BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES.
Elements of Chemistry ; for the use of Colleges, Academies and
Schools. By M. V. Regnault. Illustrated by nearly 700
wood cuts. Translated from the French by T. Forrest Bet-
ton, M. D., M. A. N. S., Fellow of the College of Physicians,
Philada., &c., and Edited, with notes, by James C. Booth,
Melter and Refiner, U. S, Mint; and William L. Faber, Me-
tallurgist and Mining Engineer. Second Edition ; Philada.,
Clark & Hesser; 1853. 2 vols. oct. pp. 1475.
In the last number we had occasion to speak of Lijwig’s Or-
ganic Chemistry. We now are called on to notice a chemical
work of quite a different stamp. M. Regnault has for several
years occupied a very favorable position among the scientific
men of Paris, owing to his valuable investigations and discove-
ries in various of the higher departments of chemical research.
His mind appears to have a practical direction, and in the work
of which the above is the title page, he has exhibited this trait
by bringing in numerous applications of his favorite science to
the useful and ornamental arts and manufactures. In glancing
o	o
over the pages, we perceive that the chemistry of the imponder-
ables, usually occupying much space, has been omitted as a se-
parate treatise, and that crystallography is largely dilated upon,
with numerous excellent wood cuts, illustrating the several sys-
tems of crystals. Arsenic is placed among the non-metallic bodies
at the side of phosphorus, a change of position which many che-
mists seem disposed to effect, although it is usually spoken of
and described as a metal.
In the chapter preliminary to the metals, M. Regnault has in-
troduced a short account of the geological structure of the earth’s
crust, with numerous cuts exhibiting stratification, metallic veins,
etc. This is followed by a discussion of the general characters
and formation of salts, in which the author takes the ground
that those substances only should be considered salts which con-
sist of two binary compounds, one of which acts as an electro-
positive element or base, and the other in an electro-negative
manner as an acid. Hence, he ejects the chlorides, iodides, etc.
from the list. The solubility of salts is treated of in great detail,
with a copper plate engraving, exhibiting the curves of solubility
of the more important salts. The first class of metals includes
those of the alkaline, alkaline earthy, and earthy bases ; among
the special notices we may mention those of the preparation of
potassium, alkalimetry, nitrate of potassa and borate of soda;
the manufacture, testing and analysis of gunpowder; building
materials, cements and mortars ; the glass manufacture and the
several kinds of pottery. The metallurgy of the several import-
ant metals of the second class is introduced, and thoroughly il-
lustrated with engravings. The steel and bronze manufacture,
cannon casting, electro-plating and gilding, etc., are among the
special notices.
The organic department is preceded by an elaborate account
of proximate and ultimate organic analysis, the method of ascer-
taining formulae, the plan of determining the acid, basic and
neutral substances, and the methods, precautions and calculations
necessary in ascertaining the specific gravity of the vapors and
other physical properties of volatile organic bodies.
M. Regnault has not treated the chemistry of organic bodies
so fully as the other department. His views appear unfavorable
to the radical theory, yet they were published before the recent
discoveries of Frankland and Kolbe, which have given so much
probability to that view of organic constitution. He has not
attempted a scientific classification ;—commencing with the hy-
drates of carbon and their derivatives by the action of acids and
ferments, and concluding with an account of animal chemistry
and the principle manufactures of organic products, such as
bread making, brewing, fermented liquors, the preparation of
sugar from the beet and cane, of bone-black, charcoal, leather and
illuminating gas.
The original work is in four duodecimo volumes ; as now pre-
sented it is embraced in two large octavos of 700 and 800 pages.
The beautiful wood cuts of the original are, in most instances,
■well copied, the letter press is large and distinct, and the paper
good. Dr. Betton has given a fair and lucid translation, free
from idiomatic peculiarities. The Editors have given proof of a
careful revision. They have expressed the temperature by
Fahrenheit’s scale, and have adopted the hydrogen scale of
equivalents, which will add much to its practical usefulness. On
the other hand they have left the decimal weights and measures.
The attempt at rendering these wrould have lost its value in the
constant recurrence of fractions, as expressed in the English
system.
The Editorial additions are in the form of foot notes, some of
which are particularly useful. Mr. Faber has very properly
given an exposd of the recent isolation of compound radicals ;
and among the notes of Prof. Booth we observe one on the pro-
cess for refining of gold in the U. S. Mint.
On the whole, we cannot but deem the publication of Regnault’s
Chemistry a valuable addition to the chemical literature of the
United States, as a book which should be within reach of every
chemist, and calculated to be of essential service to artists and
manufacturers.
The Action of Medicines in the System ; or “ On the Mode in
which Therapeutic Agents Introduced into the Stomach produce
their Peculiar Effects on the Animal Economy.” By Fred-
erick William Headland, B. A., M. R. C. S., &c. Phila-
delphia : Lindsay & Blakiston, 1853, pp. 560.
This monograph is a Prize Essay, “ to which the Medical So-
ciety of London awarded the Fothergillian Gold Medal for
MDCCCLII,” and we feel little hesitation in saying, that it
is the most thorough, masterly, and scientific exposition of the
state of medical knowledge on the important topic treated, that
has ever appeared. The subject to which the Essay was written is,
“On the mode in which Therapeutic Agents introduced into the
Stomach produce their peculiar effects on the animal economy.”
