384  Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.  {^^l^^i^mT' 
Discours  sur  la  Falsification  de  la  Dure  par  la  Picrotoxine.    Par  H.  Bonne-  . 
wyn,  pharmacien  a  Ixelles.    Bruxelles  :  Henri  Menceaux.    1871.    8vo.  15- 
pages. 
A  discourse  on  the  falsification  of  beer  by  picrotoxine. 
This  is  a  reprint  from  the  Bulletin  de  V  Academie  Roy  ale  de  Medecine  de  Bel- 
gique.  'J'he  author  maintains  that  the  falsification  of  beer  with  cocculus  indicus 
should  be  proven  by  the  separation  of  picrotoxin,  and  defends  this  position 
against  Mr.  Depaire,  who  regards  physiological  experiments  upon  fishes  as 
sufficient  and  preferable.  The  author  recommends  the  following  test  for  picro- 
toxin :  To  2  to  5  centigrammes  of  it  10  or  12  drops  monohydrated  sulphuric 
acid  is  added  ;  in  4  or  5  minutes  an  amber  yellow  color  is  produced,  which 
slowly  passes  itito  a  saffron  yellow,  and  is  then  permanent. 
Report  of  an  Inquiry  in  regard  to  the  Prevalence  and  Bavages  of  the  Colorado 
Potato  Beetle  (Doryphora  decemlineata,  Say)  in  the  Western  portion  of  On- 
tario, with  the  results  of  some  experiments  on  the  insect  with  various  poison- 
ous substances,  and  instructions  for  using  the  best  practical  remedies.  By 
William  Saunders,  Vice-President,  and  Edmund  B  Reed,  Secretary-Treas- 
urer of  the  Entomological  Society  of  Ontario.    Toronto,  1871. 
The  authors  visited,  in  June  last,  the  western  part  of  Ontario,  at  the  request 
of  Hon.  John  Carling,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  and  Public  Works  for  that 
Province.  They  observed  that  destructive  beetle  in  such  enormous  numbers  as 
to  create  serious  apprehension  of  its  extension  over  the  greater  portion  of  the 
Province.  As  the  best  means  to  destroy  it  without  injuring  the  crop,  they 
recommend'  a  mixture  of  1  part  Paris  green  with  10  or  12  parts  of  flour,  sprin' 
kled  over  the  potato  vines  early  in  the  morning. 
Twenty -eighth  Annual  Report  of  the  Managers  of  the  State  Lunatic  Asylum, 
for  the  Year  1870.  Transmitted  to  the  Legislature  March  25,  1871.  Albany, 
1871. 
The  report  includes  the  Treasurer's  account  and  the  report  of  the  Superin- 
tendent, which  contains  well-arranged  statistical  tables,  such  as  are  usually 
expected  from  the  medical  head  of  such  an  institution. 
The  Illustrated  Industries  of  California.    San  Francisco,  1871. 
A,  cleverly  gotten  up  book  of  94  large  octavo  pages,  which,  however,  gives 
no  information  of  the  extent  of  California  industry,  but  under  that  garb  merely 
advertises  one  firm  of  San  Francisco  for  each  industrial  branch. 
OBITUARY. 
Professor  Dr.  Wilhelm  Wicke,  of  Gottingen,  died  there  June  6th.  His 
researches  were  mainly  devoted  to  agricultural  chemistry. 
Dr.  Julius  Schacht,  one  of  the  directors  of  the  North  German  Apotheca- 
ries' Society,  died  at  Berlin  June  20th. 
