Am.  Jour.  Pharm.'l 
February,  1901.  J 
Reviews. 
IOI 
Piscidia  erythrina}  "The  Indians  have  a  tree  wherewith  they 
take  their  fish  for  their  present  use,  being  near  their  habitations 
*  *  *  and  so  they  take  as  many  as  they  please.  This  is  a  provi- 
dence of  God  to  those  barbarous  people,  being  a  nature  help  for 
present  food  and  sustenance." 
Leucozna  giauca,  B.  Horses  (and  asses)  lose  the  hair  of  their 
manes  and  tails  by  eating  the  leaves.  This  fact  is  well  known  in 
the  Bermuda  Islands.  Reviewer  assayed  some  time  ago  a  small 
quantity  of  the1  leaves,  but  did  not  detect  any  alkaloidal  or  gluco- 
sidal  active  principle  therein.  I  suppose  the  plant  acts  only  when 
M  fresh." 
Eucalyptus  microtheca,  used  by  the  aborigines  of  Australia  to 
poison  fish,  by  throwing  fresh-cut  boughs  in  the  river.  The  Cucur- 
bitas  from  the  Canaries  and  East  Indian  Islands  are  often  used 
u  in  full  sea"  to  intoxicate  fish.  "  The  whole  yellow  pumpkin  is 
poisonous."  This  reads  queer  to  Americans,  on  whose  table  a 
pumpkin  pie  is  considered  a  delicacy.  The  pumpkin  mentioned 
here  is  an  Abobora  amarella.  The  Dutch  terminology  of  Kalbas 
and  pumpkin  is  somewhat  mixed  ;  but  that  is  a  fault  of  the  lan- 
guage, not  of  the  author.  *  *  *  The  seeds  of  most  Cucurbitacese 
contain  some  active  principle,  a  tsenifugum,  an  emeticum,  an  abor- 
tivum. 
With  the  addition  that  Greshoff  gives  a  few  interesting  items  on 
some  remarkable  cryptogames  (Cumarine  in  Polypodium  scandess, 
Lindsaea  cultrata  and  others  ;  an  abortivum  in  Lycopodium  Seleg.), 
I  leave  further  judgment  of  the  book  to  the  readers. 
Leidz,  Holland  ;  State  University,  J.  B.  Nagelvoort. 
November  9,  1900. 
Air,  Water  and  Food  from  a  Sanitary  Standpoint.  By  Ellen 
H.  Richards  and  Alpheus  G.  Woodman,  Instructors  in  Sanitary 
Chemistry,  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  8vo.  Cloth. 
iv-226  pp.   $2.    New  York  :  John  Wiley  &  Sons. 
The  three  essentials  for  human  life  are  air,  water  and  food.  The 
consideration  of  these  essentials  in  their  relation  to  the  needs  of 
daily  existence  is  the  province  of  sanitary  science,  engineering  and 
municipal  finance.  The  authors  in  the  work  before  us  have  taken 
up  the  consideration  of  the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  the  sani- 
1  Compare  "Proximate  Analysis  of  the  Bark  of  Piscidia,  Er.,"  by  H.  Berbe- 
rich.    Amer.  Jour,  of  Pharm.,  September,  1898,  p.  425. 
