Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1919. 
Book  Reviews. 
251 
medica  which  from  the  frequency  of  use  are  surely  "  living  materia 
medica  "  that  are  not  included  in  the  present  editions  of  either  the 
U.  S.  P.  or  N.  F.  Moreover,  these  official  promulgations  have 
"  standardized  "  comparatively  few  of  the  official  drugs  of  vegetable 
or  animal  origin,  in  that  their  therapeutic  activity  is  determined  by 
chemical  assay  of  their  active  medicinal  constituents  or  by  a  physio- 
logical assay  of  their  potency. 
While  agreeing  with  the  statement  in  the  preface  that  "  all  that 
is  mentioned  in  Squibb's  Atlas  is  of  worth,"  we  are  not  prepared  to 
endorse  the  initial  laudatory  statement  therein  that  "  Squibb's  Atlas 
of  the  Official  Drugs  is  a  complete,  up-to-date,  trustworthy  hand- 
book on  pharmacognosy."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  "  a  complete,  up-to- 
date  and  trustworthy  handbook  on  pharmacognosy  "  has  not  yet 
been  published  in  the  English  language. 
The  classification  of  the  contents  is  simple  and  excellent  and  the 
treatment  of  the  macroscopic  characters  of  the  materia  medica  con- 
sidered is  concise,  to  the  point  and  in  the  main  quite  satisfactory. 
The  terms  used  in  the  descriptions  are  necessarily  technical,  but  are 
free  from  the  ultra  scientific  phraseology  that  has  too  frequently 
confused  the  students  of  pharmacognosy.  "  Hackly "  is  a  good 
English  word  and  well  selected  to  define  "  a  fracture  with  a  sharp 
and  jagged  surface."  We  note,  however,  that  in  speaking  of  frac- 
ture on  page  9  the  word  "concordat"  is  used,  instead  of  conchoidal, 
to  define  a  fracture  with  curved  surface  and  that  in  numerous  other 
places  throughout  the  pages  the  same  error  occurs. 
The  photographic  illustrations  of  crude  drugs  and  of  trade  or 
imported  packages  of  some  of  these,  are  good  pictures  of  type  speci- 
mens as  the  drugs  should  appear  in  commerce.  These  pictures  are 
the  most  valuable  feature  of  the  book  and  generally  well  represent 
the  macroscopic  appearances.  As  a  means  of  presenting  the  histo- 
logical characteristics,  these  illustrations  cannot  be  looked  upon  as 
a  success.  For  example,  the  size  of  the  pictures  of  the  cross  sec- 
tions of  Mexican  sarsaparilla  and  of  triticum  preclude  anything 
like  a  differentiation  of  the  tissues  present  in  these.  Modern  phar- 
macognosy is  concerned  equally  with  the  study  of  the  microscopic 
as  well  as  the  macroscopic  characteristics  of  drugs  as  a  clear  under- 
standing of  both  is  essential. 
G.  M.  B. 
