Am. Jour. Pharm. tain details in some reactions, more particularly of poisons, as for example the behavior of ferric salts towards formates, acetates, sulphocyanates and meconates (pp. 150, 151, 171, 198). The work is thoroughly practical, and shows the author to be a careful observer and teacher in his capacity of professor in the Colorado State Agricultural College and chemist of the Experiment Station. In addition to this the care bestowed upon the proof reading deserves commendable mention; also the general appearance of the book. But we think that the Index might be improved; for in referring to it for information about the forensic recognition of such poisons like arsenic, meconic acid, phosphorus and others, one would scarcely look for them under" alkaloids." An elementary Textbook of Chemistry. By Wm. G. Mixter, Professor of Chemistry in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale University, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1889, 12mo, pp. X and 459. Price $2.50. This very useful book for students opens with a chapter on chemical physics, which is followed by a general account of elements, atomic weight, symbols and formulas, after which the different elements are considered. With the view of presenting the subject in such a manner that the student may grasp the fundamental principles of the science, and at the same time learn something of the chemistry of common things, the periodic classification has been adopted; acidic and basic groups are treated alternately; experiments to be performed by the students are fully described; graphic, constitutional and empirical formulas are made use of as occasion requires; about 90 well executed woodcuts have been used for illustrating apparatus, crystals, etc.; and by the use of different kinds of type the commoner and rarer substances are distinguished. The work well deserves the attention of teachers of chemistry as a useful textbook for students. The make up of the book is creditable, and proofreading has been very carefully done. International Pocket Medical Formulary, with an appendix containing posological table; formula for inhalations, suppositories, nasal douches, eyewashes and gargles; hypodermic formula; use of thermometer in disease; poisons and their antidotes; post-mortem and medico legal examinations; artificial respiration; ligation of arteries; obstetrical table; urinalysis; differential diagnosis of eruptive, typhoid and typhus fevers; tables of pulse temperature, respiration; motorpoints, etc. By C. Sumner Witherstine, M. S., M. D., etc. Philadelphia and London: F. A. Davis, 1888. XIV and 269. Price $2.00. All but forty pages of the book contain prescriptions, 1658 in number, of prominent physicians of different countries. These formulas are arranged according to the ailments for which the medicines are recommended, and the diseases are enumerated in alphabetical order. The contents of the remaining 40 pages are sufficiently explained in the title. The book is of convenient size to be carried in the pocket, is well bound, and is provided with sufficient blank paper for notes and memoranda. Warner's Therapeutic and Reference Book. Philadelphia: Wm. R. Warner & Co., 1889. 12 mo., pp. 119. Price $1.00. Notes on weights and measures, on prescription writing, on incompatibles, on poisons and antidotes; tables of doses, of digestibility of food, of eruptive fevers, etc., occupy about 50 pages of the book, the remainder consisting of a formulary, of which the main portion is arranged alphabetically; the prescriptions are by prominent physicians, mostly American and English practitioners. American Resorts; with Notes Upon Their Climate.-By Bushrod W. James, A. M., M. D., &c. With a translation from the German by Mr. S. Kauffman of those chapters of "Die Klimate der Erde," written by Dr. A. Woeikoff, of St. Petersburg, Russia, that relate to North and South America and the islands and oceans contiguous thereto. Svo., pp. 285, cloth. Price, $2.00. The author states upon the title page that the work is intended for invalids and those who desire to preserve good health in a suitable climate. Having been written for the general public, we do not find in the book learned arguments of the curative effects of certain localities or of mineral springs. The work is descriptive rather than argumentative, and on looking over its pages one is apt to regret that the descriptions are not more lengthy. But these, though brief, are sufficient to convince the reader, if he did not already know it, that-so the author states, "it seems scarcely necessary for Americans to seek relief at the resorts of the humid Riviera, or at the more questionable places of health resorts which afford the excitements and unsanitary accompaniments of city life, when in their own land they may enjoy equally good or even superior climates." A large map of North America, giving the railroad systems of Canada, the United States and Mexico, is bound with the book, the perusal of which we heartily recommend to those who wish for information about the numerous health resorts of this continent. Record of Experiments conducted by the Commissioner of Agriculture in the Manufacture of Sugar from Sorghum at Rio Grande, N. J.; Kenner, La.; Conway Springs, Douglass and Sterling, Kan., in 1888. 8vo., pp. 162. A report edited by H. W. Wiley, chemist, and published as Bulletin No. 20 of U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Chemistry. Sixth Annual Report of the Board of Control of the State Agricultural Experiment Station at Amherst, Mass., for 1888. 8vo., pp. 263. The experiments were carried on under the direction of Prof. C. A. Goessmann. Jour. Pharm , 1889 Report of the Pennsylvania State College for the year 1887. Part II. Agricultural Experiment Station. Pp. 226. The printing of the report which is dated January 30, 1888, was delayed. The experiments were conducted by Prof. Wm. Frear, and later by Prof. H. P. Armsby. Second Biennial Report of the California State Board of Forestry for the years 1887-88. 