156 REVIEWS REVIEWS. FOOD AND DRUGS. VOL. I. : THE ANALYSIS OF FOOD AND DRUGS. By E. J. PARRY, B.Sc. (Lond.), F.I.C. 1911. Pp. 715. London : Scott, Greenwood and Son. Price 21s. net. The number of English textbooks on the analysis of foods and drugs is so limited that the appearance of a fresh claimant for space on our shelves need not, perhaps, excite surprise. The time has come, however, when single works covering such a wide range cannot be written by one individual from his own personal experience and knowledge, and the place of such encyclopaedic enterprises as this must soon be taken by monographs on special subjects, or groups of subjects, by those who have made them their life’s study. The volume before us necessarily resembles in many points its predecessors, but, without any increase in bulk, it probably exceeds in range any of its rivals, owing chiefly to the omission of matters of historical and theoretical interest and of descriptions of apparatus, and, perhaps still more, to the inclusion of only “live ” methods of analysis.The book is written with a strict eye to utility, and if for the sake of brevity and convenience the style has suffered, something may be forgiven. It is divided into two parts containing twelve chapters. Part I. treats of Food and Drinks, beginning with Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa, and ending with a chapter by Professor Greenish, on what is somewhat unhappily called (‘ Microscopical Analysis,” in which the apparatus, reagents, and general methods for preparing substances for microscopical examination are dealt with shortly and clearly.All the ordinary foods are referred to, and, in addition, some articles about which most of the general text- books have little or nothing to say-e.g., Macaroni and Italian pastes, meat extracts, and flesh foods, with a section on the properties of ptomaines, and the methods ,employed for their detection. Part 11. is devoted to Drugs, and is in some ways the most valutbble part of the book, inasmuch as a great deal of information, which has hitherto only been available in isolated papers scattered through various journals, is here brought together for the first time. In addition to this, much of the ground covered comes within what may be considered as Mr. Parry’s own special province, on which he is able to give authoritative and first-hand information.In the five chapters into which it is divided, the author adopts a system of classification which is novel, and though not without advantages is not, in our opinion, very logical or convenient, as it herds together the most unlike substances, and at the same time separates the preparations from theREVIEWS 157 substances from which they are made. The first of these chapters is a perfect Noah’s ark, for in it we find crude drugs-other than those containing active principles capable of estimation-gums, balsams, and resins cheek by jowl with roots, such as liquorice and male fern, animal derivatives such as musk and pepsin, organic preparations such as spirit of nitrous ether and the tinctures, liquors, and spirits of he Pharmacopoeia, some of the substances from which these latter are derived being found in this and some in the next chapter.Subsequent chapters deal with (‘ Drugs containing Alkaloids, etc.,” ‘( The Essential Oils of the British Pharmacopoeia,” ‘‘ The Fixed Oils, Fats, and Waxes of the British Pharmacopoeia,” 6‘ The Chemicals of the Pharmacopoeia.” In the case of the latter more than one-third of the space is taken up with the tests for arsenic and lead. The only chemicals treated at any length are saccharin, salicylic acid, camphor, and chloroform, the rest being dealt with in tabular form, the melting-point, boiling-point, solubility, and limits for arsenic and lead, being usually given, with a statement, in some cases, of the likely adulterants. Practically, the tables are an abstract of the British Pharmacopoeia descriptions and requirements, with occasional criticisms. The most vsluable portions of the second part of the book are the chapters on the drugs containing alkaloids and on the essential oils, which are commendably full and embody much of the author’s personal experience.While the work as a whole may be highly commended, it suffers considerably from haste in production and insufficient revision. The wording is, as a rule, clear and concise, but in the matter of style leaves a good deal to be desired. In the case of the chapters dealing with foods, uniformity of treatment, especially as regards the headings of the paragraphs, might have been carried a good deal further, and a more systematic division of the chapters into sections and subsections, with appropriate headlines would have made for ease of reference, and would have prevented the author from omitting some by no means unimportant matters.The articles on individual foods are certainly broken up into paragraphs with descriptive headings, but the plan adopted differs in the case of almost all of them-for instance, under cheese we find ‘‘ the adulteration of cheese,” under tea ‘‘ the adulterants of tea,” but under butter and milk no corresponding headline appears, although there is “calculation of adulteration” in the case of milk. The difficult question of food standards is not very satisfactorily dealt with, for the word in this sense does not occur in the index, and although well-selected tables of analytical data are given for the articles dealt with, and definite suggestions are frequently made as to