Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
February,  1909.  j 
Book  Reviews. 
91 
of  the  milk  and  the  accompanying  comment  is,-"  Our  grandmothers 
had  great  faith  in  buttermilk  or  sour  milk,  and  some  of  the  fine 
complexions  of  days  gone  by  have  been  attributed  to  its  liberal  use 
as  a  wash.  They  seem  to  have  been  right,  for  in  these  more  exact 
and  refined  days  it  has  been  ascertained  that  dilute  lactic  acid  has 
the  same  effect ;  ergo  the  lactic  acid  in  the  buttermilk  was  the  thing 
that  made  the  fine  complexions."  These  are  examples  of  the  com- 
ments throughout  the  volume  and  they  add  much  to  its  readability. 
Chapter  II  treats  of  preparations  for  the  hair,  and  the  subject  is 
introduced  with  an  excellent  terse  description  of  the  structure  of  the 
hair  and  the  common  diseases  of  the  scalp  and  beard.  The  chapter 
is  replete  with  formulas  for  all  sorts  of  hair  dressings,  restoratives, 
dyes,  depilatories,  applications  for  diseases  and  parasitic  troubles. 
Some  of  these  are  published  as  examples  of  bad  formulas  worthy  of 
burial  and  the  following  is  the  comment  to  two  such :  "  We  print 
both  formulas  as  a  warning.  They  are  chestnuts  which  have 
travelled  the  rounds  of  the  press  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  since 
it  was  suggested  here  that  they  deserved  decent  burial,  they  have 
disappeared  from  periodicals." 
Chapter  III  is  devoted  to  dental  preparations  and  has  an  intro- 
ductory on  the  teeth.  The  numerous  recipes  for  powder  and  liquid 
dentifrices,  tooth  pastes,  tooth  soaps  and  tablets,  mouth  washes, 
dental  plasters,  waxes,  amalgams  and  fillings,  local  anaesthetics, 
toothache  remedies,  etc.,  should  meet  all  the  requirements  for  for- 
mulas in  this  part  of  the  druggist's  field  of  work. 
Chapter  IV  considers  perfumes  and  the  introduction  is  a  concise 
outline  of  the  preliminary  processes  of  preparation  of  the  odorous 
products  and  the  methods  and  apparatus  adopted  to  the  manufacture 
of  perfumes.  The  dissertation  on  synthetic  perfumes  gives  in  a 
condensed  form  most  that  is  essential  for  the  druggist-perfumer  to 
know  regarding  the  composition,  characteristic  properties  and  uses 
of  these  adjuncts  to  modern  perfumery.  The  numerous  formulas 
for  essences,  handkerchief  extracts,  toilet  waters,  colognes,  sachets 
and  solid  perfumes,  and  fumigating  perfumes  of  all  kinds  may  con- 
fuse the  novice,  but  to  the  more  experienced  they  will  serve  as 
valuable  aids  and  suggestions  for  either  old  or  new  combinations 
and  the  connoisseur  may  select  from  the  several  recipes  given  the 
"  original  "  Farina  cologne,  that  in  his  critical  judgment  is  worthy 
the  name. 
Chapter  V  takes  up  beverages  arid  numerous  recipes  are  given 