8vo., pp. 182. A very interesting document, the greater portion of which consists of an account of the pines (Pinus) indigenous to California. Besides a number of county maps showing the extent of forests and kind of timber, the report contains many photographic plates of the different species of Pinus, and of their leaves and cones. Der Kohlensäure-Gehalt der Luft in Dorpat bestimmt in den Monaten Juni bis September, 1888. Von Jacob Heimann. The amount of carbonic acid in the atmosphere of Dorpat determined during the months of June to September, 1888. Studien über dem gerichtlich-chemischen Nachweis von Blut. Von Adolph Klein. Investigations on the forensic chemical determination of blood. Untersuchungen über das Verhalten der Fette zu Zuckersolutionen. Von Theo. Pacht. Researches on the behavior of fats to solutions of sugar. The above three pamphlets are inaugural essays, and describe experimen. tal investigations carried out in the laboratory of Prof. Dragendorff. Of especial pharmaceutical interest is the last mentioned dissertation on fats and sugars. From observations, Prof. Dragendorff had been led to regard certain sugars as being capable of rendering fats soluble in aqueous liquids. This is corroborated by the experiments of Dr. Pacht, which show that animal oils, as a class, are less soluble than vegetable oils, and among these the drying oils are more soluble. The solution in water is not promoted by sparingly soluble carbohydrates. Of the sugars, those only which emulsionize fats will also render them soluble in water. The saccharoses, more particularly cane sugar and maltose, have a greater solvent power than the glycoses. The solubility of fats varies considerably. Concentrated sugar solution dissolved nearly 2 per cent. of almond oil, but only 0.63 per cent. of olive oil. On adding a little oleic acid to the latter it was more readily emulsionized by the syrup, and probably more of it was dissolved. Linseed oil dissolved to the extent of about 4.5 per cent. Clear solutions in hot syrup usually become turbid on cooling, and on being diluted with water most of the fat is separated. Jour. Pharm May, 1889 The History of Education in North Carolina. By Charles Lee Smith, Fellow in 8vo. This is one of the contributions to American educational history, which are edited by Herbert B. Davis, and published by the Bureau of Education. OBITUARY. Professor Michel Eugène Chevreul died in Paris, April 9th. Born at Angers, August 31, 1786, he studied chemistry under Vauquelin; became preparator of the chemical course in the Museum of Natural History; in 1813 was appointed professor in the lyceum Charlemagne; in 1820 was made examiner in the polytechnic school; in 1824 took charge of the dye works of the manufactory of the Gobelins; in 1826 was elected to the Academy of Sciences, and in 1830 was called to the chair of applied chemistry in the Museum of Natural History as the successor of Vauquelin. Chevreul continued to lecture at the Collège de France until a few years ago, and attended the sessions of the French Academy for over sixty years. He was remarkable for the intellectual vigor which he retained until the time of his death, when he had nearly completed his one hundred and third year. His contributions to science are very numerous, and extend over a period of about sixty years; the most important ones relate to the chemistry of colors and dye-stuffs, and to the composition of fats. The researches on the colors were commenced in 1807, and aside from the essays contributed to various periodicals, resulted in the publication of several special works in 1828, 1839 and 1864. His classical investigations of the composition of vegetable and animal fats, which form the basis of our present knowledge of these products, were commenced in 1811 and continued for a series of years; they led him to point out in 1818 the chemical resemblance of ethal (cetyl hydrate) to alcohol, and in 1823 to regard the constitution of fats as resembling that of the compound ethers. Samuel W. Gross, M. D., Professor of the Principles of Surgery in the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, died April 16th, in the fifty-third year of his age. He was born in Cincinnati, graduated at the Jefferson College in 1857, and occupied the chair of surgery in the same institution since 1882, when his father, the late Samuel W. Gross, retired, whom the son survived only five years. The deceased had established an excellent reputation as author, teacher and surgeon, and was apparently at the height of his usefulness when an attack of pneumonia terminated his earthly career. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. JUNE, 1889. OIL OF CAMPHOR. Contribution from the Chemical Laboratory of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. No. 52. BY HENRY TRIMBLE AND HERMANN J. M. SCHROETER. Read at the Pharmaceutical Meeting, May 21. From the literature of camphor oil we find that no two investigators have obtained the same or even similar results. The physical descriptions of the oil are so different as to lead one inevitably to the conclusion that the commercial oil is a variable article. With this idea in mind we collected eight samples from different sources in Philadelphia and New York, and first made a preliminary examination of them with the following results: No. I. was obtained of Mr. Samuel F. Simes of Philadelphia, who assured us that this sample correctly represented the crude oil from Japan. It had a reddish-brown color, a specific gravity of 0·9632 at 16° C., and a boiling point of 180° C. The odor strongly resembled that of camphor and sassafras. No. II. from Fritzsche Brothers, New York, was of a darker brown color, much darker than No. I. It had a specific gravity of 0·9819 at 16° C., boiling point of 180° C., and an odor of camphor and sassafras. No. III. was likewise from Fritzsche Brothers, and was marked "German." It had a sp. gr. of 0-8877 at 16° C., and a boiling point of 170° C. It was colorless, with terebinthinate and mild camphor odor. No. IV. from a wholesale drug firm of Philadelphia was probably |