the basis on which to calculate the percentage of adulteration, it is necessary in many cases to read the whole article through in order to find it.In other parts of the book the word “standard” is somewhat loosely used, as in one place it is applied to the definitions and descriptions of substances given in the British Pharmacopoeia, while in another, a table showing the range of variation of the analytical constants of the British Pharmacopaeia tinctures is headed ‘( Standards for Tinctures,” etc. A more important point is the omission to refer, except in one or two instances, to the numerous standards and definitions of articles of food drawn up by the United States Department of Agriculture, which, though not binding i n this country and by no means univers- ally accepted here, nevertheless carry a good deal of weight.Certain other omissions158 KEVIEM7S should also be mentioned here. No reference is made to the reports issued by the Local Government Board on Vinegar (1908), on Baking Powders, and on the Bleaching of Flour (1911). (As these were issued about a year ago there is some excuse for them not appearing, although the book as a whole has been brought very well up to date.) The Report of the Departmental Committee on Preservatives and Colouring matters only receives a passing mention. I n connection with the analytical methods, there are a few similar omissions of processes to which reference might reasonably be expected, but they must be regarded, in the case of a book of such wide range, rather as departures from the ideal than as serious blemishes. There are also a number of printer’s errors which a more careful revision would have avoided.Fortunately, most of them do not alter the sense-e.g., “Hanwill ” for “ Hamill,” ‘‘ Avi-Lallement ” for ‘ 4 Ave-Lallement,” ‘‘ Badouin ’’ for ‘‘ Baudouin,” (( Capsicum fastigatum ” and (‘ 0. putescens ” instead of (‘ fastigiatum ’’ and ‘( frutes- cens.” More unfortunate is the reference to the rotation of ‘‘1 mg. of quartz.” The definition of specific rotation has also suffered in some way at the printer’s hands-in fact, the whole of the section dealing with the Polarimeter is hardly up to the author’s usual standard of lucidity. Speaking generally, and it is impossible to criticise in detail a book which is almost an encyclopzdia, the work of compilation has been excellently done, the selection of methods and of tables of analysis-always a difficult task-has been most judicious, very few obsolete processes are included, and the best, as well as the newest, work is referred to.The microscopical examination of the vegetable foods and drugs is dealt with briefly but clearly, and in a really useful manner ; the illus- trations are clear, and will be as helpful as illustrations in the absence of actual specimens are ever likely to be. Mr. Parry is to be congratulated on having so satisfactorily accomplished such a colossal task. C. H. CRIBB. FOOD AND DRUGS. By E. J. PARRY, B.Sc. (Lond.), F.I.C.Vol. ii. : The Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875-1907. Pp. 181. London: Scott, Greenwood and Son. 1911. Price 7s. 6d. net. I n view of the existence of other recently published works, Mr. Parry’s task in dealing with the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts from a legal standpoint cannot. have been easy. But he has wisely endeavoured to break fresh ground by giving the reader the benefit of his personal views on many points, and several of his suggestions and submissions have both originality and force. Especially good are Mr. Parry’s observations on the British Pharmacopceia in relation to the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. For the purpose of this discussion the drugs of the B.P. are classified in five groups, and the effect of High Court decisions in such cases as Hudson w.Bridge is stated with admirable clearness and accuracy. Cogent arguments are adduced in support of the contention that convictions under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts for the sale of distilled water containing traces of impurities are wrong, on the ground that distilled water is not a drug. Mr. Parry thinks that any conviction for the sale of golden syrup containing glucose would be upheld by the High Court ; that there need be no soda in a ( ( whieky and soda ” sold at a refreshment bar ; and that if a sample of pills, tablets, or capsules, be taken by anREVIEWS 159 inspector under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, it is necessary, under the decisions in the cases of Mason u. Cowdary and Smith v. Savage, that each pill, tablet, or capsule be divided into three parts.These and other personal opinions are always interesting, and, even if erroneous, add to the value of the work. The ordinary lawyer is too cautious thus to volunteer his views. It is interesting to note that Mr. Parry is among those who hold that the Public Health (Regulations as to Food) Act, 1907, clothes the Local Government Board with wide powers to make binding regulations and (‘ standards ” with respect to articles of food, to prohibit preservatives, and so forth. Over eight pages in the body of the work are occupied by the text of the regulations of the Institute of Chemistry for the analytical qualification. The author makes a good point, which is not perhaps universally understood- namely, that a private purchaser desiring to act as a prosecutor under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts can rely on the evidence of any analyst, and need not necessarily make use of the power given him by Section 12 of the Act of 1875 to have his sample analysed by the public analyst for the district. Mr.Parry includes in this book six specimen certificates, against which he suggests no technical objection could be sustained. This is probably true ; but the specimen certificate for diluted spirits is needlessly involved, and would convey singularly little meaning to an ordinary bench of magistrates. Much better, surely, is the form of certificate adopted by several well-known public analysts as follows : * ‘ . . . , . . parts as urider: Whisky, 25 degrees under proof . . . . . . 