94 
EDITORIAL. 
from  Medicine,  and  its  union  with  chemistry  in  the  hands  of  a  distinct 
class  of  laborers. 
In  concluding  our  brief  notice,  we  must  remark  that  the  mechanical 
execution  and  material  of  the  work  are  a  credit  to  the  Cincinnati  press. 
Pronouncing  Medical  Lexicon,  containing  the  correct  pronunciation  and  defi- 
nition of  most  of  the  terms  used  by  speakers  and  writers  on  Medicvhe  and 
the  collateral  sciences,  with  addenda.  By  C.  H.  Cleveland,  M.  D.,  &c. 
Cincinnati:  Longly  &  Bro.  1855.  pp.  302,  18mo. 
For  the  above  useful  little  volume  we  are  indebted  to  the  author.  It  is  at 
once  a  scientific  lexicon  and  a  pronouncing  dictionary  of  technical  and 
scientific  terms.  The  author,  to  convey  his  ideas  of  correct  pronunciation, 
has  adopted  the  phonetic  signs,  and  in  a  preliminary  table  he  gives  these, 
so  that  those  unacquainted  with  them  may  learn.  As  comparatively  few 
have  any  acquaintance  with  the  phonetic  svmbols,  their  adoption  will  be  at 
first  an  impediment,  but  once  learned  they  greatly  facilitate  the  compre- 
hension of  the  sounds  intended. 
The  definitions  are  generally  of  the  briefest  character,  the  author  aiming 
rather  at  comprehensiveness  than  fulness,  yet  in  most  cases  the  reader  gets 
a  fair  idea.  Occasionally  a  want  of  clearness  is  marked.  For  instance, 
"  Nitric  acid"  is  defined  to  be  "  Aqua  Fortis,"  and  the  latter  to  be  "  Nitric 
acid."  It  would  have  been  better  to  have  said  "  Nitric  acid,  the  highest 
oxide  of  nitrogen  ;  a  corrosive  acid,"  and  then,  nitric  acid  as  the  definition 
of  aqua  fortis,  would  have  been  sufficient.  And  so  of  other  items.  Should 
the  book  go  to  another  edition,  the  author  might  advantageously  avail  him- 
self of  chemical  notation  and  symbols,  in  many  cases,  to  give  fulness  with- 
out much  increasing  size.  Errors  in  the  text,  typographical  and  in  mean- 
ing, are  not  unfrequent,  and  exhibit  a  hasty  revision  of  the  proof  sheets, 
as  well  as  some  want  of  care  on  the  part  of  the  author;  for  instance,  at  p.  22, 
Angustura  is  defined  to  be  "  a  bark  used  in  medicine  yielding  Brucia." 
The  term  "Cortex,"  is  defined  "  Bark,  the  Peruvian  Bark."  "Docemasia" 
is  called  the  "  Art  of  examining  fossils."  "  Magnesia  Alba,"  is  defined  to 
be  "  oxide  of  magnesia."  "  Picro  glycion  "  is  said  to  be  "an  impure  so- 
lanin  obtained  from  Dulcamara."  Besides  this  kind  of  errors,  we  observe 
some  words  spelled  wrong  and  the  error  endorsed  in  the  explanatory  pro- 
nunciation, as  "  Galipera,"  for  "  Galipea."  Gaultheria  "  procumbzis,"  for 
procumbens;  but  these  imperfections  may  be  removed  in  another  edition. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  virtues  of  the  book  are  very  numerous ;  its  small 
size,  and  the  perspicuity  exhibited  in  a  large  number  of  its  definitions,  and 
its  extensive  range  of  subjects,.will  render  it  a  valuable  aid  to  medical  and 
pharmaceutical  students,  in  calling  to  mind  what  has  been  learned  and 
forgotten,  or  in  understanding  terms  in  the  course  of  reading.  It  may  also 
prove  an  excellent  aid  to  the  dispenser,  in  solving  the  obscure  language 
in  which  some  physicians  seem  to  take  pleasure  in  couching  their  prescrip- 
tions, to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  apothecary. 
