Am.  Jock.  Pharm.  ) 
March  1,  1871.  J 
Revieiv. 
Ill 
in  this  direction  of  Hager,  Jacobsen,  Casselmann  and  many  others. 
'The  book  confines  itself,  for  obvious  reasons,  to  those  secret  prepara- 
ttions  offered  for  sale  in  Germany ;  but  we  find  among  them  quite  a 
number  which  are  more  or  less  known  in  this  country  and  have  their 
ibirthplace  in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Italy,  France  or  England ;  even 
a  number  of  American  origin  are  "ventilated"  therein,  the  proprie- 
tors of  which  had  "  enterprize  "  enough  to  introduce  them  on  the  old 
iQontinent. 
The  articles  are  arranged  in  alphabetical  order,  and  a  short  history 
IS  in  nearly  all  cases  attached,  giving  the  originator  or  manufacturer, 
the  diseases  which  it  pretends  to  cure,  a  description  of  the  physical 
properties  and  style  in  which  it  is  put  up,  the  retail  price,  the  pre- 
tended constituents,  the  names  of  the  analysts,  the  true  composition, 
;and  the  actual  retail  value,  if  made  in  a  respectable  apothecary's  store. 
We  extract  the  formulas  for  a  few  articles  only,  which  may  be  of 
rsome  interest  to  our  readers  : 
(7oca  by  Sampson,  New  York.    According  to  Hager  and  Jacobsen, 
'Composed  of  powdered  coca  and  extract  of  coca  in  about  equal  quantities; 
value  about  one-fourth  of  price. 
Eau  de  Cythere,  a  hair  color  restorer,  consists  of  4  chloride  of  lead,  8  hypo- 
sulphite of  soda,  88  water.  A  similar  composition  has  Eau  de  fees,  which,  a 
couple  of  years  ago,  was  introduced  here.  The  writer  found  in  a  sample  also 
some  alkalies,  earths  and  traces  of  nitric  acid,  originating  probably  in  the  spring 
or  pump  water  used.  Hager  and  Jacobsen  give  the  following  formula  :  hypo- 
sulphite of  lead       hyposulphite  of  soda  3,  glycerin  7,  water  88  parts. 
Granular  Effervescent  Citrate  of  Magnesia,  by  Bishop,  of  London,  consists 
jnerely  of  bicarbonate  of  soda  and  tartaric  acid. 
Pommade  des  Chatelaines,  a  hair  invigorator,  consists  of  benzoinated  lard 
.and  some  volatile  oils. 
Hamburg  Tea,  by  Frese  &  Co.,  of  Hamburg:  Senna  8,  manna  3,  coriander  1. 
Magnesian  Aperient,  by  Moxon,  of  England,  is,  aceording  to  Siller,  anhy- 
-drous  sulphate  of  magnesia  31,  carbonate  of  magnesia  14,  bicarbonate  of  soda 
.30,  tartaric  acid  25  parts. 
Lait  de  Perles,  according  to  Dragendorff,  1  white  lead,  7  rose  water. 
Swedish  Essence  of  Life  is  made  also  in  this  country,  under  various  names. 
As  usually  made  by  apothecaries,  it  is  a  tincture  prepared  from  4  aloes,  1 
agaric,  1  rhubarb,  1  saffron,  1  zedoary,  1  gentian,  1  myrrh,  1  theriac,  with  100 
to  120  dilute  alcohol.  The  secret  medicine  manufacturers  usually  substitute 
•cheaper  articles  for  the  high  priced  saffron  and  rhubarb. 
Hoff's  Extract  of  Malt  has  been  repeatedly  altered  in  its  composition.  It  is 
now  a  good  beer,  of  a  pretty  constant  alcoholic  strength  of  3  per  ct.,  but 
varying  in  the  amount  of  extract  between  5'3  and  10  per  ct.  The  beer  some- 
times contains  an  infusion  of  a  bitter  herb  (buckbean,  blessed  thistle)  and  of 
