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sensitivity of the nervous system toward anesthetics could be increased by withdrawal of lipoids. Mention might be made of the considerations of Garrod on p. 61. Page 8 j is not correctly titled. It seems to the reviewer that the action of oil of bitter orange peel (p. 96) is to be attributed solely to its greater penetrating power and therefore to its ability to mask the odor of ether, and not to an obtunding action on the olfactory nerve; the action is analogous to that of the power of eriodictyon’to disguise the taste of quinine. Certainly there is nothing “mysterious” in the utilization of a more odorous substance t o disguise the scent of another. Figure 64, on p. 2 0 1 , is inverted. Names of the manufacturers appear on the containers shown in Figs. 63 A4, 64 and 117 (see also Figs. 52, 77-79, 82, 123 and I ~ I ) and not on those illustrated on p. 254, This, notwithstanding the fact that the authors did not consider it “desirable to indicate from whom certain instruments could be obtained” (p. x). The large footnote on p. 2 8 2 should have been worked into Chapter I . Footnote 2 on p. 288 is largely repeated in the text on p. 300; reference mii:ht have been made here t o the “narcosis progression” analyzed by Graham Brown, in connection with which the recent work of van Leeuiven (Arch. ges. Physiol., 159, 291) is of interest. O n p. 371, it should have been noted that ‘when atropin is mentioned, reference is not had to the eclectic preparation’ (the authors employ simplified chemical orthoepy) . The use of phenyldihydroquinazoline tannate in vomiting following narcosis is not referred to on p. 379. The mechanism of oil-ether colonic anesthesia might have been further elucidated by regarding it as a “transgression” process ip. 462); this process is discussed by Rlorgenroth and Ginsberg in Zentr. Augenheilk., 37, 31j . The physiology of local anesthesia is not discussed in Chapter XI11 ; much remains to be explained in this field; for instance, the actions of many local anesthetics on nerve endings and nerve trunks are not always parallel. It is not generally recognized that solubility in fat influences the results (on this point, see Fromherz, A r c h exp, Path. Pharm., 76, 2 j 7 j . The production of local anesthesia by cataphoresis should have rbceived 400 words a t least; a good diszussion of thisprocedure is contained in Hyziea, 75, 184. On p. 645, “Lister” should read “Liston” (cf. p. z o ) , and poor proof-reading occurs in line 9 on p. 677. Chapter XIX, on “The Medico-Legal Status of the Anesthetist,” contains an excellent account of the physician’s liability, which every practitioner might read with profit. The author of this chapter, Alr. J . TV. H. Crin, states that “it is to that higher law, the ethics of the medical profession, that society must ultimately look for protection:” quite true, but far removed from the pettier aims of mere financial betterment, ethics points the way to a goal of illimitable loftiness; no matter what rules of conduct obtain in the medical profession, as in others having similar codes, i t must be remembered that the moral conceptions of different individuals are widely variant. A physician may become a specialist upon his own determination (p. 684): it has been reasonahly proposed that the peculiar skill requisite to so qualify him should be determined by the state medical boards, upon a procedure laid down by the American Medical Association. Chapter XX, “A List of Anesthetics,” which occupies I j 2 pp., is rich in bibliographic data and shou!d be of great value for reference purposes; this chapter is, in fact, the most noteworthy section of the book, and it is evident that much time was spent in collecting the facts presented; it alone would repay those interested for the purchase of the book. Some of the bibliographies (as those on p p . 690, 694, 700, 7 2 4 , 7 5 1 , 766, 784, 790, 800, 807, 8 1 2 and 833) are arranged chronologically or approximately so, while others (as shown on pp. 740 and 820) are classified alphabetically according to authors’ names : moreover, these bibliographies are not indexed. “Snape’s calorific fluid” and “Nabolis,” while mentioned on p. 536, are not included in this
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list; under “Air” (p. 692), it should have been noted that liquid air has been used in the production of local anesthesia in dental practice; on p. 703, line 33, reference is had t o the preparations of Schleich (p. 810) and not to a treatise; i t might have been noted on p. 713 that the lipoid-solubility of benzene plays a role in its action (see Biochern’Z., 61, 372); the alkaloid cevine, which produces local anesthesia, is not mentioned; papaverine, a IO per cent solution of whose sulfate produces complete anesthesia of the conjunctiva, is omitted; potassium sulfate and chloride produce marked local narcosis (see, among others, Zorn, 2. exp. Path. Ther., 12, j 2 9 ) , but are not included; only l-scopolamine hydrobromide should be used in practice-a fact which is not men, tioned on p. 810; thymacetol, the acetol ester of thymotinic acid, and possessing a pronounced local anesthetic action, is not included; and “Zeuner’s Halspastillen” should not have appeared as a form of “Yohydrol.” A question of interest arises in connection with quinine and urea hydrochloride (p. 805) local anesthesia; is this action due to the compound per se or to the formation of carbon dioxide by hydrochloric acid in the tissues? Filippi (Lo Sfier., 66, 383) explains the result by the action towards lipoids peculiar to both urea and carbon dioxide; an explanation is then afforded by the Meyer-Overton theory. Since yohimbine hydrochloride possesses anesthetic properties, it would be interesting to determine the action of its isomer, corynanthine hydrochloride. W. A . HAMOR Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats and Waxes. BY J. LEWKOWITSCH, edited by GEORGEH . WARBURTON. Fifth Edition, Vol. 11. Macmillan and Company, London, and the Macmillan Co., 66 Fifth Avenue, New York, 1914. Price, S6.jo. Since the death of Dr. Lewkowitsch the revision of his well known treatise has been carried on by Mr Warburton who for seventeen years was his ass6ciate. The plan, scope, and style of the work remain unchanged. The present volume covers the same ground as 1‘01. I1 of the fourth edition, but contains 944 pages as against 816 pages in the latter volume. A short section on denaturing oils and fats has been introduced and a number of oils and fats not previously regarded as sufficiently important to require mention are now described briefly. In the main however, the increase in size is due to new matter incorporated in the descriptions of the sources, preparation, analytical characters, and probable adulterants of the various ‘oils, fats and waxes of commerce. Statistical data are quoted freely and are brought rather closely down to date, the tables of figures for different years ending usually with 1911, 1 9 1 2 , or (in a few cases) 1913. Extended tabulations ,of chemical and physical characteristics continue t o be a prominent feature of the descriptions of the individual oils and fats. In these descriptions there is relatively little discussion of the detailed technique of preparation and refining. The first thirty eight pages of the volume are devoted to a general chapter on commercial preparation, but the full description of manufacturing operations employed in the individual oil and fat industries is apparently reserved for the concluding volume. The present volume gives evidence of more thorough revision than is usual in books of its size and appears to cover its allotted field more thoroughly than any other single work. It contains a detailed table of contents in which the materials of each group are arranged (as in earlier editions) in the order of their iodine numbers, and an index of botanical and zoological names, but no index of subjects. A general index for the entire work is promised with 1-01, 111 which, according to the preface of the present volume. is already in press. H. C. SHERMAN
