharmacie  and  in 
Berichte  der  Deutschen  Chemischen  Gesellschaft.  Among  the  apparatus  which 
he  improved  or  invented,  the  most  iugenious  is  the  kaleidostat  for  producing 
symmetrical  ornamental  patterns  for  paper  printing. 
George  D,  Rosengarten,  the  founder  of  the  chemical  manufacturing  firm  of 
Rosengarten  &  Sons,  died  in  Philadelphia,  March  18.  He  was  born  in  Cassel, 
Germany,  June  20,  1801,  and  came  to  America  in  1819,  and  after  travelling 
through  the  country  settled  in  Philadelphia,  in  182 1,  when,  in  partnership  with 
Mr.  Zeitler,  he  commenced  the  manufacture  of  chemicals,  the  latter  retiring  in 
