240 
Book  Reviews. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X     March,  1921. 
Its  scope  is  comprehensive  and  ambitious.  The  accuracy  and 
completeness  of  its  data,  up  to  the  time  of  the  final  delivery  of  the 
manuscript  to  the  printer,  which  must  have  been  some  time  during 
1918,  are  commendable. 
It  is  divided  into  five  general  sections  or  parts.  The  first  of 
these  concerns  itself  with  the  general  methods  of  procedure  and 
crude  drug  assays.  Part  two  covers  alkaloidal  drugs,  alkaloids  and 
medicinally  allied  substances.  Part  three  includes  glucosides,  glu- 
cosidal  drugs  and  natural  drugs  containing  other  principles  than 
alkaloids.  Part  four  treats  of  organic  substances  other  than  alka- 
loids and  glucosides.  Part  five  covers  inorganic  substances  com- 
monly found  in  medicines. 
Under  each  of  these  headings  will  be  found  a  wealth  of  material 
of  interest  and  value  to  the  analyst  who  is  confronted  with  the 
problem  of  separating  and  identifying,  or  of  quantitatively  deter- 
mining the  substances  used  in  medicinal  preparations. 
The  book  covers  a  range  that  no  other  work  in  the  English 
language  covers  at  present,  and  it  will  undoubtedly  find  a  welcome 
place  in  reference  as  well  as  in  working  libraries. 
There  are  two  features  of  the  book  which  could  be  materially 
improved,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  author  will  not  overlook  these 
suggestions  in  the  future  editions  which  are  bound  to  appear.  The 
first  of  these  is  in  the  General  Methods  of  part  I.  Here  should  be 
included  much  additional  information  concerning  the  analysis  of 
such  preparations  as  are  submitted  in  practice.  How  to  effect  the 
separation  of  emulsions  with  methods  for  identifying  the  emulsify- 
ing agents  or  reference  to  the  proper  portion  of  the  book  for  the 
details.  How  to  handle  ointments,  plasters,  mixtures  and  many 
other  classes  of  medicinal  preparations  which  present  distinctive 
and  difficult  preliminary  problems  before  the  final  separation  and 
identification  of  the  important  constituents  becomes  possible.  For 
many  valuable  suggestions  along  this  line  the  author  could  have 
availed  himself  of  some  of  the  publications  of  the  Council  on  Phar- 
macy and  Chemistry  of  the  A.  Ph.  A.,  particularly  the  laboratory 
reports,  which  are  replete  with  interesting  data  of  this  kind. 
The  other  discouraging  feature  is  the  index,  which  is  glaringly 
incomplete,  many  substances  being  mentioned  in  the  text  which  are 
not  found  in  the  index  at  all,  some  of  which  are  of  importance. 
A  good  index  to  a  book  saves  time  and  temper  and  makes  the 
user  overlook  deficiencies  in  other  respects;  a  poor  index,  however, 
