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tuberculosis, and cases of disease of the externalgenitalia. It is also suggested that good resultswill attend its use in cases of peritoneal tubercu-losis and as an adjunct to the use of radium ormesothorium in cases of carcinoma of the uterus.A number of interesting and encouraging statisticsare quoted from the various German cliniques inwhich this mode of treatment is being carried out.Attention is called to the dangers of burning of theskin and of setting up excessive haemorrhage as thefirst result of the use of the rays, but nothing issaid of the risks of setting up inflammatory changesin the peritoneal cavity and the possible productionof changes in the intestinal mucosa and the forma-tion of adhesions. The author lays stress upon thenecessity for large doses of hard rays, and pointsout that small doses of soft rays produce imperfectand disappointing results.The whole book is a good example of the best

type of German text-book.

Normal Histology. With Special Reference to theStructure af the Human Body.

By GEORGE A. PIERSOL, M. D., Sc.D., Professor of Anatomyin the University of Pennsylvania. Tenth edition. With438 illustrations, 88 of which are in colour. London and

Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 418. Price15s. net.

THE eighth edition of this work was reviewed inTHE LANCET of Feb. llth, 1911. The number of

pages in the present edition is exactly the same asin the eighth, and the preface bears date, August,1910. What we said of the usefulness of the workin 1911 remains equally true of the new edition,but some of the coloured illustrations in this newedition do not seem to us to be quite so effective-e.g., the chromatic figures in dividing cells of theepidermis, where one colour is used with a deepen-ing of the same colour for the chromosomes; andthe same is true of a section of young periosteumand the adjacent bone. The other two-colouredillustrations of bone are distinctly more effective.The complex maze of cells and colloid of thepituitary body would stand- out much better if thefigure had been printed in colours. Others inmonotone, such as red, might almost as well havebeen given without colour.

Dynamische Biochenaie, Chemie der Lebensvorgänge. Von Dr. SIGMUND FRXNKEL, A.O. Professor fiir Medizin- ische Chemie an der Wiener Universitat. Wiesbaden:J. F. Bergmann. Pp. 600. Price M.18.60. ’

THIS volume proves the rapid developments Iwhich have taken place as the result of the conjointstudies of the physiologist and chemist in regard tothe great vital processes. The author is recognisedas one of the pioneers in bio-chemical research,and it is evident from the pages in this volume Ithat his own original contributions have filled

important places in the story so far as it hasadvanced. Dr. Frankel has conducted inquiries ofa practical nature on such subjects of importanceas adrenalin, cholin, the lipoids, phosphatides, amino-acids, and the reducing and oxidising processes inthe tissues which are concerned in metabolism.He shows, as might have been expected, a wide-ranging familiarity with the many subjectsembraced in the title of this volume.The book contains 13 chapters. The first is devoted

to the physical and chemical processes involved inthe tissues. This is followed by a consideration ofthe special chemical changes in the organism

(oxidation, synthesis, and reduction). Then succeedsa chapter on the ferments, and afterwards sectionson digestion, resorption, assimilation, metabolism,the classification of food substances,, the chemicalfunctions of the individual organs, the secretions,physiology of the sexual organs, muscle, nerve, skin,.kidney, and the blood. The whole concludes witha comprehensive chapter on immune chemistry.There are busy workers in the field of bio-chemistryin all countries having any pretension to occupyinga place in the world’s science, and thereforeno collection of materials can be complete with-out a copious reference to these internationalendeavours. Dr. Frankel recognises the importance-of such references or he would not have included,with the pains he has done, what amounts to a.

guide to the universal literature on the subject inthe numerous footnotes given. The work is autho-ritative and the various presentations of the subjectare adroit as well as learned.

LIBRARY TABLE.

Mendelism and the Problem of Mental Defect.I. A Criticism of Recent American Work. Depart-ment of Applied Statistics, University College."

