^ju^JiJs™'}  Bevieios  a7id  Bibliographical  Notices.  285 
cians'  prescriptions  the  wines  and  spirits  officinal  in  the  United  States  and 
other  National  Pharmacopoeias,  in  quantities  not  exceeding-  half  a  pint  of  either 
at  any  one  time,  nor  exceeding  in  aggregate  cost  value  the  sum  of  three  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum." 
As  we  understand  the  decision  of  General  Pleasanton,  the  repeal  of  the 
special  tax  heretofore  paid  by  apothecaries,  carries  with  it  the  above  exemption 
granted  on  the  payment  of  this  special  tax  under  the  former  Internal  Revenue 
laws.  Apothecaries  are  therefore,  after  the  30th  of  April  last,  subject  to  the 
same  liability  as  any  other  person  for  the  sale  of  distilled  spirits,  wines  or  malt 
liquors  in  any  quantity,  and  without  reference  to  the  purposes  for  or  manner  in 
which  they  are  sold,  that  is  to  say,  alcohol  in  any  form  and  for  whatever  purpose, 
and  for  the  dispensing  of  such  spirits  and  liquors  upon  physicians  prescriptions, 
and  for  strictly  medicinal  purposes.  Hence  apothecaries  must  take  out  licenses 
as  retail  dealers  in  liquor. 
The  decision  of  the  Commissioner  is  probably  valid  in  law,  but  we  doubt  the 
intention  of  Congress  of  imposing  this  tax  upon  apothecaries  and  thus  stamping 
them  as  liquor  dealers.  From  the  very  inception  of  the  Internal  Revenue  laws, 
Congress  has  always  shown  a  disposition  to  keep  legitimate  pharmacy  entirely 
distinct  from  the  traffic  in  liquors  ;  expressions  which  in  former  laws  were  not 
explicit  enough  or  liable  to  misinterpretation,  were  changed  so  that  every  faci- 
lity was  given  to  pharmacists  to  carry  on  their  business  that  was  consistent  with 
the  object  of  the  law,  and  the  restrictions  were  only  such  as  were  necessary  to 
prevent  evasions  of  that  part  of  it  which  imposed  heavier  taxation  upon  the 
commodity  of  spirits  used  as  beverage.  It  is,  for  this  reason,  but  fair  to  sup- 
pose that,  in  repealing  the  so-called  special  tax,  the  removal  of  the  exemption 
clause  was  not  contemplated.  We  regret  that  the  law  of  1870  is  not  more  ex- 
plicit on  this  point ;  while  believing  that  apothecaries,  like  all  other  good  citi- 
zens, are  willing  to  have  their  fair  share  of  taxation,  we  cannot  but  deplore  the 
necessity  that  compels  us  to  be  liquor  dealers  in  the  eyes  of  the  law,  before  we 
can  be  pharmacists. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGEAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Chemistri/  :  General,  Medical  and  Pharmaceutical,  including  the  Chemistry/  of 
the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia.  A  manual  on  the  general  principles  of  the  science 
and  their  applications  to  medicine  and  pharmacy.  By  John  Attfield,  Ph.D., 
F.C.S.,  &c.  From  the  second  and  enlarged  English  edition.  Revised  by  the 
author.  Philadelphia  :  Henry  C.  Lea.  1871.  8vo,  552  pages.  Price,  $2.75  ; 
bound  in  leather,  *8.25, 
A  more  careful  examination  of  this  work  has  fully  confirmed  the  opinion 
which  we  expressed  in  our  last  number  (p.  240).  It  is  a  valuable  guide  to  the 
medical  and  pharmaceutical  student  who,  by  practical  experiments,  desires  to 
gain  a  thorough  knowledge  of  chemistry. 
The  author,  after  a  short  introduction,  makes  the  student  acquainted  with 
the  general  properties  of  the  non-metallic  elements,  explains  then  the  deriva- 
tion of  names  and  the  symbols  of  the  elements,  and  gives  a  succinct  account  of 
the  principles  of  chemical  philosophy,  explaining,  as  they  occur,  the  etymology 
of  scientific  terms.    The  student  is  now  made  acquainted  with  the  metallic 
