572  Meviews  and  Bihliographical  Notices.  {%iJ.7;i^n"*' 
which  is  brought  down  to  January  of  this  year,  is  treated  with  clearness  and 
precision.  Paper,  typography  and  binding  are  very  creditable  to  the  publishers^ 
Die  organische  Chemie  und  die  Heilmittellehre.     Rede  gehalten  von  Aug- 
Wilh.  Hofmann.    Berlin  :  August  Hirschwald,  1871.    8vo.   26  pages. 
Organic  chemistry  and  materia  medica. 
This  is  a  lecture  delivered  at  Berlin,  August  2d,  by  the  distinguished  chem- 
ist A.  W.  Hofmann,  at  the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  Medico- 
Chirurgical  Frederick  William  Institute,  and  of  the  Medico-Chirurgical 
Academy  for  the  Military,  and  as  might  have  been  expected,  treats  of  the  im- 
portant relation  of  the  two  branches  of  science  with  the  same  skill  which  char- 
acterizes all  scientific  researches  of  its  author.  Hinting  at  the  influence  chem- 
istry  has  upon  most  scientific  and  industrial  pursuits,  the  author  next  gives  an 
outline  of  the  domain  of  organic  chemistry,  and  passes  to  its  influence  upon 
materia  medica.  The  analytical  labors  are  first  considered,  revealing  those 
proximate  principles  to  which  the  crude  drugs  owe  their  medicinal  properties,:, 
wholly  or  in  part.  But  organic  chemistry  soon  enters  upon  a  new  field  of  in- 
vestigation, studying  the  influence  of  the  various  chemical  agents  upon  the  or« 
ganic  compounds.  The  derivatives  of  the  alcohols,  and  of  wood  and  coal  tar, 
the  generation  of  various  compounds  by  different  forms  of  fermentation,  the 
results  of  the  effects  of  nitric  acid,  chlorine,  &c.,  the  disappearance  of  the  poi- 
sonous and  emetic  properties  of  arsenic  and  antimony  in  certain  organic  com- 
binations, the  synthetical  preparation  of  some  remedials  agents,  the  complete 
changes  of  the  physiological  properties  of  alkaloids  by  methylation  are  severally 
reviewed,  and  the  conclusion  deduced,  that,  in  the  future,  physiological  efi'ects 
will  be  obtained  not  merely  by  the  mechanical  mixture  in  the  vial,  but  through 
the  chemical  metamorphosis  of  the  remedial  molecule. 
Constitution  and  By-Laws  of  the  St.  Tjouis  College  of  Pharmacy.  Incorpo- 
rated under  the  law  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  Oct.  1st,  1866.  St.  Louis  :  1871. 
We  acknowledge  the  reception  of  this  pamphlet. 
Barrough  Bros.'  Formulary  and  Descriptive  Catalogue  of  their  Fluid  and 
Solid  Extracts,  with  a  Complete  Botanical  Index.  Prepared  by  Burrough 
Bros.',  Baltimore.  Philadelphia:  Olaxten,  Remsen  &  Hafifelfinger,  1871.  12 
mo.    180  p.    Price  $1  00. 
This  handsomely  gotten  up  volume  contains  neither  descriptions  of,  nor  form- 
ulas for,  fluid  and  solid  extracts ;  its  aim  and  character  are  precisely  the  same 
as  those  of  its  forerunners, [published  by  Tilden  &  Co.,  Henry  Thayer  &  Co.  and 
Hance,  Griffith  &  Co.,  during  the  last  eight  years.  We  are  opposed  to  the  in- 
discriminate use  of  so-called  concentrated  preparations  for  making  tinctures, 
infusions,  syrups  and  the  like  in  opposition  to  the  pharmacopoeia ;  we  are  even 
opposed  to  the  purchase,  by  the  apothecary,  of  any  and  all  such  preparations 
(cases  of  emergency  excepted),  which  should  be  made  by  him.  Aside  from  the 
evident  care  bestowed  upon  the  compilation  of  this  volume,  we  cannot,  there- 
fore, find  anything  in  it  that  would  recommend  it  to  the  favorable  consideration** 
of  the  conscientiousj)liarmacist.  : : 
