■io8  Reviews.  {AmTebT,\m^m' 
ceutical  Conference  at  the  twenty-eighth  annual  meeting  held  at  Cardiff, 
August,  1 891.    London  :  J.  &  A.  Churchill.    8vo.    Pp.  544. 
The  Year-book  gives  upon  295  pages  abstracts  from  the  various  journals,  and 
concludes  with  18  additional  pages  containing  pretty  complete  lists  of  books 
relating  to  pharmacy  and  the  collateral  sciences.  The  remaining  portion  of 
the  volume  contains  the  list  of  members  and  the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting, 
together  with  the  papers  read  and  the  discussions  relating  thereto.  The  indis- 
pensable index  closes  the  volume. 
The  Tannins.  A  monograph  on  the  history,  preparation,  properties,  methods 
of  estimation  and  uses  of  the  vegetable  astringents,  with  an  index  to  the  litera- 
ture of  the  subject.  By  Henry  Trimble,  Ph.M.,  Professor  of  Analytical 
Chemistry  in  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  Vol.  1.  Philadelphia  : 
J.  B.  Lippincott  Company.    1892.    Pp.  168.    Price,  $2. 
This  very  interesting  monograph  makes  its  appearance  at  a  very  appropriate 
time,  namely,  at  the  close  of  the  first  century  of  the  recognition  of  tannin  as  a 
distinct  principle,  which  is  generally  ascribed  to  the  French  apothecary  De- 
yeux,  in  1793.  Without  entering  into  the  old  views  concerning  the  nature  of 
astringent  vegetable  substances,  the  author  opens  the  history  of  this  class  of 
substances,  with  an  account  of  the  results  arrived  at  by  Deyeux,  and  of  those 
of  various  observers  immediately  preceding  him;  and  closes  the  same  with 
Proust's  announcement  in  1802  that  there  are  many  different  kinds  of  tannin 
in  different  plants.  This  historical  introduction  is  followed  by  chapters  on  the 
general  characters  and  on  the  detection  and  estimation  of  tannins  ;  and  in 
Tart  II  by  a  monograph  on  gallotannic  acid,  giving  its  sources,  history,  pre- 
paration, properties  and  constitution.  A  very  useful  and  interesting  selection 
from  the  very  extensive  literature  on  the  tannins,  commencing  with  1791,  is 
given  in  the  lists  of  authors,  of  titles  and  of  books,  with  which  the  present  vol- 
ume closes.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  second  volume  of  the  work  may  make 
its  appearance  at  no  distant  day. 
Age  of  the  Domestic  Animals :  being  a  complete  treatise  on  the  dentition  of 
the  horse,  ox,  sheep,  hog  and  dog,  and  on  the  various  other  means  of  deter- 
mining the  age  of  these  animals.  By  Rush  Shippen  Huidekoper,  M.D., 
Veterinarian  (Alfort,  France),  Professor  of  Sanitary  Medicine  and  Veterinary 
Jurisprudence,  American  Veterinary  College,  New  York.  Illustrated  with  200 
engravings.  Philadelphia  and  London  :  F.  A.  Davis,  Publisher,  1891.  8vo. 
Pp.  viii  and  217.    Price,  cloth,  $1.75. 
In  the  introductory  chapter  the  author  defines  the  three  periods  of  age  in 
animals,  namely,  the  juvenile  or  period  of  growth  ;  the  adult  or  stationary 
period  ;  and  senility  or  old  age,  the  period  of  deterioration  or  of  decline.  The 
changes  which  take  place  during  these  periods,  depend  not  only  upon  inherent 
or  internal  causes,  but  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  external  conditions.  The 
age  of  a  domestic  animal  becomes  apparent  from  its  general  aspect,  from  the 
changes  in  the  conformation  of  the  body,  and  from  the  functional  activity  of 
its  organs,  all  of  which  have  to  be  examined  in  detail,  but  primarily  the  con- 
dition of  the  teeth  gives  the  desired  information,  while  changes  in  other  organs 
must  be  considered  to  be  of  secondary  importance  for  the  purpose  indicated. 
For  these  reasons  great  prominence  is  given  in  the  book  before  us  both  in 
descriptions  and  illustrations  to  the  teeth,  their  development  and  changes  in 
