AmMay?i905?rm'}    Reviews  and  Bibliographical  Notices.  239 
added  ;  whereupon  the  chances  of  reduction  of  the  mercuric  com- 
pound are  fewer.  The  mercurous  compound,  if  present,  would  even 
be  more  readily  decomposed. 
Unfortunately,  of  necessity,  there  remains  to  be  noted  here  the 
fact  that  not  infrequently  red  mercuric  oxide  is  not  completely  solu- 
ble in  nitric  acid.  This  insoluble  residue  bears  a  resemblance  to 
brick- dust.  At  the  same  time  the  slight  advance  in  the  cost  of  the 
oxide  over  that  of  the  metal  itself  must  be  mentioned ;  this,  cer- 
tainly, should  not  militate  against  it,  when  its  advantages  are  cor- 
rectly estimated. 
The  salient  points  in  the  proposed  process  are : 
(1)  The  use  of  a  definite  solution  of  mercuric  nitrate. 
(2)  The  use  of  a  larger  proportion  of  nitric  acid  to  oxidize  the  fat. 
(3)  The  production  of  an  ointment  true  to  the  pharmacopceial 
name — Ointment  of  Mercuric  Nitrate. 
(4)  A  product  to  a  greater  degree  devoid  of  odor. 
(5)  An  ointment,  assuming  the  existence  of  a  combination  of 
mercury  with  elaidic  acid,1  which,  from  the  viewpoint  of  therapeutics, 
is  physiologically  more  active,  while  it  exists  in  its  mercuric  state 
alone,  than  when  accompanied  by  a  mercurous  compound. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Ten  Lectures  on  Biochemistry  of  Muscle  and  Nerve.  By  W. 
D.  Halliburton.  With  illustrations.  Philadelphia:  P.  Blakiston's 
Son  &  Co.,  1904. 
This  book  contains  the  special  lectures  on  the  chemical  aspect  of 
muscle  and  nerve  physiology,  delivered  by  Professor  Halliburton  in 
London  and  New  York  City  in  1 903-1904.  Professor  Halliburton  is 
well  known  for  his  own  researches  as  well  as  those  of  his  students 
on  this  subject,  and  it  is  extremely  fortunate  that  he  has  brought 
together  the  results  as  contained  in  some  forty  papers  which  are 
more  or  less  scattered  in  different  publications,  and  correlated  them 
so  that  they  may  be  of  value  to  the  animal  physiologist  and  physician. 
The  subjects  treated  are  :  composition  of  muscle ;  heat  vigor  of 
muscle,  euglobulins  and  pseudoglobulins ;  the  pigment  of  muscle, 
properties  ol  nucleo-proteids,  the  ferments  of  muscle  ;  the  extrac- 
1  Witthaus,  Manual  of  Chemistry,  p.  226. 
