92 
Reviews,  etc. 
("Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t       Feb.  1875. 
printed  a  section  of  a  bill  pending  before  Congress,  which  we  think  will  be  acqui- 
esced in  by  all  concerned.  Unfortunately  that  clause  was  incorporated  into  a  bill 
referring  to  tariff  matters  as  well  as  to  internal  revenue,  and  some  of  its  provisions 
appear  to  be  of  such  a  nature  as  to  prevent,  perhaps,  the  final  enactment  of  this  law,, 
through  which  pharmacists  and  druggists  would  be  freed  from  some  of  the  annoy- 
ances to  which  they  had  been  lately  subjected,  and  from  some  arbitrary  decisions 
rendered  by  the  Internal  Revenue  Bureau,  which,  it  seems,  now  begins  to  fear  that 
it  would  lose  considerably  by  such  a  provision.  In  view  of  this  possibility,  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  Philadelphia  Drug  Exchange  appears  to  be  very  appropriate — to  in- 
duce Congress  to  have  the  bill  considered  for  final  action  5  omitting,  if  its  passage 
cannot  be  secured  in  any  other  way,  the  disputed  clauses  now  under  consideration 
by  the  Conference  Committee  appointed  by  both  Houses^''. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLlOGIjAPHlCAL  NOTICES. 
Die  chemische  Werthhestimmung  einiger  stark  njuirkender  Droguen  und  der  aus  ihnen 
angefertigten  Arzneimischungen,  von  Dr.  G.  Dragendorff,  Professor  der  Pharma-  • 
cie  an  der  Universitat  Dorpat.  St.  Petersburg  :  1874.    Kais.  Hof  buchhandlung. 
8vo,  pp.  126.    Price:  in  paper,  i  thaler. 
The  Chemical  Valuation  of  some  Powerful  Drugs,  and  of  the  Medicinal  Preparations 
made  from  them. 
This  little  volume,  which  is  dedicated  to  the  Fourth  International  Pharmaceutical 
Congress,  is  a  very  important  publication,  which  originated  in  the  desire  of  the 
author  to  find  or  examine  analytical  methods  for  estimating  the  true  value  of  cer- 
tain drugs  and  their  preparations,  and,  more  in  particular,  to  determine  their  reliability 
and  to  search  for  the  sources  of  errors  and  for  the  means  of  avoiding  them. 
The  drugs  selected  for  this  work  are  aconite,  aconitum  ferox,  belladonna,  stra- 
monium, hyoscyamus,  ipecac,  conium,  tobacco,  guarana,  tea  and  co^^'ee,  nux  vomica 
and  Ignatius  seed,  colchicum,  opium,  poppy,  celandine,  cantharides  and  aloes. 
It  will  be  observed  that  most  of  these  articles  owe  their  efficacy  to  one  or  more 
alkaloids,  for  the  quantitative  determination  of  which,  the  iodohydrargyrate  of 
potassium  solution,  as  first  proposed  by  the  late  Prof.  F.  F.  Mayer,  is  used,  Ot 
great  interest  are  the  determinations  of  the  actual  strength  of  many  galenical  pre- 
parations made  by  the  various  European  and  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeias.  The 
necessity  of  separating,  particularly  from  complex  preparations,  many  principles, 
the  presence  of  w^hich  would  interfere  with  the  correct  determination  of  actual 
strength,  rendered  a  large  number  of  experiments  necessary,  the  results  of  which 
are  given  in  the  directions  for  isolating  as  much  as  possible  and  requisite,  the  active 
constituent.  Thus,  without  going  too  much  into  details,  the  work  has  been  ren- 
dered exceedingly  valuable  as  a  manual  for  use  in  the  analysis  of  the  substances 
mentioned  above  ;  while  those  seeking  further  information,  will  find  many  refer- 
ences to  other  publications. 
We  earnestly  recommend  this  work,  which  the  author  promises  to  continue  at 
some  future  time  5  the  notion,  which  is  still  prevalent  in  some  quarters,  that  the 
*  Since  the  above  was  in  type,  the  "  Httle  tariff  bill"  has  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  now 
awaits  the,  signature  of  the  President. 
