478 
EDITORIAL. 
Materia  Medica.  By  John  B.  Biddle,  M.D..  Prof.  Mat.  Med.  in  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  &c.  Third  Edition,  enlarged.  Phila.,  Lindsay  and 
Blackiston^j  1868,  pp.  384,  octavo. 
Students  who  are  engaged  in  the  arduous  task  of  following  the  numer- 
ous studies  embraced  in  our  first  medical  schools,  especially  when  aiming 
at  the  diploma  after  a  second  term,  desire  to  have  the  subjects  presented 
to  them  in  a  form  favorable  to  easy  grasping,  by  avoiding  many  details 
found  in  the  large  treatises.  Dr.  Biddle's  work  comes  under  this  cate- 
gory and  forms  the  text-book  of  his  class.  The  nomenclature  is  strictly 
that  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  which  is  constantly  recognized  and  referred 
to  in  the  course  of  the  work.  In  this  edition  a  number  of  new  remedies 
and  methods  are  introduced  and  the  work  brought  up  to  the  present  time. 
Particular  attention  has  been  given  to  the  doses  and  therapeutic  uses, 
and  our  indigenous  remedies  quite  numerously  noticed.  The  book,  very 
well  printed  on  good  paper  and  substantially  bound  in  muslin  with  thick 
cover,  is  highly  creditable  to  the  publishers.    Price  four  dollars. 
Lessons  in  Elementary  Cnemistry,  inorganic  and  organic,  by  Henry  E. 
Roscoe,  B.  A.,  F.S.S.,  Prof,  of  Chem.,  in  Owens  College,  Manchester. 
New  York,  W.  Wood  &  Co.,  publishers,  61  Walker  street;  1868,  pp. 
383,  12  mo. 
This  is  a  reprint,  without  additions,  of  Prof.  Roscoe's  work.  The 
author  has  "  endeavored  to  arrange  the  most  important  facts  and  prin- 
ciples of  modern  chemistry  in  a  plain  but  precise  and  scientific  form, 
suited  to  the  present  requirements  of  elementary  instruction."  The 
new  views  in  reference  to  nomenclature  and  symbols  have  been  adopted, 
and  the  ultra  modern  forms  of  expression  used.  The  next  remarkable 
fact  in  connection  with  the  book  is  the  adoption  of  the  metrical  system 
of  weights  and  measures,  and  the  centigrade  scale  for  temperature,  and 
hence  it  is  one  of  the  pioneer  instances  of  the  adoption  of  this  system  to 
the  exclusion  of  English  Weights  and  Fahrenheit's  scale.  A  series  of 
questions  are  appended  which  adapts  the  book  to  college  classes.  The 
book  is  gotten  up  in  English  style,  and  appears  to  have  been  carefully 
printed.  We  have  had  no  opportunity  to  compare  it  with  the  original 
edition.    Price  $1. 50. 
Report  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  to  the 
Contributors  at  their  annual  meeting,  held  bth  mo.,  4rth,  1868,  together 
with  the  accounts  of  the  Treasurer  and  Stewards.  Philadelphia,  pp. 
49,  octavo. 
This  report  is  full  of  interest  to  the  public.  The  Pennsylvania  Hospi- 
tal is  a  great  and  useful  charity,  valued  by  our  citizeos  and  appreciated 
by  many  at  a  distance  who  have  learned  of  its  Good-Samaritan  influence 
in  the  gratuitous  relief  of  suffering  by  accident  in  a  wide  circle  around 
its  location.  Many  citizens  have  given  liberally  to  the  general  fund  ; 
among  these  the  Managers  especially  mention  Asa  Whitney  &  Sons'  con- 