It is treated by the author in a series of distinct propositions,
which he lays down and endeavors to demonstrate after the
manner of mathematical theorems. We quote, as perhaps afford-
ing the best insight into the subject matter of the book, the
author’s series of propositions at length.
“ Prop. I.—That the great majority of medicines must obtain entry
into the blood, or internal fluids of the body, before their action can be
manifested.
Prop. II.—That the great majority of medicines are capable of solu-
tion in the gastric or intestinal secretions, and pass without material
change, by a process of absorption, through the coats of the stomach and
intestines, to enter the capillaries of the portal system of veins.
Prop. III.—That those medicines which are completely insoluble in
water, and in the gastric and intestinal juices, cannot gain entrance into
the circulation.
Prop. IV.—That some few remedial agents act locally on the mucous
surface, either before absorption, or without being absorbed at all. That
they are chiefly as follows:
a.	Irritant Emetics.
b.	Stomach Anaesthetics.
c.	Irritant Cathartics.
Prop. V.—That the medicine, when in the blood, must permeate the
mass of the circulation, so far as may be required to reach the parts on
which it tends to act.
That there are two possible exceptions to this rule:—
a.	The production of sensation or pain at a distant point.
b.	The production of muscular contraction at a distant point.
Prop. VI.—That while in the blood the medicine may undergo
changes, which in some cases may, in others may not, affect its influence.
That these changes may	be—
a. Of Combination.
l>. Of Reconstruction.
c.	Of Decomposition.
Prop. VII.—That a first class of medicines, called Haematics, act
while in the blood, which they influence. That their action is perma-
nent.
1.	That of these some, called Restoratives, act by supplying, or
causing to be supplied, a material wanting ; and may remain in the blood.
2.	That others, called Catalytics, act so as to counteract a morbid
material or process; and must pass out of the body.
Prop. VIII.—That a second class of medicines, called Neurotics, act
by passing from the blood to the nerves or nerve centres, which they
influence. That they are transitory in action.
1.	That of these some, called stimulants, act so as to exalt nervous
force, in general or in particular.
2.	That others called Narcotics, act so as first to exalt nervous force,
and then to depress it; and have also a special influence on the intellec-
tual part of the brain.
3.	That others again, called Sedatives, act so as to depress nervous
force, in general or in particular.
Prop. IX.—That a third class of medicines, called Astringents, act
by passing from the blood to muscular fibre, which they excite to con-
traction.
Prop. X.—That a fourth class of medicines, called Eliminatives, act
by passing out the blood through the glands, which they excite to the
performance of their functions.”
These propositions the author considers the foundation of the
Essay, and in the “ Superstructure ” which he has raised upon
them, he has, in our opinion, most fully made good his claim of
having “stated about as much of the general principles by which
medicines operate as seems to be capable of distinct proof.”
The classification adopted, is based upon an exclusion of ex-
ternal or topical agents, among which, we presume, the author
would place Anthelmintics.
He arranges medicines into four great groups, the action of each of
which is well marked and distinct. The first class acts in the blood ;
and as a large number of diseases depends on a fault in that fluid, we
may by their means be enabled to remedy that fault. They are the
most important of all medicines. They are called Haematics, or blood
medicines. They are used chiefly in chronic and constitutional disorders.
But a second class of remedies are temporary in their action. They in-
fluence the nervous system, exciting it, depressing it, or otherwise alter-
ing its tone. They are chiefly useful in the temporary emergencies of
acute disorders. They can seldom effect a permanent cure, unless when
the contingency in which they are administered is also of a temporary
nature. They are ealled Neurotics, or nerve-medicines. A third set of
medicines, less extensive and less important than the others, acts upon
muscular fibre, which is caused by them to contract. Involuntary mus-
cular fibre exists in the coats of small blood-vessels, and in the ducts of
glands. Thus Astringents, as these agents are called, are able, by con-
tracting muscular fibre, and thus diminishing the calibre of these canals,
to arrest hsemorrhage in one case (when a small vessel is ruptured) and
to prevent the outpouring of a secretion in another case.
The fourth class is of considerable importance. Some medicineshave
the power of increasing the secretions which are formed from the blood
by various glands at different parts of the body. By their aid we may
be enabled to eliminate from the blood a morbid material through the
glands; or we may do great good by restoring a secretion when unnatu-
rally suppressed. They are called Eliminatives. Like Haematics, their
influence is more or less permanent. That of Neurotics and Astrin gents,
particularly the former, is transient.”
In allusion to this classification we may be perhaps allowed to
say, that it coincides in its great divisions with one adopted in a
little work by one of the editors of this journal, with the single
exception of the assignment of Astringents to an independent
class.
Our limits of course forbid a critical analysis of the various sub-
divisions or orders, into which these principal groups are broken
up. Many novel, striking, and ingenious views are presented
in the examination of these minor divisions and of some of the
more important of the individual articles of the Materia Medica.
These theories the author modestly admits to be “ the weak
points of the Essay.”
But in thus boldly venturing upon a path of exploration from
wThich medical inquiry has so long shrunk with unaccountable
timidity, Dr. Headland has done good service. For, certainly,
in no branch of medicine is there now the same field for progress
as in the advancement of our knowledge of the action of medicines,
and of their operation in the cure of disease. Is it not, indeed,
surprising, that with the rapid perfection of pathology and diag-
nosis which has been accomplished within a few years past, so
little should have been done to rescue Therapeutics from the
doubt and uncertainty with which it has been so long connected !