laity. It contains 139 pages. It treats this difficult subject delicately, and urges reforms which are much needed. There is nothing of the prurient, and much of common sense. It is such a work as many practicians have hoped for. The erring girl who reads the chapter on Abortion will hardly insist upon a criminal operation; the husband who reads the chapter on Man in Marriage will become a better husband; the bride who has read the chapter on Woman in Marriage will know much of the duties and trials of wifehood.-A.L.R.

The Practical Treatment of Stammering and Stuttering, with Suggestions for Practise and Helpful Exercises, by George Andrew Lewis, and a Treatise on the Cultivation of the Voice, with a Discussion of Principles and Suggestions for Practise, by George B Hynson, M.A Illustrated. Publisht by George Andrew Lewis, 35-41 Adelaide street, Detroit, Mich. Price, $3.50.

Bound in green cloth, with gold title and edges, and contains 415 pages. It is intended for laymen, but many physicians can study it and its principles with profit. The conjoint labors of the two authors give a happy combination; one having been a specialist in defects of speech for many years, and the other for like time a trainer of the normal voice. It is practical and suggestiv. The collection of old favorit selections, in itself, gives a value to the book.—A. L. R.

Uricacidemia: Its Causes, Effects, and Treatment. By Perry Dickie, M.D. Publisht by Boericke & Tafel, Philadelphia, Pa. Price, $1.05, by mail.

The author freely acknowledges his indebtedness to Haig's Uric Acid." His assertion that the laboring classes are free from the effects of uricacidemia is not borne out by common observation. He gives the various theories as to the origin of uric acid, and favors that which assumes that "uric acid is formed in the tissues, and simply eliminated in the urin by the kidneys as a mechanical process." The relation of uric acid and the urates is discust, and the solvents of uric acid named. He believes that "a large number of the diseases of the human body owe their causation to the effect of uric acid." The symptoms and pathology are briefly, yet thoroly covered. 'Drugs are deemed of less value than hygienic measures in treatment: exercise, diet, baths, clothing, air, and climate have full consideration. After freely quoting Haig's therapeutical ideas and treatment, he takes up the homeopathic side of medication and outlines it completely according to the methods of that school. He gives prominence to urtica urens in 10-drop doses, and apologizes to his brethren for this "back-sliding " dose by saying that in mild cases he has seen -drop doses do good. It contains 148 pages, and besides giving a double view of the subject is a very interesting little book.-A. L. R.

By

Diseases of the Heart and Arterial System. Robert H. Babcock, A.M., M.D., Professor of Clinical Medicin in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Chicago; Attending Physician to Cook County Hospital and Cook County Hospital for Consumptivs; Consulting Physician to Mary Thompson Hospital, Hospital of St. Anthony de Padua, and of Marion Simms Sanitarium, etc. With three colored plates and 139 illustrations. Publisht by D. Appleton & Co., New York and London, 1903. Price, $6.00.

The work contains 853 pages of well-printed and edited text. It is written in a terse, plain, and eminently practical style. The author has not 'slopt over into anatomy and physiology, but has held close to his subject. More detail is devoted to treatment than is given ordinarily by special works on this subject. The illustrations are original in the main, and are superbly executed. Many interesting cases are related in detail, and the author has put forth the utmost effort to have his book plain and practical.— A. L. R.

Surgery of the Head. By Bayard Holmes, B.S., M.D.. Professor of Surgery in the University of Illinois; Professor of Clinical Surgery in the American Medical Missionary College,

Chicago, Ill.; Attending Surgeon to the Chicago Baptist Hospital. Publisht by D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1903.

Contains 569 pages, with 14 plates and numerous illustrations. It is replete with case records and references. The style is terse and lucid. He shuns the surgery of eye, ear, nose, and throat, and holds closely to his subject. The common run of cases have most space: the cases demanding immediate interference the next in space, and rare cases and theoretical points are given last and in least space. Deformities have complete consideration. Pathology, diagnosis, and treatment are interwoven in every theme so skilfully that the reader absorbs them almost unconsciously, and cannot skip them if he would. The perusal of any chapter leaves a clear and vivid mental picture of what the author seeks to teach.-A. L. R.

The Praxis of Urinary Analysis, with Directions for Preparing Artificial Urins for Practising the Various Tests, and an Appendix on the Analysis of the Stomach Contents. By Dr. LassarCohn, Professor in the University of Koenigsberg. Authorized translation from the author's enlarged and revised second edition, by H. W. F. Lorenz, A M., Ph.D. (Berlin), late Instructor of Organic Chemistry in the University of Pennsylvania. 12 mo. Cloth, price, $1.00. Publisht by John Wiley & Sons, New York, London: Chapman & Hall, Limited. 1903.