Questions of the Day and of the Fray," No. VII. ByDAVID HERON, D.Sc. London : Dulau and Co. 1913.Pp. 62. Price 2s. net.-The American papers dealingwith the inheritance of mental defect which comein for the bulk of the criticism contained in Dr.Heron’s pamphlet are three in number-(1) A FirstStudy of the Inheritance of Epilepsy, by Dr. C. B.Davenport and Dr. D. F. Weeks (Eugenics RecordOffice, Bulletin No. 4) ; (2) The Inheritance of

Epilepsy, by Dr. Weeks (Problems in Eugenics, p. 62) Yand (3) Chapter IV. of " The Hill Folk," by Miss F. H.Danielson and Dr. C. B. Davenport (Eugenics RecordOffice, Memoir No. 1). His reasons for devoting so’much space and time to, their criticism are that

" they have been welcomed in this country as offirst-class importance," and that their teaching isfallacious. In the first paper the theory was statedrather dogmatically that feeble-mindedness and

epilepsy considered together as one characterbehaved in inheritance as a simple Mendelian,recessive. That this work had previously beenreceived without criticism in this country isnot in point of fact the case, as Dr. Heronwill discover if he refers, for example, to the

Eugenics Review for July, 1912. In the secondpaper the conclusions are much more modestlystated, and in the third the theory is abandonedaltogether and another more complex hypothesis.substituted with the warning that, " in view of thedifficulties in analysing individuals [presumably themembers of the Hill Folk’ are here referred to]’accurately the study of the inheritance of theirtraits can only be suggestive." It is impossible to’give briefly any account of Dr. Heron’s criticism.Much of it appears as regards its substance per-fectly justified. Some of it, on the’ other hand, ishardly fair-as, for example, when he finds faultwith Dr. Davenport for inconsistency because hehas changed his mind. The whole of it would havebeen more effective if it had been expressed withless rancour and less rhetoric.

A Companion to Manuals of Practical AnatomyBy E. B. JAMIESON, M.D. Edin., Senior Demonstratorand Lecturer on Anatomy, University of Edin-burgh. London: Henry Frowde and Hodder andStoughton. 1913. Pp. 543. Price 6s. net.-Dr.Jamieson has added another pocket anatomy to the

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student’s outfit. This volume, like all of its class,is intended to assist the student in revising workalready done properly both in the dissecting roomand with the larger text-books. It shares the

-danger common to all these little books-that it

may degenerate into a mere cram-book for thestudent who has not so done his work. Indeed, the,transition is a perilously easy one. We trust thatthe student into whose hands this volume falls will

respect the author’s aims, and use it only after hisfoundation work has been properly and truly laid.

Text-book of Anatonty and Physiology for N2crses.By AMY E. POPE, Instructor in the School of Nursingof the Presbyterian Hospital in the City of NewYork. With 135 illustrations, many in colours. NewYork G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 1913. Pp. 554. Prices. net.-Anatomy and physiology are subjects ofwhich the nurse should rightly have some funda-mental knowledge, but the proper setting of these.subjects for the use of nurses seems to be a particu-larly difficult problem. In the present instance wenote with disfavour the condensing of highly im-portant knowledge into " tips " (or, as the authorputs it,

"

doggerel ") not worthy of print, anddegrading to memory. We also note that theillustrations are derived from Testut’s great work,but that those that are acknowledged are ascribedto Professor F. H. Gerrish, who familiarised themto American readers.

!7&gr den Hospitalismus der Säuglinge. VonD. LUDwIG F. MEYER, Privat-dozenten an derUniversitat, Berlin. With 31 figures in the text.Berlin: S. Karger. 1913. Pp. 78. Price 4 marks.-’The author regards the so-called hospitalism of

nurslings as due mainly to three different factors-intestinal infection, improper feeding, and insuffi-- cient care. After considering these three factorsin detail he illustrates the pernicious influence ofthe hospital upon such children by observations- carried out in the orphan asylums in Berlin. Greatstress is laid upon the frequency of diseases of theair passages in nurslings and the disastrous effectsof errors in feeding. In conclusion, the authorpoints out that a lowered mortality rate is only tobe obtained by the prevention of affections of the.air passages and improvements in the methods andtechnique of artificial feeding.

MISCELLANEOUS VOLUMES.

A NUMBER of books bearing on problems in socialeconomics may be grouped together here.

The Union of South Africa, with its problems, bulks solargely in the public eye just now that Miss VIOLET R.MARKHAM’S interesting and thought-provoking book, 2’IeeSouth Afriecca Scene (London : Smith, Elder, and Co. 1913.

