Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1886. 
Reviews,  etc. 
319 
Virginia  State  Pharmaceutical  Association. — The  fifth  annual  meeting  opened 
with  a  public  reception  at  the  Opera  House  in  Alexandria,  on  the  evening  of 
Hay  11th,  the  business  meetings  being  held  on  the  two  days  following.  The 
annual  address  of  the  President,  J.  W.  Thomas,  Jr.,  discussed  the  recently- 
passed  pharmacy  law  and  other  matters  of  interest  to  the  pharmacists  of  the 
State  and  the  members  of  the  Association.  Committees  and  officers  reported 
as  usual.  Among  the  papers  read  and  discussed  were  the  following:  On 
"Syrup  of  Wild  Cherry,"  by  T.  Eoberts  Baker;  on  "The  Metric  System,"  by 
Hugh  Blair;  and  on  "The  Relation  between  the  Specific  Gravity,  Specific 
Heat  and  Combining  Weight  of  the  Chemical  Elements,"  by  J.  L.  Kellar.  The 
following  officers  were  elected  for  the  ensuing  year :  President,  Hugh  Blair, 
Richmond;  Vice-Presidents,  E.  A.  Craighill,  Lynchburg;  Edgar  Warfield, 
Alexandria;  J.  A.  Jeffries,  Warrenton ;  and  F.  M.Wills,  Charlottesville;  Re- 
cording Secretary,  E.  R.  Beckwith,  Petersburg  ;  Treasurer,  F.  H.  Masi,  Norfolk; 
Corresponding  Secretary,  T.  Roberts  Baker,  Richmond.  The  next  meeting  will 
be  held  at  Richmond,  on  the  second  Tuesday  (10th J  of  May,  1887,  with  Polk 
Miller,  Local  Secretary. 
KEYIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Dr.  F.  Beilstein's  Lessons  in  Qualitative  Chemical  Analysis  ;  with  copious  additions, 
including  chapters  on  chemical  manipulations,  analysis  of  organic  substances 
and  lessons  in  volumetric  analysis.  By  Charles  0.  Curtman,  M.D.,  Professor 
of  Chemistry  in  the  Missouri  Medical  College  and  in  the  St.  Louis  College 
of  Pharmacy.  Second  edition,  revised  and  greatly  enlarged,  with  additional 
chapters  on  analvsis  of  drinking  water  and  of  urine.  St.  Louis  :  Druggist 
Publishing  Co.,  1886.  12mo,  pp.  200.   Price  $1.50. 
On  the  appearance  of  the  first  edition  of  Prof.  Curtman's  work,  we  have 
noticed  it  at  length  and  commended  it  favorably  in  the  Journal  for  1863,  page  479. 
The  present  edition  differs  but  little  from  the  former,  so  far  as  Beilstein's  lessons 
are  concerned ;  but  the  remaining  half  of  the  book  has  been  considerably 
augmented  by  the  addition  of  organic  acids  and  alkaloid^  not  previously  con- 
sidered ;  of  new  chapters  on  volumetric  analysis,  and  of  the  analytical  methods 
for  the  examination  of  drinking  water,  urine  and  urinary  sediments  and 
calculi.  Reliable  in  its  statements,  and  methodical  in  the  arrangement  of  the 
material,  this  enlarged  work  will  doubtless  prove  as  valuable  and  useful,  or 
even  more  so,  than  the  first  edition.  As  a  commendable  feature,  should  be 
mentioned  the  judicious  selection  of  many  new  illustrations.  On  page  114  we 
notice  a  statement,  from  which  it  might  be  inferred  that  the  use  of  amylic 
alcohol  for  the  separation  of  alkaloids  had  been  introduced  by  Otto,  whereas, 
it  was  first  proposed  in  1861,  by  Erdmann  and  XJslar,the  process  being:  modified 
in  the  following  year  by  R.  Palm,  by  treating  the  liquid  rendered  alkaline,  and 
supposed  to  contain  alkaloids,  with  amylic  alcohol,  instead  of  evaporating  the 
alkaline  liquid  previously  to  dryness. 
A  Compend  of  Pharmacy.   By  F.  E.  Stewart,  M.D.,  Ph.G.,  &c.    Philadelphia  : 
P.  Blakiston,  Son  &  Co.,  1886.    12  mo,  pp.  196.    Price  $1.00. 
This  work,  being  based  upon  Prof.  Remington's  valuable  Text  Book  of 
