AFebJmaryPi8a98m*}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  119 
rial  to  be  treated  is  subjected  to  almost  the  entire  volume  of  gas 
before  any  considerable  leakage  from  the  room  occurs. 
In  addition  the  author  reported  that  he  had  carefully  inquired 
into  the  effect  of  the  gas  upon  insects,  fowls,  guinea  pigs,  etc  ,  when 
these  were  confined  in  an  apartment  during  disinfection,  and  that  in 
no  case  had  death  ensued,  the  time  of  exposure  ranging  from  three 
to  fifteen  hours. 
Ceylon  Flora. — The  untimely  death  of  Dr.  Trimen  unhappily  left  his  admira- 
ble "  Handbook  to  the  Flora  of  Ceylon  "  in  an  unfinished  state.  Two  volumes 
still  remain  to  be  written,  in  addition  to  the  three  already  published.  Sir 
Joseph  Hooker  has  most  generously  offered  to  undertake  the  preparation  of 
these,  and  his  offer  has  been  accepted  by  the  Government  of  Ceylon.  The 
necessary  materials  and  specimens  have  already  been  received  at  Kew  from  the 
Royal  Botanic  Garden,  Peradeniya.  More  than  thirty  years  ago  Sir  Joseph 
Hooker  assisted  Dr.  Thwaites  in  his  Enumeratio  Plantarum  Zeylanice. — Kew 
Bulletin. 
Suggestions  for  the  New  Codex. — The  various  societies  of  pharmacy  through- 
out France  have  been  asked  to  contribute  suggestions  for  the  revision  of 
the  Codex,  and  a  number  of  them  have  undertaken  the  task  with  much  thor- 
oughness. The  Paris  Society  of  Pharmacists  has  gone  into  the  matter  very 
closely,  and  as  the  members  of  the  special  committee  of  that  body,  elected  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  the  question,  are  largely  composed  of  pharmacists  in 
business,  the  suggestions  made  by  them  are  interesting.  They  ask  for  the  sup- 
pression of  a  certain  number  of  preparations  and  substances,  adding  that 
although  such  a  measure  may  appear  radical,  it  seems  justified  when  they  are 
apparently  abandoned  alike  by  doctors  and  the  public.  Not  only  are  some 
of  them  very  little  used  at  present,  but  in  certain  instances,  such  as  medicinal 
beer,  they  are  difficult  to  keep.  Among  the  one  hundred  and  one  substances 
which  they  suggest  should  be  omitted,  are  oil  of  absinthe,  antiscorbutic  beer, 
sugar  of  red  cabbage,  compound  electuary  of  saffron,  jelly  of  deer's  horns,  dis- 
tilled water  of  elderberries,  compound  electuary  of  rhubarb,  burnt  sponge  and 
sweet  oil  of  eggs,  calcined  bones,  pulp  of  dates,  sugar  of  walnut,  acetate  of  lime, 
and  extract  of  lilies  of  the  valley.  On  the  other  hand,  by  way  of  compensa- 
tion, the  Paris  pharmacists  draw  attention  to  a  number  of  products  which 
appear  to  have  won  the  right  to  a  place  in  the  Codex.  These  amount  to  about 
ninety,  and  include  cascara  sagrada,  kola,  glycerophosphate  of  lime,  lanoline, 
salicylate  of  mercury,  walnut  leaves,  liquid  vaseline,  artificial  serums;  also,  silks, 
catguts,  etc.,  with  mode  of  preparation  and  sterilization.  A  table  of  maximum 
doses  of  medicaments  is  also  suggested,  as  well  as  antidotes,  to  be  printed  after 
each  poisonous  substance.  —  The  Chemist  and  Druggist. 
