Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
November,  1905.  / 
Book  Reviews. 
539 
and  we  have  only  ourselves  to  blame  if  we  fail  to  grasp  at  least 
some  of  them. 
Conditions  in  pharmacy  at  present  warrant  some  departure  from 
past  customs.  Some  of  the  suggestions  made  in  this  address  will 
doubtless  appear  to  many  rather  iconoclastic.  They  are  not  made 
with  any  idea  of  getting  the  section  to  take  definite  action  thereon 
immediately,  but  in  the  hope  of  creating  discussion  and  arousing  the 
interest  of  pharmacists  generally  in  the  affairs  of  this  association. 
BOOK  REVIEWS. 
The  National  Standard  Dispensatory. — Containing  the  Natural 
History,  Chemistry,  Pharmacy,  Actions  and  Uses  of  Medicines, 
including  those  recognized  in  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  the  United 
States,  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  with  numerous  references  to 
other  Foreign  Pharmacopoeias.  In  accordance  with  the  United 
States  Pharmacopoeia,  eighth  decennial  revision  of  1905  by  authori- 
zation of  the  Convention.  By  Prof.  Hobart  Amory  Hare,  Jefferson 
Medical  College,  Philadelphia;  Pro ".  Charles  Caspari,  Jr.,  Maryland 
College  of  Pharmacy,  Baltimore ;  and  Prof.  Henry  H.  Rusby,  Col- 
lege of  Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York.  Imperial  octavo,  1,858 
pages,  478  engravings.  Cloth,  $7.25,  net;  leather,  $8.00,  net; 
Thumb-index,  50  cents  extra.  Lea  Brothers  &  Co.,  Publishers, 
Philadelphia  and  New  York.  1905. 
In  the  United  States  the  dispensatories  have  been  the  commenta- 
ries on  the  Pharmacopoeia.  That  there  is  a  demand  for  these 
books  is  evidenced  by  the  willingness  of  the  publishers  of  the 
several  dispensatories  to  spend  large  sums  of  money  in  their 
publication.  When  the  purchaser  receives  256  pages  of  encyclo- 
pedic information,  such  as  is  in  the  National  Standard  Dispensatory, 
at  an  expenditure  of  one  dollar,  one  wonders  that  it  is  possible  to 
do  so  at  a  profit  to  the  publishers  unless  the  sales  are  very  great. 
The  present  work  succeeds  the  National  Dispensatory  of  Stille 
and  Maisch.  Any  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  old  National  Dis- 
pensatory might  be  inclined  to  question  whether  this  work  is  not 
merely  a  revised  edition  of  that  work.  A  careful  comparison 
shows,  however,  that  it  is  an  entirely  new  book.  It  is,  as  claimed 
by  the  publishers,  "  a  new,  practical  and  authoritative  work,  con- 
taining information  on  all  substances  used  in  medicine  and  pharmacy 
