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"concluded" for "determined," &c. These are to be regretted, as they grate upon the ears of a reader in England, and might have been easily avoided by a man of education. We cannot help regretting also that Dr. Packard should have confined himself so strictly to the servile labour of translating, especially as the passage we have quoted from the preface seemed to promise something of a re-edition. The additions, however, which Dr. Packard has furnished are merely short accounts of detached cases, or descriptions of apparatus for the treatment of particular fractures. The more important questions which have been imported into the general subject since Malgaigne wroteby the introduction of chloroform, and by the great extension of the practice of excision -have been quite passed over by Dr. Packard. Others which Malgaigne has mentioned cursorily, but which deserve longer treatment on account of the greater experience of them which we now possess, such as the use of tenotomy in oblique fractures of the leg, the treatment of fractures of the lower extremity without confinement to bed, &c., are dismissed with the few contemptuous lines which Malgaigne assigns to them. Where Malgaigne has fallen into errors, or where modern inquiry has rectified of enlarged the views which he propounded, Dr. Packard seldom does more than indicate the authors who may be consulted, and sometimes leaves the question altogether. Hence this book, which we opened with great interest, hoping to find a complete exposition of modern theory on the subject of fractures, together with the numerous expedients which American ingenuity might have invented in its treatment, turns out to be nothing more than our old friend Malgaigne with a new English face-a very useful work, indeed, and one which we hope will have an extensive circulation, but which cannot demand a more detailed notice at our hands.

We should perhaps have stated that the illustrations to Malgaigne are reproduced in this book, very small and not very well executed, but still sufficiently clear in general to render the author's text intelligible.

ART. V.-Pathology and Social Science.

The Irritable Bladder: its Causes and Curative Treatment. By FREDERICK JAMES GANT, M.R.C.S. Eng.; Surgeon and Pathological Anatomist to the Royal Free Hospital, and Conservator of the Museum; late Surgeon to Her Majesty's Military Hospitals, Crimea and Scutari.-London, 1859. pp. 136.

THIS is an ill advised work; it looks as if it were written for the public rather than the profession. The "pathology" is in a great measure borrowed from Sir B. Brodie, and is most of it quite familiar by this time even to tyros in medicine; "social science," as the author confesses, is very dangerous ground, nor can we say much for his dexterity in avoiding its dangers. It is perhaps inevitable that a work written for the perusal of lay readers should have a few ornaments from lighter literature, but really Mr. Gant makes a most liberal use of this licence. Shakespeare is of course to be quoted, for Shakespeare seems to come in as infallibly into the writings of our minor medical authors as King Charles I. did into Mr. Dick's memorial in 'David Copperfield.' The apostle Paul is also laid under contribution, and then we have references to a host of other worthies who would stare no little at finding themselves dragged in to assist at a consultation on "Irritable Bladder," were they made aware of the honour done them. Thus we meet with Moses, Soyer, Lord Clive, Byron, Voltaire, and even an unnamed poet, who probably stands to Mr. Gant in the same relation as the author of the 'Old Play' did to Walter Scott, and who sings as follows the horrors of nervousness :—

"In every age and country there lives a man of pain,

Whose nerves like chords of lightning shoot fire into his brain;

To him a word's a sting-a look or sneer a blow,

And more in one short hour he feels than some in ages know." (p. 68.)

Lastly, a digression of nine pages is introduced for the benefit of sea-bathers, which Mr. Gant confesses to be not very relevant to his subject, ending with the following

paragraph, which we quote as a sufficient justification for saying that the book is one intended for the public, and not for professional readers :

"On re-entering the machine the head should be washed with fresh water, and thus the hair may be preserved smooth and soft, and will not become crisp and coarse, as every one must have seen and experienced. If after this precaution the daughters of Neptune should choose to unloosen their tresses to the breeze, they may do so with out the slightest risk of hair-splitting. I remember-but no matter; 'tis more the fashion now to roll the wet hair up in a ball, and thus ensure many a cold and headache. Such, then, are a few suggestions that I would offer to healthy sea-bathers, and I trust that they may prove useful and acceptable." (pp. 55, 56.)

