334 
Reviews,  etc. 
Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1879. 
cedanum  graveolens,  Hiern  (dill);  Pimpinella  anisum,  Lin  ;  Pinus  picea,  DuRojj 
Pinus  pinaster,  Solander;  Rosa  canina,  Lin.}  Smilax  medica,  Schlecht ;  Smilax  offici- 
nalis, Kunthf  and  Spigelia  marilandica,  Lin. 
A  Guide  to  Therapeutics  and  Materia  Medica.  By  Robert  Farquharson,  M.  D. 
Edin.  Second  American  edition,  revised  by  the  author.  Enlaiged  and  adapted 
to  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  by  Frank  Woodbury,  M.D.,  Physician  to  the  Ger- 
man Hospital,  Philadelphia.    Philadelphia:  Henry  C.  Lea.    1879.  Pp.498. 
The  appearance  of  a  new  edition  of  this  convenient  and  handy  book  in  less  than 
two  years  may  certainly  be  taken  as  an  indication  of  its  usefulness.  Its  convenient 
arrangement  and  the  terseness,  and,  at  the  same  time,  completeness  of  the  informa- 
tion given,  make  it  a  handy  book  of  reference. 
In  looking  over  its  pages,  we  have  noticed  that  Pareira  brava  (p.  336)  is  still 
referred  to  Cissampelos  pareira,  while  it  is  obtained  from  Chondodendron  tumtn- 
tosum,  Ruiz  et  Pa<von>  as  proven  by  Daniel  Hanbury  in  1873.  On  page  134  it  is 
said  of  Angustura  bark,  that  "it  has  fallen  into  disrepute  from  the  fact  that  it  was 
occasionally  found  to  be  adulterated  with  nux  vomica  bark."  This  sweeping  state- 
ment is  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts.  The  adulteration  was  noticed  in  1804  in 
angustura  bark  sold  at  and  obtained  from  Hamburg;  but  the  place  where  the 
admixture  was  made  has  not  been  ascertained.  The  adulterant  was  at  first  supposed 
to  be  the  bark  of  Brucea  antidysenterica,  Mill.y  and  on  this  account  the  alkaloid 
obtained  from  it  by  Pelletier  and  Caventou  was  named  brucia.  The  correct  oiigin 
of  the  so-called  false  angustura  bark  was  determined  by  Schleiden  in  1857;  but  for 
the  last  seventy-five  years  no  other  case  of  this  adulteration  has  been  placed  on  record. 
Hints  in  the  Obstetric  Procedure.    By  William  B.  Atkinson,  A.M.,  M.D.  Phila- 
delphia: D.  G.  Brinton.    1879.    iamo,  pp.  121. 
This  formed  the  subject  of  an  annual  address  delivered  before  the  Philadelphia 
County  Medical  Society,  and  has  been  re-vvritten  by  the  author  in  response  to 
demands  made  for  it.    The  book  before  us  is  of  the  second  edition. 
Hearing  and  How  to  Keep  it.  By  Chas.  H.  Burnett,  M.D.,  Consulting  Aurist  to 
the  Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  etc.  Philadelphia:  Lind- 
say &  Blakiston.     1879.     i6mo,  pp.  152.    Price,  50  cts. 
This  is  the  first  of  a  series  of  small  volumes  which  will  be  edited  by  Dr.  W.  W. 
Keen,  and  issued  by  the  publishers  under  the  general  title  of  American  Health 
Primers.  The  subjects  selected  pertain  to  sanitary  science  and  to  the  preservation 
of  health.  A  number  of  well-known  American  authors  have  promised  their 
assistance,  and  several  additional  volumes  are  now  in  press. 
The  little  volume  before  us  appears  in  a  very  inviting  dress,  and  as  to  its  con- 
tents, they  have  evidently  been  written  by  a  skilled  hand  and  in  such  a  manner  that 
they  will  be  interesting  as  well  as  useful  to  persons  of  intelligence  generally.  As 
the  forerunner  to  the  series,  it  will  create  an  interest  in  those  which  are  to  follow. 
