380 
EDITORIAL. 
an  active  sinapism,  if  before  using  it  is  soaked  in  water  during  12  or  15 
seconds.  Six  grammes  (a  drachm  and  a  half)  of  mustard  under  this  form 
suffices  to  irritate  with  much  energy  a  square  decimetre  of  surface  (four 
inches).  It  is  true  that  1  concentrate  the  properties  of  the  mustard  by- 
removing  its  28  per  cent,  of  fixed  oil,  an  idea  which  is  not  new,  but  sug- 
gested long  ago  by  Soubieran,  and  which  is  easily  effected  by  sulphuret 
of  carbon  or  by  light  coal  oil." 
More  than  fifty  pages  are  devoted  at  the  end  to  the  subject  of  coffee, 
in  its  hygienic  and  therapeutic  aspects  — the  result  of  a  conference  of 
"the  Polytechnic  Association,"  held  at  Paris  July  28,1867, — and  which 
includes  a  historical  account  of  its  introduction  into  Europe.  Those  of 
our  medical  and  pharmaceutical  readers  who  are  familiar  with  the  French 
will  derive  advantage  from  the  importation  of  the  volume,  which  is  quite 
moderate  in  price. 
A  Manual  of  the  Dissection  of  the  Human  Body.  By  Luther  Holden, 
P.R.C  S.,  Assistant  Surgeon  of  and  Lecturer  on  Anatomy  at  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's Hospital,  London  ;  with  notes  and  additions  by  Erskine 
Mason,  M.D.,  Demonstrator  of  Anatomy  at  the  College  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons.  New  York.  Illustrated  with  numerous  wood  engravings. 
New  York,  Robert  M.  De  Witt,  publisher,  No.  3  Frankfort  St. :  pp. 
588,  octavo.    (From  the  editor  and  publisher.) 
It  is  rarely  that  one  meets  with  a  book  thajb  keeps  so  closely  and  regu- 
larly to  the  text  as  does  Holden's  Manual.  Designed  as  a  guide  to  the 
student  in  the  very  important  study  of  the  practical  anatomy  of  the  human 
body,  it  enters  on  the  subject  in  a  clear,  straightforward  manner,  begin- 
ning with  the  neck,  and  proceeding  through  the  various  portions  of  the 
system  of  muscles,  nerves,  ligaments  and  vessels,  and  illustrating  them 
with  a  great  variety  of  excellent  original  wood-cuts  and  diagrams,  which 
greatly  facilitate  their  comprehension. 
The  style  is  easy,  the  descriptive  phraseology  in  short  sections,  and 
free  from  redundancy,  and  the  type,  press-work,  paper  and  binding  un- 
usually clear  and  excellent.  The  commencing  of  each  paragraph  with 
the  technical  name  of  the  organ  or  part  described,  in  large,  bold  type,  is 
a  great  merit,  from  the  student's  stand-point. 
The  tables  at  the  end  give  a  useful  summing  up,  in  the  form  of  a  series 
of  bird's  eye  views  of  the  arrangement  of  the  parts  to  be  studied. 
The  additions  of  the  editor  appear  to  be  judicious,  and,  on  the  whole, 
the  volume  must  prove  to  be  a  valuable  addition  to  the  means  of  teaching 
anatomy. 
Therapeutics  and  Materia  Medica  :  a  systematic  treatise  on  the  action 
and  uses  of  medicinal  agents,  including  their  description  and  history. 
By  Alfred  Stille,  M.D.,  Professer  of  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine, 
&c,  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  &c,  &c.  Third  edition,  revised 
and  enlarged,  in  two  volumes.  Philadelphia,  Henry  0.  Lea,  1868  :  pp. 
1688,  octavo. 
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