Surely we could not have a plainer confession than this last sentence contains, that this treatise is intended for general perusal; we need not therefore be surprised that in a book which treats of a symptom often obscure, and referred by the author to the most various causes, no attempt should be made at diagnosis, that not a single case should be quoted, that irrelevant topics should be imported so freely into the discussion, and that matters which are as familiar as possible to surgeons should be described with all the minuteness proper to new discoveries. It would perhaps not have occurred to many surgeons, that it was necessary to treat the subject of fistula in ano in a work on the present topic; yet Mr. Gant gives us a full description of the operation with a view of recommending a new form of director for it. All that we need say as to this is, that Mr. Gant appears to operate for fistula precisely as everybody else does, and that no instruments beyond those in use seem to us necessary for so very simple a proceeding. To conclude, had Mr. Gant's researches into this subject furnished him with any materials for its diagnosis and treatment beyond those which are before the profession, we would have welcomed a treatise from him which would then have been a valuable addition to our practical literature; as it is, we must protest against attempts to popularize pathology, which we regard as having no tendency to elevate science, while they are only too likely to degrade its professors.

ART. VI. A Treatise on Medical Electricity, Theoretical and Practical; and its Use in the Treatment of Paralysis, Neuralgia, and other Diseases. By J. ALTHAUS, M.D. —London, 1859. pp. 352.

WE so recently and amply discussed the applications of electricity in medicine that we cannot avail ourselves as we would otherwise gladly do, of the opportunity afforded us by the publication of Dr. Althaus' work, to enter again upon the details of this interesting question. But our readers may have noticed that no English work of any magnitude headed the article alluded to. There existed a hiatus in British medical literature on the subject, which the present work most worthily fills up. Dr. Althaus' treatise is complete, accurate, and scientific. It is free from the assumption and pretension that unfortunately characterize so many electro-galvanic lucubrations which have issued from the press, and the whole stamps the author as a man of sound judgment and as a well-trained physician.

The book contains five chapters and an appendix. The first chapter is devoted to the consideration of the various forms of electricity, including static electricity, dynamic electricity, electro-magnetism, and animal electricity. In the second chapter, the physiological effects produced by the electric current upon the brain, spinal cord, the organs of sense, and other organs of the body, are examined; in the third chapter, we find an account of the various forms and methods suitable for the therapeutical employment of electricity, while the diagnostic uses of the agent are investigated and expounded in the fourth chapter. These four chapters lead very appropriately to an inquiry into the therapeutic use of electricity in medicine, to which the fifth chapter is.

* British and Foreign Medico-Chirurgical Review, Jan. 1859.

devoted. The subjects to which the author here first directs special attention, are the treatment of the various forms of paralysis of the cerebro-spinal and sympathetic systems, and of the arrest of the lacteal secretion; the treatment of spasmodic diseases, of anæsthesia, of neuralgia, and of "rheumatic callosities"; the introduction of medicinal agents into the body by electricity, the extraction of metallic substances from the body, the therapeutical uses of electricity in surgery and midwifery, successively find their appropriate place in the fifth chapter. In the appendix, Dr. Althaus discusses very briefly the relations of atmospheric electricity.

With the exception of a few idioms which prove that the author does not discourse in his native language, the book is written in a clear and even elegant style. Dr. Althaus does not address us with the enthusiasm of a specialist, but with the honest conviction of a man of science; hence we feel sure that his book will prove acceptable to the medical profession, and will serve to diminish the ignorance which prevails upon the employment of electricity in medicine, while it will materially assist in establishing the claims of this agent upon our serious attention.

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ART. VII.-1. A Manual of Medical Diagnosis; being an Analysis of the Signs and Symptoms of Disease. By A. W. BARCLAY, M.D. Cantab. and Edin., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Assistant-Physician to St. George's Hospital, &c. Second Edition.-London, 1859. pp. 616.

