\ 
EDITORIAL. 
191 
our  opinion  is  as  fairly  entitled  to  the  adjective  as  the  volume  of  Dr. 
Attfield,  which  is  really  an  introduction  to  practical  chemistry  in  its  rela- 
tions with  the  education  of  the  pharmaceutiist,  being  intended  primarily 
as  a  text  book  for  students  in  the  laboratory  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
at  London,  and  as  an  aid  in  the  study  of  chemistry  by  the  pupils  of  medi- 
cal practitioners  and  chemists  and  druggists. 
The  style  of  the  work  is  unique.  The  familiarity  of  the  author  with 
what  he  would  teach  is  apparent  at  every  step  ;  beginning  with  the  char- 
acters of  the  most  important  element,  he  carries  the  student  on  until  he 
is  presumed  to  have  acquired  a  certain  definite  idea  of  the  chomical 
qualities  of  matter,  when  combination  and  atomicity  is  considered,  and 
the  language  of  symbols  discussed  sufficiently  to  enable  the  students  to 
understand  formulae  and  equations.  The  etymology  of  standard  words  of 
classical  origin  is  carefully  explained  in  course,  and  the  new  terms,  of 
which  many  have  crept  into  use  in  latter  times,  are  duly  explained,  such 
as  quantivalence  and  its  relatives  equivalence,  bivalence,  quadrivalence,  etc. 
The  author  endeavors  from  the  first  step  to  give  the  student  clear  ideas  of 
synthesis  and  analysis,  and  under  each  element  treats  of  its  synthetical 
and  analytical  reactions  under  separate  heads,  and  claims  for  this  method 
a  decided  advantage  in  teaching  the  chemistry  of  the  pharmacopoeia. 
Whenever  a  medicinal  chemical  is  treated  of  the  author  brings  in  the  offi- 
cinal names  of  preparations  derived  from  it,  in  italics. 
The  acids  are  considered  after  the  metals  and  salts,  instead  of  before,  as 
is  usual,  commencing  with  hydrochloric  acid  and  other  hydrogen  acids, 
and  proceeding  through  both  mineral  and  organic  acids  which  have  known 
radicals,  and  then  to  those  of  less  importance.  Short  notices  of  the  more 
important  alkaloids  and  modes  of  testing  for  them  are  given  ;  then  follow 
the  starchy,  saccharine  and  neutral  active  principles,  alcoholic  bodies,  &c. 
The  last  quarter  of  the  volume  is  devoted  to  toxicological  analysis,  the 
examination  of  morbid  urine  and  calculi,  and  to  quantitative  analysis, 
both  volumetric  and  gravimetric,  prefaced  by  a  notice  of  weights,  mea- 
sures, and  specific  gravity.  A  series  of  questions  for  the  use  of  students 
concludes  the  book. 
As  a  text-book  for  the  practical  laboratory,  and  for  home  students  who 
wish  to  acquire  practically  a  knowledge  of  pharmaceutical  chemistry, 
this  volume  will  prove  very  useful,  but  it  is  not  so  well  calculated  for  the 
study  of  theoretical  chemistry,  as  usually  taught  by  lecturers  in  the  United 
States. 
Plastics ;  a  new  classification  and  a  brief  exposition  of  Plastic  Surgery. 
(A  reprint  from  a  report  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Illinois  State  Medi- 
cal Society  for  1867).  By  David  Prince,  M.  D.  Phila.  :  Lindsay  <fc 
Blakiston,  pp.  96  octavo. 
Plastic  Surgery  is  said  to  be  "  that  department  of  operative  surgery 
which  has  for  its  end  the  reparation  or  restoration  of  some  lost,  defective, 
