Am,  Jour.  Pharin. ) 
July,  1911.  i 
Book  Reviews. 
353 
done  in  the  domain  of  volumetric  analysis,  that  the  need  of  recon- 
sideration of  old  methods  and  of  selection  from  amongst  the  newer 
methods  becomes  more  imperative  with  each  succeeding  edition  of  a 
book  of  this  character.  The  present,  moreover,  being  the  tenth 
edition,  I  was  particularly  anxious  that  it  should  be  distinguished 
by  the  most  thorough  and  critical  revision  yet  attempted,  and,  in 
the  result,  by  the  greatest  possible  consonance  with  modern  practice. 
To  this  end,  I  placed  its  preparation  entirely  in  the  hands  of  my 
son  and  partner,  W.  Lincolne  Sutton,  who  had  accumulated  a  large 
amount  of  material  in  anticipation,  and  of  Mr.  Alfred  E.  Johnson, 
.  .  .  who  had  rendered  me  valuable  and  acknowledged  assistance 
in  the  course  of  preparing  the  ninth  edition.  I  feel  that  I  cannot 
pay  too  generous  a  tribute  to  the  devotion  of  both  editors  to  the 
task  they  tmdertook.  ...  I  must  admit  that  the  result  has 
rather  damaged  my  conceit  as  an  author,  for  it  is  obvious  that  many 
possible  improvements  will  reveal  themselves  under  a  meticulate 
examination  in  a  book  which  has  grown,  as  this  has,  by  a  process 
of  accretion  tempered  by  pruning  and  extended  through  nine  editions 
over  a  period  of  forty  years.  I  am  sensible  that  much  remains  to 
be  done,  but  am  sanguine  enough  to  be  looking  forward  already  to 
the  next  and  jubilee  edition,  when  the  book  will  have  attained  its 
fiftieth  year." 
The  editors  have  done  their  work  exceedingly  well.  Much  of  the 
matter  in  the  ninth  edition  has  been  entirely  rewritten.  It  has  been 
critically  revised  throughout,  obsolete  matter  has  been  eliminated, 
but  the  general  scope  and  original  features  of  Sutton "  are 
retained.  For  pharmacists  who  do  analytical  work  this  latest  edition 
of  Sutton's  "  Volumetric  Analysis  "  will  be  indeed  welcome. 
Materia  Medica  Step  by  Step.  By  Arthur  W.  Nunn,  F.C.S. 
London:  J.  &  A.  Churchill;  also  P.  Blakiston's  Son  &  Co.,  Phila- 
delphia.   191T.    $1.40  net. 
This  is  one  of  those  books  that  a  reviewer  does  not  like  to 
criticise.  It  is  always  unpleasant  in  commenting  on  a  book  "  to 
damn  with  faint  praise."  But  the  impression  on  glancing  at  this 
book  is  not  favorable.  One  or  two  illustrations  will  suffice  to  show 
this :  The  author  says :  'TnuHn  is  a  kind  of  starch.  ...  It 
can  be  distinguished  from  potato  and  other  starches  by  the  fact 
that  when  hydrolised  it  yields  levulose,  whereas  the  other  starches 
when  treated  in  the  same  way  yield  glucose." 