2. Clinical Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Medicine. By JOHN HUGHES BENNETT, M.D., F.R.S.E., Professor of the Institutes of Medicine and Senior Professor of Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh, formerly Lecturer on the Practice of Physic, Physician to the Fever Hospital, &c. Third Edition, with 500 Illustrations on Wood.-Edinburgh, 1859. pp. 1005.

Ir is very evident that the authors of the above works have met a want of the profession, for although it is not a year since we introduced the former editions to our readers, and spoke of them in terms of high commendation, we have to record the unusual fact of both already appearing in new editions. Both authors may justly congratulate themselves upon such manifest success. Dr. Barclay's volume is re-issued without any material alterations, but in the Clinical Lectures of Dr. Bennett we find additions extending to above fifty pages, with numerous new woodcuts. Dr. Barclay has been particularly fortunate in meeting the requirements of the student, and we regard it as an evidence of the higher position the student of the present day occupies, that he should be ready to appreciate a work so entirely removed from the class of books that have ordinarily found most favour in the student's eyes. The mine of wealth offered in the Clinical Lectures imparts to Dr. Bennett's work a value that will insure it a high place after the present generation has passed away, not only because it marks the times in which it has appeared, but also because its faithful delineations of nature in her morbid manifestations will render it permanently useful to the earnest student.

ART. VIII.-On Dislocations and Fractures. By JOSEPH MACLISE, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.-London, 1859. Fasciculi v. to ix.

A YEAR ago, we brought under the notice of our readers the first four numbers of the valuable illustrated work 'On Dislocations and Fractures,' by Mr. Maclise. The publication of the successive numbers has progressed steadily, and having appeared at the rate of one every three months, we are now able to record the issue of the ninth and concluding fasciculus. The following are the subjects treated of in the numbers before us: dislocations and fractures of the radius and ulna, dislocations and fractures of the hand, of the femur, of the tibia, the fibula and the patella, and dislocations and fractures of the foot. The concluding chapter or commentary discusses the law of articular

1859.] BARKER on the Hygienic Management of Infants and Children. 115

development, with the causes, effects, and mechanical treatment of false joint and anchylosis.

We shall probably in our next analyse more fully the labours of Mr. Maclise, and must now content ourselves with the announcement of their termination.

ART. IX.-1. Tracts of the Ladies' National Association for the Diffusion of Sanitary Knowledge.-London.

2. On the Hygienic Management of Infants and Children. By T. HERBERT BRAKER, M.D. Lond., Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Feliow and Fothergillian Gold Medallist of the Medical Society of London, &c.-London, 1859. WE cannot but again express our satisfaction at seeing the laws of physiology, so far as they apply to the preservation of health and the prolongation of life, popularized by such works as those at the head of this notice. The rational physician finds no better assistance in the treatment of disease than the rational patient, and a suitable knowledge of the laws that regulate the economy must necessarily lead the laity to understand and appreciate more fully the scope and value of scientific medicine. But a knowledge of physiology will confer yet greater benefits upon all members of the community, by enabling them to avoid and prevent the debilitating influences which lay open the system to the incursions of disease. We hail with much satisfaction the formation of a Ladies' Association for the Diffusion of Sanitary Knowledge, for it rests more with the women of England that our race shall increase in vigour of body and mind, than with trainers, schoolmasters, or doctors; to them is entrusted the care and nurture of the infant and the child, and what is neglected in early life in the mother's or nurse's training can never be perfectly redeemed by after management. The society have begun their work well by issuing a series of penny tracts under such titles as the following: The Health of Mothers,'Why do not Women Swim ?'* How to Feed a Baby with the Bottle,' 'The cheap Doctor: a word about fresh air," How to Manage a Baby,' The Evils of Perambulators,' and the like. With the exception of one or two exaggerations, and the unnecessary introduction of the movement-cure, as an illustration, in the pamphlet on swimming, we cordially approve of the manner, matter, and method of these tracts.