78 Added aatcr ... ... ... ... ... 22 100 ‘‘ This opinion is based on the fact that the sample was 41.5 degrees under proof.TO whisky of 25 degrees under proof, the above-mentioned proportion of water must be added to reduce it to 41.5 degrees under proof. Gennine whisky shonld not be more than 25 degrees under proof. ” Mr. Parry states that any person desiring to appeal to the High Court by way of special case “must apply for a case to be stated within three days of the Justice’s decision.” This is not so. He must apply within seven days, and the case must be stated within three months. And surely some sort of information ought to have been given as to the formal steps which have to be taken in lodging such an appeal. Another unsatisfactory statement is that where proceedings are taken under the Merchandise Marks Act (( it is sometimes necessary to institute proceedings in the High Court, as in the case of limited companies.” I s it ever necessary to institute proceedings in the High Court except in the case of it limited company refusing to be dealt with summarily ? The index is a little scanty, and the editing of the work slovenly in the extreme.Res ipse Zoquituur sets the teeth on edge. The date of the last edition of the British Pharmacopceia is twice given as 1908. The case of Parker w. Alder, reported in Law Reports, 1899 (1 Q. B., 20)is twice cited as Parker 2’. Adler (1 Q. B., 20) 1898. The case of Fortune w. Hanson is quoted at p. 44, but the only reference there given is “ (1 Q. R., 2O2).” Such a reference is of course utterly valueless without a reference to the year in which the report appeared.At p. 5 the year comes first in each160 REVIEWS reference to volumes of the Law Reports; in the whole of the rest of the book this proper and sensible practice does not obtain. Mr. Parry has made remarkably little use of the ordinary typographical resources which can be made of such assistance in legal textbooks-a fact which detracts enormously from the practical value of the work. There are few subheadings and little variation in the fount of type used. Thus, at p. 79, under Section 18 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, is set out the schedule giving the form for the analyst’s certificate. This is printed in exactly the same way as Mr. Parry’s comments (which follow it), and there is nothing to indicate where the schedule ends.Indeed, no one who was not already familiar with the schedule would know whether the last sentence in the schedule is statutory or whether it is an observation on the part of Mr. Parry. In one instance, however, there is too much variation. The prefatory words to Acts of Parliament (Be it enacted . . . etc.) are printed sometimes in ordinary type and sometimes in heavy black type, without any apparent reason for the distinction. Many proper names are misspelt, Macfadden, Londsdale, Meddlings, and Hillard being examples. There is an irritating absence of uniformity in the references to the reports of the Inspectors of Food to the Local Government Board, and at p. 11, dealing with the same subject, Mr. Parry writes of “these recommendations by the Local Government Board committees.” The Pharmacy Act of 1868 is wrongly cited as the Sale of Poisons and Pharmacy Act, 1868.I n the most recent edition of another text-book this unfortunate statute was cited as the Sale of Provisions and Pharmacy Act, 1868. On the whole it niay be said that while this second volume contains much that is sound, original, and interesting, it bears evidence of careless preparation, and is hardly likely to be regarded by those who have to conduct cases under the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, as a book to be taken into the Police Court as a matter of course. R. A. ROBINSON. MILK AND THE P u BLIC HEALTH. W. G. SAVAGE, B.Sc., M.D. Macmillan and Go., The author in his preface states that this volume is entirely concerned with milk in its relationship to the general health of the community.I n Part I. he makes an endeavour to give a summary of our scientific knowledge, and of the facts with which the patient labours of many investigators have endowed us, as to the bacterial contamination of milk and its relationship to disease; in Part 11. the practical bacteriological examination of milk is described in some detail, while in Part 111. the administrative side of the subject is dealt with. I t is recognised that our present knowledge of the subject is far from complete, and though great strides have been made within a very few years, the chief fault of the book is the failure to grasp the fact that great advances in the technical handling of milk have also taken place in recent years; for instance, the question of preserva- fives is discussed quite fully, and tests are given for the leading substances that have been used; yet, although he has been