Am.  Jour.  PharnO 
February,  1895.  f 
Reviews. 
107 
the  chemist.  There  is  not  a  dull  page  in  it.  The  author  is  either  describing 
an  interesting  series  of  experiments,  or  else  he  is  drawing  conclusions  which 
he  almost  compels  one  to  accept  by  his  forcible  and  logical  description. 
A  Manual  op  Organic  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacognosy.  By 
Lucius  E.  Sayre,  Dean  of  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  Professor  of  Materia 
Medica  and  Pharmacy  in  the  University  of  Kansas.  Philadelphia  :  P.  Blakis- 
ton,  Son  &  Co.    1895.    Pp.  555. 
Professor  Sayre  issued  a  work  in  1879,  entitled  "  Organic  Materia  Medica  and 
Pharmacal  Botany,"  which  has  been  out  of  print  a  number  of  years.  The 
present  volume  is  in  a  slight  degree  a  revision  of  that  work. 
Part  I,  of  about  85  pages,  treats  of  Pharmacal  Botany,  and  Part  II,  compris- 
ing 385  pages,  is  devoted  to  Organic  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacognosy.  In 
this  part  the  author  adopts  two  systems  of  classification  : 
(1)  Arrangement  of  drugs  according  to  their  most  prominent  physical  char- 
acteristics. 
(2)  Arrangement  according  to  botanical  relationship. 
The  former  is  quite  brief,  but  by  a  system  of  numbers,  a  drug  in  this  class 
can  readily  be  found  in  the  second  class,  where  it  is  fully  described. 
In  the  second  class  each  drug  is  treated  systematically  as  follows  :  Botanical 
Characteristics,  Habitat,  Description,  Constituents,  Action  and  Uses,  Official 
Preparations.  There  are  543  well-executed  illustrations  distributed  through 
the  work,  and  they  add  very  materially  to  its  value. 
Appendix  A.  Insects  Injurious  to  Drugs.  Under  this  title,  eight  pages  of 
illustrated  matter  are  given,  which  cannot  but  be  of  value. 
Appendix  B.  Organic  Remedies  Formed  by  Synthesis.  Over  forty  pages 
are  devoted  to  brief  descriptions  of  what  might  be  termed  the  newer  materia 
medica. 
Appendix  C,  treats  of  Pharmacal  Microscopy.  A  glossary  and  full  index 
complete  the  work. 
The  book  is  modern  in  every  sense.  It  is  modern  in  the  order  of  treatment 
and  in  the  facts  detailed.  The  student  will  find  it  an  indispensable  companion, 
and  the  pharmacist  and  physician  can  turn  to  it  as  an  excellent  work  of 
reference. 
The  publishers  have  done  credit  to  themselves  on  the  mechanical  part  of  the 
work. 
The  Principles  and  Practice  of  Agricultural  Analysis.  Volume  I, 
Soils.  By  Harvey  W.  Wiley.  Easton,  Pa.:  Chemical  Publishing  Company. 
1894. 
This  work  is  coming  out  in  parts,  and  was  noticed  soon  after  the  appearance 
of  the  first  number.,  Now,  that  the  first  volume  has  been  completed,  a  brief 
review  of  the  same  may  be  of  interest. 
The  author  has  in  this  volume  succeeded  in  clearly  giving  the  principles 
which  underlie  the  science  and  art  of  the  analysis  of  soils  and  the  best  approved 
methods  of  conducting  it. 
An  introduction  gives  a  brief  description  of  soils  and  their  origin.  Then 
sampling,  physical  properties,  aud  mechanical  analysis  are  briefly  described. 
Chemical  analysis  of  soils  is  then  taken  up  in  detail,  in  which  the  most  modern 
