EDITORIAL. 
93 
Positive  Medical  Agents  :  being  a  treatise  on  the  new  alkaloid,  resinoid,  and 
concentrated  preparations  of  indigenous  and  foreign  plants.  By  authority 
of  the  American  Chemical  Institute.  New  York:  B.  Keith  &  Co.,  Pro- 
prietors and  Publishers.    Pp.  300. 
We  have  rarely  been  more  puzzled  in  getting  at  the  true  character  of  a 
book  than  has  been  the  case  with  the  one,  the  title  page  of  which  has  been 
given  above.  Influenced  by  the  title,  one  would  infer  that  it  contained  some 
valuable  additions  to  pharmacy,  and  to  that  important  part  which  deals 
with  the  isolation  and  preparation  of  organic  principles  and  extracts.  We 
can  imagine  an  Eclectic,  after  having  purchased  a  copy,  before  glancing  over 
its  pages,  saying  to  himself,  "  now  has  the  Institute,  influenced  by  a  gene- 
rous feeling  in  favor  of  suffering  humanity,  and  by  that  liberal  spirit  that 
influences  scientific  bodies,  made  a  full  communication  of  the  processes  and 
formulae  of  the  preparations  they  claim  to  manufacture,  by  which  we,  who 
use  them,  may  know  what  we  are  prescribing ;"  but  alas  !  no  such  good 
fortune  awaits  this  earnest  seeker  after  knowledge ;  no  such  revelation  of 
the  profound  secrets  of  New  York  Eclectic  pharmacy  was  even  intended  to 
be  made  ;  the  book,  so  far  as  regards  the  pharmaceutical  aspect  of  the  sub- 
ject, is  an  absolute  misnomer,  and  in  this  regard  only  is  it  a  proper  subject 
for  our  criticism. 
The  first  90  pages,  under  the  caption  of  "  general  considerations,"  which 
are  plausibly  written,  point  to  the  importance  of  modifying  therapeutics 
by  substituting  for  crude  drugs  vegetable  principles  and  other  "  concentrated 
preparations,"  and  give  an  outline  of  the  therapeutical  classification  oi 
remedies. 
The  next  130  pages,  under  the  head  of  "  concentrated  preparations," 
give  a  general  account  of  the  medical  properties  and  doses  of  about  thirty- 
five  substances,  used  by  the  Eclectic  practitioners.  One  cannot  but  observe 
how  carefully  the  term  Eclectic  is  repudiated  in  this  book;  indeed,  whether 
used  or  not,  we  have  not  met  with  it,  whilst  the  preparations  noticed  are 
almost  exclusively  those  known  as  "  Eclectic  medicines,"  and  which  are  de- 
scribed, with  some  exceptions,  in  the  "  American  Eclectic  Dispensatory." 
The  book  being  anonymous,  the  writer  does  not  hesitate  to  frequently 
refer  to  the  excellence  of  the  preparations  of  the  "  American  Chemical  In- 
stitute," in  the  light  of  a  disinterested  observer,  and  this,  in  connection 
with  the  fact  that  it  is  published  by  or  for  that  company,  has  led  us  irre- 
sistibly to  the  conclusion  that  the  real  object  of  the  book  is  to  create  a  de- 
mand for  the  medicines  which,  owing  to  the  utter  silence  of  the  writer  on 
their  mode  of  preparation,  can  only  be  had  of  the  "  American  Chemical 
Institute."    The  author  says  in  the  introductory  letter : 
"  With  each  succeeding  edition  of  this  work,  we  hope  not  only  to  give 
additional  descriptions  of  active  concentrated  remedies,  but  the  processes  for 
obtaining  those  concentrated  articles  which  have  been  crowded  out  of  this  edition, 
for  two  reasons: — 1st,  we  wish  the  profession  to  test  the  value  of  these  medi- 
cines; and,  2d,  for  want  of  space  in  the  limits  assigned  to  the  first  edition. 
