5.88 
Reviews. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharra 
\  November,  1895. 
accepted  as  a  most  convenient  and  satisfactory  reference  book  on  this  most 
important  class  of  compounds.  As  the  author  says  in  the  preface  to  this 
second  volume,  "the  efforts  of  chemists  to  investigate  more  closely  the  nature 
of  the  carbohydrates  have  been  extraordinarily  numerous,  and  they  have  been 
followed  by  success  in  all  respects.  "  Especially  does  he  refer  in  this  statement 
to  the  remarkable  work  of  Bmil  Fischer  on  synthetic  formation  of  the  sugars. 
Hence,  material  has  accumulated  in  such  amount  as  to  make  the  present  vol- 
ume larger  than  the  one  issued  in  1888.  The  theory  of  the  carbohydrate  groups, 
as  developed  and  expanded  by  Bmil  Fischer  in  connection  with  his  synthetic 
work,,  is  first  taken  up  and  very  satisfactorily  stated;  the  newer  methods  for 
determination  of  molecular  weight  mentioned,  and  the  results  of  their  applica- 
tion to  the  sugars  and  starch,  and  the  most  recent  results  on  the  optical  prop- 
erties of  the  individual  sugars,  as  well  as  their  chemical  reactions,  are  given. 
The  body  of  the  book  then  takes  up  in  detail  the  compounds  belonging  to 
the  three  great  groups,  monosaccharides,  disaccharides  and  polysaccharides. 
The  alcohols,  like  mannite,  corresponding  to  the  sugars  and  the  acids  derived 
from  them  by  oxidation,  are  also  considered  in  detail. 
A  very  complete  enumeration  of  journal  references,  covering  thirty  pages, 
and  an  excellent  index,  serve  also  to  make  the  book  one  eminently  useful  to 
the  student  in  this  chemical  field.  We  do  not  know  of  any  book  which  will 
serve  as  an  authority  on  this  subject  better  than  this  new  work  of  Prof.  Tollens'. 
..  S,  P.  s. 
A  Manual  of  Organic  Materia  Medica,  being  a  guide  to  materia  medica 
of  the  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  for  the  use  of  students,  druggists,  phar- 
macists and  physicians.  By  John  M.  Maisch,  Ph. M.,  Phar.D.,  late  Professor 
of  Materia  Medica  and  Botany  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  Sixth 
edition.  Revised  by  Henry  C.  C.  Maisch,  Ph.G.,  Ph.D.  Philadelphia:  Lea 
Brothers  &  Company,  1895.    Pp.  526. 
.  The  fifth  edition  of  this  work  was  revised  by  Professor  Maisch  a  short  time 
before  the  appearance  of  the  recent  revision  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia. 
A  number  of  additions  and  alterations  have  therefore  been  necessary,  and  this 
part  of  the  work  has  been  very  creditably  done  by  the  reviser  of  the  present 
edition.  We  cannot  refrain,  however,  from  expressing  regret  that  photomi- 
crographs have  been  employed  for  the  new  illustrations.  Possibly  the  fault  has 
been  in  the  process  of  reproduction,  but  certain  it  is  that  they  compare  very  un- 
favorably with  the  beautiful  engravings  which  make  up  the  greater  number  of 
the  illustrations.  If  subsequent  editions  receive  the  same  careful  revision  that 
has  characterized  the  sixth,  this  work  will  stand  as  a  lasting  monument  to  the 
scientific  and  literary  accuracy  of  the  late  Professor  Maisch. 
A  Laboratory  Manual  of  Organic  Chemistry.  By  Dr.  Lassar-Cohn, 
Prbfessor  of  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Konigsberg.  Translated  with  the 
author's  sanction  from  the  second  German  edition,  by  Alexander  Smith,  Assist- 
ant Professor  of  General  Chemistry  in  the  University  of  Chicago.  London  and 
New  York  :  Macmillan  &  Co.  1895.  Price,  $2.25.  Received  from  John 
Wanamaker,  Philadelphia. 
In  adding  one  more  volume  to  the  already  long  list  of  laboratory  manuals,  the 
author  had  in  mind  the  practical  side  of  the  subject.  We  usually  learn  from 
the  works  on  this  subject  that  have  previously  appeared,  the  methods  of  prepa- 