The book contains 56 pages and an index. In its brevity lies its great charm and value, for the author knows what to leave out. He has given concisely all the knowledge needed to examin the ordinary run of urins without confusing the student by rarities. The directions for the preparation of artificial urins is a valuable feature not commonly found in such works. The appendix of analysis of the stomach contents is brief and to the point. It is an admirable book, and we have never seen one with so little useless material incorporated in it.-A. L. R.

Chart of the Arterial, Venous, and Nervous Systems. Copyrighted and publisht by Dr. Gustave H. Michel & Co., 948 Prospect street, Cleveland, Ohio. Price, $1.00.

A handsome and accurate chart, 24 x 38 inches, mounted on paper faced linen roll, and illustrating on one sheet all the principal arteries, veins, and nerves, with condenst notes on physiology and blood circulation. It is the best moderate priced chart we have ever seen on these subjects, and will prove of value to student and practician alike.—A. L. Ř.

A Text-Book of Minor Surgery, including Bandaging By Newman T. B. Nobles, M.D., Professor of Surgery at the Cleve and Homeopathic Medical College Attending Surgeon to the Cleveland City Hospital, The Cleveland Homeopathic Hospital, The East End Hospital, and The Children's Hospital. Member of the American Institute of Homeopathy, The Cleveland Homeopathic Society, The Eastern Ohio Homeopathic Society, and The Ohio State Homeopathic Medical Society. Publisht by Boericke & Tafel, Philadelphia, 1903 Price not stated.

Contains 304 pages and an index. It is the first homeopathic work on minor surgery publisht in 21 years. It is handsomely bound in red cloth and is well printed. The subjects are well covered in an upto-date manner, and homeopathic treatment medicinally is well adhered to. It contains nothing new or novel, and will be of greatest service to homeopathic physicians who wish Hahnemannian treatment and do not care to consult two books.-A. L. R.

(Continued on next page)

The Medical World

C. F. TAYLOR, M.D., Editor and Publisher

A. L. RUSSELL, M.D., Assistant Editor

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Language is a growth rather than a creation. The growth of our vocabulary is seen in the vast increase in the size of our diction. aries during the past century. This growth is not only in amount, but among other elements of growth the written forms of words are becoming simpler and more uniform. For example, compare Eng lish spelling of a centnry or two centuries ago with that of to-day! It is our duty to encourage and advance the movement toward simple, uniform and rational spelling. See the recommendations of the Philological Society of London, and of the American Philological Association, and list of amended spellings, publisht in the Century Dictionary (following the letter 2) and also in the Standard Dictionary, Webster's Dictionary, and other authoritativ works on language. The tendency is to drop silent letters in some of the most flagrant instances, as ugh from though, etc., change ed tot in most places where so pronounced (where it does not affect the preceding sound), etc.

The National Educational Association, consisting of ten thousand teachers, recommends the following:

"At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Educational Association held in Washington, D. C., July 7, 1898, the action of the Department of Superintendence was approved, and the list of words with simplified spelling adopted for use in all pubBications of the National Educational Association as follows:

securing the general adoption of the suggested amendments IRVING SHEPARD, Secretary.'

We feel it a duty to recognize the above tendency, and to adopt it in a reasonable degree. We are also disposed to add enuf (enough) to the above list, and to conservativly adopt the following rule recommended by the American Philological Association: Drop final "e" in such words as "definite," "infinite," "favorite," etc., when the preceding vowel is short. Thus, spell opposit,' preterit," "hypocrit," "requisit," etc. When the preceding vowel is long, as in "polite," "finite," unite," etc., retain present forms unchanged.

"

We simply wish to do our duty in aiding to simplify and rationalize our universal instrument-language.

The Country Doctor.

A famous "Quiz-master used formerly to tell his students on the eve of final examination, "Gentlemen, you are tonight better therapeutists than you will ever be again during your entire life." His statement was always received with howls of derision, and yet his pupils of years gone by now realize that he spoke the truth. When they left their alma mater they could draw the finest of distinctions between drugs, and volubly quote authority in support of their views; at the hospital bedside they could select their medication in a manner astonishing to a veteran who dared question their views or suggest a different drug. Yet a very few years have sufficed to dull and blunt the edge of their perception and to cruelly dwindle their armamentarium. These were as brilliant men as ever subscribed to the Aesculapian pledges; their opportunities have not been limited; the drugs may yet be obtained in all their purity and power; human physiology and anatomy have not changed; they have read and kept abreast of the times; they are neither cynics nor therapeutic nihilists; why the altered views and practise (we almost said retrogression)?

