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1099 technical. References to suitable literature are given throughout the book for those readers who wish to pursue the subject more deeply than it has been the purpose of the authors to go. The volume concludes with a copy of the Protection Committee’s report and several useful appendices. It should prove of con- siderable value to students taking their radiological diploma and to others who wish to gain a knowledge of the general principles of X ray and radium work, and will prove invaluable to general practitioners and others who require a solid grounding in radiological principles and who have not the time to extract their knowledge from the standard text-books. The book is well published and can be thoroughly recommended. TESTICULAR GRAFTS. Etude sur la Vieillesse et le Rajeunissement par la Gr-effe. By Dr. SERGE VORONOFF. Paris : Gaston Doin. 1926. Pp. 213. Fr.15. Dr. Serge Voronoff is a prolific writer on the subject of testicular grafts. This book contains much that has been previously published in his other works on the subject, but he has here confined his attention to the action of grafts in old age. The preliminary chapters deal with the pathology of senescence and with the question as to whether it is possible by any process to lengthen the span of life of the tissue cells of the body. He then attacks the relationship between the testicles and old age, and summarises the results of various forms of grafting. The book concludes with a description of the author’s own results, both in animals and in human beings. Dr. Voronoff’s works have been reviewed more than once in this journal, and it is perhaps unnecessary to restate the criticisms and the comments that have been noted in previous reviews. The subject is one of universal interest, whether or not the reader is convinced by Dr. Voronoff’s enthusiasm. The work is well supplied with plates showing the results of grafts on various old animals and old men. PLAGUE PAMPHLETS OF THOMAS DEKKER. Edited by F. P. WILSON. Oxford : The Clarendon Press. 1925. Pp. 268. 9s. Thomas Dekker, besides being an admirable ’ dramatist, was also what would now be called an enterprising journalist. National disasters such as an epidemic of plague have always been sources of good " copy," and Dekker’s Plague Pamphlets are notable examples of this source of literature. They give a lively picture of social life during the seven- teenth century ; they afford opportunities of lauding the monarchy even when it is represented by two such very different monarchs as the great Queen Elizabeth and her more questionable successor ; they are full of grim tales of tragedies and comedies of a macabre flavour, and occasionally they rise to heights of almost Biblical fervour in their exhortations to repentance and to a cleanly life, and in rhapsodies upon the gains by death in leaving the miseries of this present world and upon the joys of Heaven. Mr. Wilson’s notes are models of what notes should be, and will be found most helpful, for Dekker is an author whose writings are difficult for modern readers. Six plague pamphlets are given-namely, The Wonderful Yeare ; Newes from Graves-end ; The Meeting of Gallants; A Rod for Run-awayes ; London Looke Backe ; The Blacke Rod and the White Rod. The Wonderful Yeare was the year 1602-3. It must be remembered that the historical year began on Jan. 1st, but the civil and legal year on March 25th, so that Queen Elizabeth, who died on March 24th, died, according to civil and legal reckoning, in 1602, but according to historical reckoning in 1603. The Wonderful Yeare was written, as is shown by internal evidence, when the plague was declining-i.e., in the late autumn of 1603. It would be interesting to know how many people read these pamphlets, for some of them at any rate, notably a Rod for Run-awayes, are anything but conducive to that peace of mind which is always to be sought for in epidemics. But the exhortations to those who would fly, not to do so, are admirable. In London Looke Backe (p. 188) is some excellent advice on the duty of consulting a physician and not a quack, and the peroration of The Blacke Rod and the White Rod is a magnificent bit of English worthy to rank with Manchester al Mondo or the well-known meditation upon death in Chapter LXI. of " Vanity Fair. " JOURNALS. QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF MEDICINE.-The April number contains the following articles : Pathological Variations in the Serum Calcium, by G. H. Percival and C. P. Stewart. The blood-serum calcium was estimated both in normal individuals and in those suffering from various complaints such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, nephritis, epilepsy, tetania parathyreopriva, and various skin lesions. The effect of administering parathyroid extract and calcium salts on the serum-calcium content was also deter- mined, and the results obtained are given.-The Purgative Action of Magnesium Salts, by Henry Cohen. Using an accurate method for the estimation of magnesium in small quantities of serum, the author shows that the purgative action of magnesium salts is exerted independently of the absorption of mag- nesium into the blood.-On the Hydrogen-ion Concentration and Some Other Properties of the Blood from Two Cases of Auto-toxic Enterogenous Cyanosis, by J. Barcroft, H. Dryerre, J. C. Meakins, T. R. Parsons, and W. Parsons. Observations on the blood in cases of auto-toxic enterogenous cyanosis have been previously chiefly concerned with the detection of abnormal varieties of heamoglobin or the presence of micro-organisms. In this paper an account is given of two cases of the disease and of the investigations carried out on the blood in respect to its oxygen saturation, oxyhaemoglobin curve, carbon dioxide combining power and hydrogen-ion concentra- tion. The oxygen saturation was found to be below normal in both cases.-The Functional Pathology of Nephritis, by E. B. Mayrs. The recent work on the physiology of the kidney and the pathology of the two main types of nephritis is discussed. In hydrsemic nephritis loss of protein probably occurs through damaged glomeruli, and the tubule cells, although slightly impaired, give a normal response to the urea- excretion test for renal function. In azoteemic nephritis many of the glomeruli retain their per- meability, whereas the tubular concentration function is considerably modified. Experimental evidence supporting these views is given in the article.-The Inheritance of Epilepsy, by W. Russell Brain. The opinions held from time to time as to the inheritance of epilepsy are reviewed, and fresh observations are added, based on an investigation of a series of over 200 epileptics. A family history of epilepsy was found in 28 per cent., as compared with about 10 per cent. in a control series. It was further noted that epilepsy begins more frequently in the first decade of life in those cases in which there is a family history of the disease. Early convulsions are also more likely to occur in epileptics and are more common in those who also have a family history of epilepsy. It is concluded that a predisposition is an setiological factor in the disease.-The Spasm of Tetany Considered as a Disturbance of the Physiology of Muscle, by J. P. Martin. In accordance with recent work on the physiology of muscular contraction the author proceeds to an exposition of his thesis that the spasm of tetany is intrinsically myogenic in origin. Alkalosis, a lowering of the blood calcium or a deficiency of glycogen are factors which lead to an increase in the breakdown of lactacidogen, the precursor in the muscles of lactic and phosphoric acids, which are believed to cause muscular contraction. In tetany deficiency of calcium or a lowering of the hydrogen- ion concentration is usually present. The actual distribution of the spasm may depend upon differences
