2i6 
Edit  or  ia  I — Reviews. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1898. 
EDITORIAL. 
THE  NATIONAL  FORMULARY. 
We  are  led  to  make  some  additional  remarks  on  this  subject  by  the  recent 
appearance  of  "An  Epitome  of  the  National  Formulary  of  Unofficial  Pre- 
parations," compiled  by  the  Cincinnati  Academy  of  Pharmacy.  Associated 
with  this  as  part  two  is  "The  Acaiemy  of  Pharmacy  Formulary."  The  two 
make  a  small  pocket  volume  of  eighty-seven  pages,  handsomely  bound  in 
leather,  and  intended  for  distribution  among  the  physicians  of  Cincinnati. 
While  this  method  of  bringing  the  National  Formulary  to  the  attention  of 
physicians  is  not  new,  it  is,  nevertheless,  an  excellent  one.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested in  numerous  president's  addresses  before  State  pharmaceutical  associa- 
tions ;  it  has  been  proposed  time  and  again  by  members,  but  the  actual  carry- 
ing out  of  the  plan  has  progressed  slowly.  Probably  the  Kentucky  Pharma- 
ceutical Association,  in  1895,  was  one  of  the  first  to  issue  an  epitome.  The 
Pennsylvania  Association  appointed  a  committee  in  1S96  to  exhibit  National 
Formulary  preparations  at  the  meeting  of  the  State  Medical  Association  in 
1897.  According  to  the  report  of  that  committee  (Proc.  Penna.  Phar.  Asso., 
1897,  p.  50)  "they  distributed  300  copies  of  an  epitome  of  the  N.  F.,  and  2,000 
samples,"  and  the  association  appointed  another  committee  to  continue  the 
work.  The  chairman  of  that  committee,  Mr.  Stedem,  has  asked  the  Philadel- 
phia College  of  Pharmacy  to  assist  them.  The  invitation  has  been  accepted, 
and  a  committee  of  the  College  appointed.  We  believe  if  this  plan  of  issuing 
literature  and  samples  be  persistently  advanced  it  will  cause  a  better  feeling 
between  physicians  and  pharmacists.  Some  physicians  are  hoodwinked  by  the 
assertion  that  fine  preparations  can  only  be  made  on  a  large  scale  ;  some  ap- 
pear to  be  ignorant  of  any  reasons  against  prescribing  proprietary,  trade-marked 
or  patented  preparations,  and  a  few  are  too  lazy  to  resist  the  agent  of  the  pro- 
prietary goods,  and  order  them  from  him  or  through  their  pharmacist  out  of 
sheer  inability  to  resist  him.  Every  pharmacist  should  become  an  active  agent 
of  the  N.  F.  preparations. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Nozioni  di  Zoochimica.  Del  Dott.  Icilio  Guareschi,  Professore  ordinario  di 
Chimica  Farmaceutica  e  Tossicologica  nella  R.  University  di  Torino.  Unione 
Tipografico-E  iitrice,  Torino,  1898. 
The  introduction  to  the  book  proper  consists  of  a  history  of  animal  chemistry 
and  its  relation  to  chemistry  in  general  ;  it  also  draws  a  comparison  between 
the  constituents  of  plants  and  animals  and  shows  their  relation.  Practically 
all  of  the  271  quarto  pages  are  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject 
under  two  parts  as  follows  : 
Part  I.  Substances  constituting  the  animal  organism. 
Part  II.  Studies  of  the  animal  organs,  tissues  and  liquids. 
The  first  part  begins  with  the  elementary  gases,  water,  mineral  sol.'ds,  ^nd 
gradually  leads  up  to  the  following  classes  of  more  complex  compounds,  viz.: 
Albuminoids  and  their  derivatives  ;  compounds  nitrogenous,  but  not  albumi- 
nous ;  non-nitrogenous  substances,  as  the  oils,  sugars,  phenols,  lactic  acid,  etc. 
The  second  part  treats  of  the  blood,  tissues  and  bones,  glandular  secretion  s 