Pp. 450. Price 7s. 6d. net), will doubtless be widely read.It is divided into two parts : Travel Sketches, being a descrip-tion of the author’s noteworthy observations during her travelsfrom Cape Town to Victoria Falls ; and Some Policies andProblems, in which political, racial, linguistic, social, indus-trial, and other matters are discussed in a restrained stylebut with remarkable insight. There are items of medicalinterest too. The Indian Ambulance Corps, which did goodservice in the field during the war, commemorated by amonument in Johannesburg, receives a tribute. Miners’phthisis as an industrial problem is considered. The workof the scientific laboratories at Ouderstepoort, under thecharge of Sir Arnold Theiler, K.C.M.G., in which, amongother scientific researches, endemic diseases are studied intheir relation both to animals and man, receives notice ;while, of course, Dr. Livingstone’s and Sir Starr Jameson’sactivities as explorer and administrator respectively crop up’from time to time to shed a reflected glory on the professionof medicine. r

Constructive Conservatism (London : The Stepney Press.1913. Pp. 64. Price ls. net), by HARRY ROBERTS, is not,as one might expect from the title, a party politicalpamphlet, but rather an attempt to point out the way tothe fullest development-physical, mental, and moral-ofthe British race, not through the separation and mutualantagonism of the Syndicalists and Socialists and Liberalsand Tories, but through the separation of those who care forthe well-being of England and the liberty and well-beingof the men, women, and children of England from thosewho care only for their own careers, or possessions, or

logical consistency, or social prestige, or party score. Toeffect this he advocates the institution of an Englishnational policy in accord with the spirit and ideals andtraditions of the English people, which shall have for itsobject the fullest possible development-physical, mental,and moral-of every child born in England. It is neither

visionary nor revolutionary. Though doubtless all will findsomething to dissent from in it, probably most will findmuch more that commands their assent. The pamphletought certainly to be read by all social economists.-National Service and National Education, by ERIC GEORGE,with an Introduction by Lord HENRY CAVENDISH-BENTINCK,M.P. (London: P. S.King and Sons. 1913. Pp. 83. Pricels. net), is a very excellent little pamphlet in the main,though naturally everyone will not agree with all the details.Mr. George insists upon a point in which most people willagree with him-namely, that the proposals of the NationalService League, admirable though their general principlesare, fail in one important particular : that they do not proposeto begin the training of citizens until the age of 18 ;whereas, as Mr. George rightly says, the critical age is 14to 16, when a boy leaves school. His plan, as laid downon page 22, is that all boys should have simple physicalexercises and squad drill while at school ; that on leavingschool at or under 16 they should spend one year at atraining school for a partly military curriculum, wherestiiet discipline should be enforced ; after this they shouldbe members of the Officers’ Training Corps or of a cadetcorps up to the age of 18. (Practically the same schemeis advocated in Constructive Conservatism, reviewed above.)After this they may, if they liked, join the regular army,the Special Reserve, or the Territorials, but training is tobe compulsory up to the age of 18. The training school isto be a boarding school. The scheme is well worth theconsideration of the authorities.-A National System ofEducation, by JOHN HOWARD WHITEHOUSE, M.P. (Cam-bridge : The University Press. 1913. Pp. 92. Price 2s. 6d.

net), we learn from a prefatory note, "is issued with thegeneral approval of the executive committee of the LiberalEducation Group of the House of Commons, though they arenot necessarily committed to its detailed recommenda-tions." If the Liberal Education Group has read Mr.Whitehouse’s recommendations its members will feelrelieved at his statement, for his recommendations entirelyupset, it seems to us, the whole educational system of thecountry. We are quite willing to allow that that systemdoes need alteration, but Mr. Whitehouse goes too fast.The "additional heavy cost," which he allows will be

necessary, is to be met out of the taxes ; the school ageis to be raised to 16, or possibly higher. As a beginning,we are to have a Royal Commission on Private Schools(Chapter VIII.), a Royal Commission on the Universitiesof Oxford and Cambridge (Chapter X.), and a Perma-nent Financial Commission of the Board of Education(Chapter IX.). As to the religious question, Mr. White-house dismisses it as "a very limited and a very small

question." It is no part of our duty to say whether theadvocates of religious teaching are right or wrong, but theycannot and will not be dismissed in such a cursory fashion.

JOURNALS AND MAGAZINES.

Brain : a Journal of Neu,rology. Vol. 36. Part I.-Thefirst number of the new volume consists of three papersof considerable but varied interest. The first is thecombined work of the Editor and Dr. E. G. Fearnsides withDr. J. McIntosh and Dr. P. Fildes, and discusses the questionof parasyphilis of the nervous system, the Wassermannreaction being the chief means relied upon in the paper ofelucidating the true nature of this clinical condition. The

paper is most suggestive and interesting, for it-draws a