Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
March,  1921.  ) 
Book  Reviews. 
241 
is  a  perpetual  annoyance.  Redundancy  in  this  section  of  a  book 
rather  than  paucity  should  be  the  aim,  yet  few  but  German  authors 
know  how  to  correctly  index  a  book. 
There  are  few  omissions  that  have  been  noticed.  Among  these 
are  the  constituents  of  hair  dye  preparations,  paraphenyline,  diamine, 
henna,  etc.,  which  seem  to  have  been  given  absent  treatment,  perhaps 
on  the  technical  ground  that  they  are  not  medicinal  preparations  in 
the  strict  sense.  They,  however,  belong  in  a  book  of  this  kind 
naturally,  and  their  omission  will  be  felt  by  the  users.  The  chapter 
on  glucosidal  drugs  is  especially  to  be  commended  for  its  complete- 
ness and  thoroughness,  although  this  is  not  intended  to  disparage 
the  other  sections  of  the  book.  The  author  is  to  be  commended  for 
the  ambitiousness  of  his  attempt  for  such  books  exemplify  the  pro- 
gress of  American  pharmaceutical  chemistry  and  aid  in  its  eleva- 
tion. 
C.  H.  La  Wall. 
"Introduction  to  General  Chemistry."  An  Exposition  of  the 
Principles  of  Modern  Chemistry.  By  H.  Copaux  ;  translated 
by  Henry  Leffman,  A.  M.,  M.  D.  P.  Blakiston's  Sons  &  Co., 
Philadelphia,  publishers.    Price,  $2.00. 
This  is  a  splendid  little  text  book,  dealing,  as  the  sub-title 
indicates,  with  the  principles  of  modern  chemistry.  It  is  not  an 
introduction  to  general  chemistry  in  the  sense  of  being  a  book  for 
beginners.  Indeed,  it  is  intended  rather  for  students  and  for  prac- 
tical chemists  who  have  mastered  the  elements  of  the  science,  are 
fairly  well  conversant  with  its  nomenclature,  also  with  its  most 
significant  facts,  and  are  interested  in  viewing  these  facts  in  the 
light  of  modern  theories.  The  book  is  limited  in  size  and  scope,  and 
deals  only  with  the  basic  principles,  which  no  doubt  accounts  for 
the  modest  title  which  the  author  has  chosen.  The  fundamental 
theories  which  have  served  as  a  working  basis  for  chemists  for 
decades  are  stated,  discussed,  and  supported  with  laboratory  evi- 
dence. But  articulated  with  these  older  formulations,  we  find  the 
newer  hypotheses  and  generalizations  of  the  science,  a  clear  under- 
standing of  which  is  so  necessary  to  the  intelligent  reading  and 
appreciation  of  the  literature  of  present-day  chemical  research. 
The  general  style  of  the  book  is  didactic  rather  than  contro- 
versial.   The  opening  chapter  deals  briefly  with  the  conception  of  the 