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Dr. Barker's treatise, equally with the tracts just spoken of, is addressed to the general reader, and contains profitable and available information on the subject of the physical and moral treatment of children, which it would be well for all young mothers and ladies otherwise interested in education to study. Nor do we think it inappropriate to advise the junior practitioner who is just emancipated from the discipline of the schools, to read such books, for they present him with physiological aspects which are not commonly offered to him in the systematic lectures and works to which his attention has been called. Dr. Barker treats successively of the causes of the frightful mortality still prevailing in early life, of the diet and regimen of the child, including such topics as clothing, temperature, air, sleep, bathing, light, exercise, and amusements. He then dwells upon the importance of vaccination, and after adverting to the physiology of dentition, concludes his little volume with some remarks on education in its more limited sense, with which we are disposed to concur as much as with the general tenor of the work.

In reference to this important matter-important in reference to the hygienic aspect as well as to the question of the preservation of life from drowning-we would venture to suggest the propriety of making the numerous swimming baths now existing throughout the metropolis available for the purposes advocated in the pamphlet. If certain hours in the day were set apart for female bathers, and a swimming-mistress attached to each bath, opportunities would be afforded which now do not exist in or near the metropolis, and the female part of the community might readily learn an art which would assist in prolonging and saving many a life that now languishes or is lost for the want of this acquirement.

ART. X.-A Guide to the Practical Study of Diseases of the Eye. With an Outline of their Medical and Operative Treatment. By JAMES DIXON, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields, formerly Assistant-Surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital.-London, 1859. pp. 435.

FOUR years ago, we had the pleasure of presenting to our readers a very ample account of Mr. Dixon's valuable work on the Diseases of the Eye. In the second edition, which is now before us, the author has made numerous additions, while the whole has been carefully revised, in parts re-arranged, in others re-written. Thus the seventh chapter, which treats of the choroid and retina, is in reality a new production, both in substance and in form. The author's larger experience in the use of the ophthalmoscope has enabled him to go much more into detail in regard to the appearances presented in morbid conditions of these parts when subjected to the illumining and magnifying power of that instrument. Numerous cases are also given in the present edition which were not included in the former one. We can therefore have no hesitation in reiterating the strong expressions of commendation which accompanied our former analysis of Mr. Dixon's work, and urging its study upon those of our readers who are desirous of obtaining sound information in the important branch of medical science to which it relates.

ART. XI.-Engravings of the Ganglia and Nerves of the Uterus and Heart. For the use of Students in Anatomy and Physiology. By ROBERT LEE, M.D., F.R.S.London, 1858.

DR. LEE presents us with a republication of the plates which have accompanied his several memoirs on the nerves of the uterus and the heart, "in the hope that a department of anatomy and physiology of such importance in medical practice may no longer remain in that obscurity and error in which it has been left involved in the most recent works on anatomy published in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe." The plates are unaccompanied by any letterpress beyond what is necessary to a bare explanation of the parts delineated. The plates themselves are thirteen in number, and have the merit of being clear and intelligible. Nine are devoted to the uterus and four to the heart. We cannot but thank Dr. Lee for having made the results of his researches so readily accessible to a larger class of inquirers, and trust that they may prove conducive to extending the knowledge of the intricacies of the nervous distribution in the heart and uterus.

ART. XII.—1. Illustrations of Typhus Fever in Great Britain, the result of Personal Observations made in the Summer of 1853; with some Remarks as to its Origin, Habits, Symptoms, and Pathology; to which is appended a Brief Account of the Reappearance of Typhus in Boston in the Winter of 1857-58. By J. UPHAM, M.D., &c.-Boston, 1858. 8vo. pp. 46.

2. An Essay upon the Relation of Bilious and Yellow Fever, prepared at the request of, and read before, the Medical Society of the State of Georgia, at its Session held at Macon, April 9th, 1856. By RICHARD D. ARNOLD, M.D., Professor of the Theory and Practice of Medicine in the Savannah Medical College.—Augusta, Ga., 1856. 8vo. pp. 30.

In the first of these pamphlets, which is a republication of a paper in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal,' the writer gives an account of his observations on typhus fever in this country. Some ten years before, he had published, in the same journal,

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