obliged to go back to 1899 for any statistics as to their prevalence, the author has not realised that their use in milk has practically ceased, owing to the realisation by the technical man of the fact that it is better, and even cheaper, to keep milk by refrigerating than by drugs. The question of refrigera- Ltd., London.1912. Pp. xviii+45Y. Price 10s. net.REVIEWS 161 tion is dismissed in less than a page, and no mention whatever is made of the small refrigerating plants designed specally for use with milk which are now so generally employed ; there are also other reforms taking place from within the dairy industry -such as the extending use of an efficient pattern of milk churn and the provision of washing accommodation-which the author ignores.Apart from the want of technical knowledge, and an equally excusable weakness in some of the chemical portions, the author has presented an excellent rdsumd of our present knowledge. The practical bacteriological section is less satisfactory, not through any shortcoming of the author, except possibly that he is too anxious to give all the information, and is, therefore, not sufficiently dogmatic. This will best be illustrated by a criticism of the detection of B. coli and allied organisms; the method is, broadly, MacConkey’s, as the milk is added to lactose bile salt broth, and if acid and gas fermentation is produced, the solution is plated out on lactose bile salt neutral red agar (not MacConkey’s most recent formula), which is preferred to the other media which have been proposed.What the characters of B. coli are is not strictly defined, though it would appear that the author considers as this all organisms which grow as red colonies on the bile salt lactose neutral red agar, and which do not liquefy gelatine, which give acid and clot in milk, ferment lactose, and which produce indol; whether even the indol production is essential is doubtful, as it is stated that the relative significance of the strains that produce indol, and those which do not, has yet to be accurately determined. I t is true that the differentiation of the various species by the fermentation of sugars is discussed very fully, but the final words of this discussion are “ t h e practical value of these tests has yet to be demonstrated.” I t would have been far better, from a practical point of view, had the author selected a particular technique, described it in detail, and said, autocratically, the particular organisms identified by this method may be considered for practical purposes as B.coli; it is important to describe the method fully, as modifications in detail often produce large differences in the result; thus, while it is mentioned that better tests for indol are now available, no mention whatever of the p-methyl- aminobenzaldehyde method is given, though this is very much more sensitive and reliable than the old nitrite method. In conclusion, this book is written by a bacteriologist for bacteriologists, and for the trained man who can use it with discrimination the work is full of valuable information; but the analyst whose knowledge of bacteriology is not extensive had better leave it alone.H. DBOOP RICHMOND. CHAUX, CIMENTS, PLATRES. By E. LEDUC and G. CHENU. (Manuels Pratiques d’llnalyses Chimiques), Paris and Liege. Ch. Beranger. 1912. Price 6 francs. This little volume forms one of a series designed for the use of public analysts, and deals with the chemical, physical, and mechanical methods of controlling the quality of lime, cement, and plaster. The analytical methods described are almost all familiar, and little notice is taken of recent improvements in cement analysis, but the directions are clearly given and would in most cases lead to satisfactory results.Exception may, however, be taken to certain points. I t is unfortunate that the162 INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY misleading sugar test for ‘‘ free lime ” should be retained, it having long been known that the proportion of lime extracted from a cement by means of a sugar solution has no practical or theoretical significance. The methods proposed for the detection of blast-furnace slag in Portland cement are also unsatisfactory, the separation by means of ixethylene iodide being only applicable to coarsely-ground cements, and failing almost completely with the modern very finely ground product. Fresenius’ method, based on the difference of reducing power towards permanganate, is not mentioned. Some confusion may be caused by the use in one place of Michaelis’ 6 ‘ hydraulic modulus,” and in another of a ‘‘ hydraulic index ” which is the reciprocal of the former, and this confusion is increased by “ infhrieur ” being printed instead of 6 ‘ supbrieur ” at the foot of p. 95. The methods of making the usual tests of fineness, constancy of volume, tensile strength, permeability, etc., are clearly described and illustrated, the authors generally following Le Chatelier, and there are some useful tables of results obtained from cements of French manufacture. The appendix contains a full account of the French specifications for various classes of material, as well as those relating to Portland cement laid down by the Governments of Prussia, Egypt, Argentine, and Switzerland, and the American Society for Testing Materials, but the British Standard Specification is not included. The book should be useful to French public analysts, and to others who haye frequent occasion to examine products of French manufacture. C. H. DESCH.