It is because such men have become better men and better practicians of medicin than when they left the clinic hall and the internes beat. One who has reverently bowed before the voice of authority for many weary hours, unconsciously yields an unquestioning homage and obedience to the spirit which has guided him. Without his realizing it, his ego has been annihilated, and he is but the walking and speaking shadow of his learned and exBut as he grapples perperienced masters. sonally with the gravest problems which ever

confront men in the practise of their chosen profession, and is thrown repeatedly, he in time realizes that he confronts conditions which differ from those which confronted his teacher, and that his patient is not at all the same individual upon whom his worthy preceptor practised. When he realizes that he is enervated mentally because his individuality has been obscured by the personality of another, then, if ever, the stamina of a vigorous mind asserts itself, and he grapples with conditions and emergencies in a new and vastly different manner. He is chagrined to find that his scientific polish has paralyzed his natural faculties, and the veneer is crackt without ceremony, and he is no longer a blind and unquestioning disciple, but a veritable doubting Thomas. If the making of a doctor is in him, he emerges somewhat battle scarred and considerably meeker, but a doctor and a man upon whom the gods must delight to look. If a "peerless therapeutist" has been lost to science, humanity is the richer by a good doctor.

The greatest therapeutist in America confesses that he was never a successful practician. "He was drowned in his own talents." A man can be overtrained in the surgical amphitheater as well as in the gridiron field, and the better teachers in our medical colleges are realizing it. Every warrior must win his spurs before he can wear them with honor. As there is no royal road to learning, so there is no path to actual efficiency of the highest grade in medicin except by the Alps of experience. Do not expect too much of booksthe practical use of what they teach is never found within their texts. Do not follow them blindly and without thought until you find that you have confronted a condition and not a theory, and that the theory has had decidedly the worst of the bargain. To depend upon books exclusivly will instil cynicism and egotism, bigotry or diffidence, rashness or cowardice. Bacon said that books "teach not their own use, but that there is a practical wisdom without them, won by observation."

This is why the "country doctor" who has been storm buffetted and urban scorned, so frequently abashes the shining lights. He has been in the harness (galled by the thongs which held him when he would have broken free) till his "hide" has thickened, and he bears the brand of service. If worthy, he does not fear to seek the society of any practician, simply acknowledging that the varnish has been crackt and the veneer is wanting. The most amusing thing we have ever witnest was a rough (?) "country doctor," in a great surgical amphitheater, after a difficult operation at the hands of a master in the art, detail to the professor how he had performed the same

operation with successful result, unaided and alone and lighted by a tallow dip. The professor had thought to bewilder the country. man, but was forced to confess that he would not have dared to attempt such a task, and could not have accomplisht such results, as his humble auditor was ready to prove.

There is no disgrace in being a country doctor, nor in bearing the "galls" of hard service. If, however, one does not keep up with the times and allows himself to drop toward the rear, he does much to foster and encourage the contempt which certain city practicians feel toward the mass of country practicians. Wear the "galls" of your hard life so that they will be badges of honor. Read systematically and regularly. Purchase as many books as your means allow, and remember that a few books thoroly read are worth more to a man than many carelessly skimmed thru. Never omit practical journals. Read them well and write for the aid you can give to others younger or less experienced than yourself. If you are not able to discourse learnedly on the various phases of the appendicitis question, you may be able to tell how to abort a felon or give quick relief in pruritus. Add your mite; record what you have learned thru difficulties so great and hardships so trying.

The Feces.

The diagnostic value of a careful and routine examination of the feces is considerable, and yet it is the exceptional thing for the practician in these days to avail himself of it. We do not refer to the ultra scientific microscopical examination, nor the search for bacteria, but to simple and systematic inspection. A little practise in this line will astonish many practicians; the revelations are sometimes truly wonderful. Almost anything may be found, from undigested food and mucus, to segments of tape-worm, and undissolved tablets and pills. Can one imagin a young doctor who has graduated well, and passed some good state board, who has never seen, much less studied, the typical typhoid stool? or one who has never seen the segments of the tenia as voided? Well, such men exist. We believe a few remarks upon this matter appropriate at this time.

The quantity of the feces varies both with the character and the quantity of food ingested, some foods leaving a much greater residue than others. If large quantities of readily assimilable food be taken, the bulk of feces may be comparativly small; but if the food used be bulky and contain little nutritiv material, the resultant feces may appear large in proportion. Hence, one must know the character of the food in judging as to the rela