30 
Book  Reviews. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Phartn, 
\    Jiuuiiuy,  1911. 
3.  The  official  list  of  members  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeial  Con- 
vention of  1910. 
This  latter  list  is  particularly  interesting-  in  view  of  the  unques- 
tioned ruling  of  the  Chair :  "  That  anyone  elected  a  delegate  here, 
who  has  not  come,  is  not  a  member  of  this  Convention,  cannot  be 
elected  a  member  of  any  Committee,  nor  as  an  officer." 
To  all  intents  and  purposes  this  ruling  limits  membership  in  the 
Convention  and  official  participation  in  the  conduct  of  its  affairs 
during  the  decennium  to  accredited  delegates  actually  in  attendance 
at  the  Convention. 
Because  of  the  information  that  it  contains,  this  pamphlet  should 
be  widely  distributed  and  should  be  frequently  consulted  by  all  who 
are  interested  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States  and  the 
development  of  its  objects  and  its  uses.  M.I.W. 
Hygienic  Laboratory  Bulletin  No.  70.  A  Study  of  Melting- 
point  Determinations,  with  special  reference  to  the  melting-point 
requirements  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  By  George  A.  Menge,  Wash- 
ington, Government  Printing  Office,  1910,  p.  loi. 
This  Bulletin  is  essentially  a  report  on  progress  of  a  study  of 
melting-point  determinations  made  for  and  in  co-operation  with  the 
Committee  of  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States, 
and  constitutes  perhaps  the  most  comprehensive  review  of  this  factor 
that  has  as  yet  been  published,  from  a  pharmaceutical  point  of  view. 
The  various  causes  for  divergence  in  the  melting-point  inter- 
pretations are  reviewed  and  illustrated.  The  author  also  illustrates 
and  figures  the  necessary  appliances  for  a  comparatively  simple 
method  that  appears  to  be  well  adapted  to  present  pharmacopoeial 
needs. 
The  experimental  data  reported  includes  melting-point  determina- 
tions on  24  official  substances  and  amply  suffices  to  show  the  need 
for  adopting  a  definite  and  uniform  method  and  procedure  for  de- 
termining the  melting  point  of  official  substances  if  this  factor  is  to 
be  accepted  as  an  indication  of  the  identity  or  purity  of  official 
substances. 
Pharmacists  and  chemists  who  are  interested  in  pharmacopoeial 
tests  and  requirements  will  find  much  in  this  Bulletin  to  assist 
them  in  determining  the  probable  value  of  melting-point  determina- 
tions in  connection  with  official  chemicals. 
