THE first edition of this work was published in 1879. It has been out of print a number of years and the present edition is so different from it in many respects that it can by no means be considered the same work. This second edition is a much more comprehensive volume, -and treats the subjects embraced from a different, more logical and satisfactory standpoint. The body of the work consists of two parts, under the first being presented the official drugs arranged according to the structural characteristics, and following this the official and unofficial arranged according to prominent physical properties and sub-divided by odor and taste. Then come the organic drugs from the vegetable kingdom, described and arranged according to their natural orders, followed by a, synopsis of natural orders and of drugs. Part III. is a special chapter descriptive of insects injurious to drugs, their habits, characteristics, etc. Part IV. is an entirely new portion, the elements of plant histology and microtechnique. The author believes that bis classifications -of drugs are most suitable for both study and class work -and dwells upon this point emphatically. The book throughout is profusely illustrated, in a large majority of instances by original drawings direct from actual specimens. The microscope is employed largely, and microscopical drawings of cross sections, tissue construction, etc., are very numerous. The book is a decided Improvement, not only over its own predecessor, but over most, If not all, other works upon the same subject which are employed as text books in our teaching institutions. In typography and the exhibition of the printers art as a whole It leaves nothing to be desired. The complete alphabetical index occupying twenty pages is a particularly valuable feature.

ȔThe Pharmaceutical Era, Volume 22

WHEN upon its first appearance early in 1895 this work was discussed in these columns the prediction was made that it would freely be adopted as a textbook in our schools of pharmacy; and in this we were not mistaken. Owing to its intrinsic merits Sayres Organic Materia Medica has become quite a favorite with teachers and students, sufficiently encouraging to the author to induce him to issue a second edition in enlarged and to some extent remodeled form.

It will not be necessary to give a description of the scope of the work at this time, this being presupposed as already known; but the changes introduced are decidedly improvements. In order not unduly to increase the bulk, the chapter on synthetic remedies quite properly has been eliminated. But in its place the brief chapter on pharmaceutical microscopy has been enlarged so as now to attain almost to the dignity of a treatise deserving to be published separately in book form, covering, as it does, microscopical technique and a full list of reagents and processes, besides the examination of powdered drugs. Further, the chapter on pharmaceutical botany has been rewritten entirely, and for the elementary botany we now have an instructive treatise on plant histology and physiology.

We are sure that in its new form this work will prove more useful than ever. The unusually numerous illustrations are excellently executed and their full value brought out by the. excellent quality of paper employed and no less good work of the printer. We regret to find the word glycerin spelled with a final e.

ȔWestern Druggist, Volume 22