process which, as in other parts, may be carried to an excess and eventually become detrimental. In those cases of difficult micturition due to an enlarged prostate and not relieved by the use of the catheter, prostatotomy is recommended, with subsequent drainage by means of a large tube. This should, if necessary, be retained for several weeks in the bladder, until the urine which flows away becomes acid.

Lecture III. is a brief review of the operative treatment of stone and tumours of the bladder during the last few years. The most important point raised is the re-formation of stone after lithotrity. Mr. Harrison evidently believes, and we thoroughly agree with him, that owing to the facility with which small soft stones can be got rid of by crushing, not a few cases are submitted to lithotrity when they would be much better treated by lithotomy with subsequent prolonged drainage. The bladder might then return to a healthy condition, and be in future free from calculus instead of existing as a "chronic abscess with a stone in it."

THE DEMON OF DYSPEPSIA.*

UNDER the above sensational title the author attempts to describe, in a popular form, the physiological processes of digestion and nutrition, the functional and organic derangements of the foregoing with their pathological phenomena, and the treatment of dyspepsia in general. It is difficult to define exactly the class of readers to which this volume appeals. The author's intention, as expressed in his preface, is to furnish the British public with a small work on the food supply of the human body, the means by which it is made to subserve the purposes of life, and the consequences which result from violation of the laws which rule those processes. A handy popular book, expressed in simple language, with this object in view

*The Demon of Dyspepsia; or Digestion Perfect and Imperfect. By Adolphus E. Bridger, B.A., M.D., F.R.C.P.E. London: Sonnenschein. 1888.

might be of service to the intelligent reader who wishes to make himself acquainted with known physiological laws and to escape the consequences of ignorance; but when a writer allows himself to enter upon descriptions of the most obscure and difficult problems in physiology and medicine, the wisdom of putting his work into the hands of the general public is doubtful. Our fear would be that it should prove a welcome addition to the already overstocked library of the Malade Imaginaire. To quote examples from the work in question, no mention is made of the bile-salts or the purposes which they subserve in intestinal digestion; and yet the glycogenic function of the liver and its relation to diabetes is discussed at some length. Under tertiary digestion, such problems as the constructive and destructive nitrogenous metabolism and several hypotheses which are still sub judice, e. g., the hydrolytic nature of proteid and fat digestion, are advanced in the semblance of universally recognised dogmas.

Several disorders are treated at length, and the author does not hesitate to recommend medicines appropriate to each. Had he been content with the very excellent prescription for tooth powder on page 85 we should have no cause to complain, but when such potent drugs as arsenious acid, nux vomica, and codeina are commended without one word of caution, we must only trust that the non-medical reader will not dabble in pharmacology. The possibility that 15 grains of codeina daily should be taken by anyone who is ignorant of the use and action of drugs is sufficient to cause alarm. Rheumatism is assigned as a result of imperfect tertiary digestion (ie. assimilation). The writer very wisely recommends the aid of a physician in the acute forms of this disease. In dealing with chronic rheumatism he does not mention the many cases occurring, chiefly among the poor, which are benefited by good living and increased comfort. On the other hand he condemns high feeding, and recommends arsenic "from its power over the vasomotor nerves," and guiacum (sic) "from its special power on the skin." Guaiacum is more than once wrongly spelt.

The concluding chapters on foods, dietaries, beverages, and stimulants form the best portion of the book, and are full of useful information, given with much clearness. please a certain kind of popular taste.

The work will probably

It is written throughout are avoided as much as

in a pleasant style, and "hard" words possible. The discursive manner in which the author treats his subject may form an attraction to some readers. Within the limits of a small handbook he finds space to discuss Homœopathy, the supremacy of the Deity, the contrast between Anglo-Saxon and Celtic character, and many other topics with only a very remote bearing on the subject of his volume.

ON TRANSFUSION OF BLOOD AND SALINE FLUIDS.*

THIS volume has reached its third edition within a period of five years. Its author's work on the subject of transfusion is well and deservedly known. The easy method which he has devised for the execution of this operation has simplified the procedure so that any medical practitioner ought to be able to transfuse a patient.

Reasons are adduced in this edition not merely to prove that human blood can be directly transfused in quantity, limited only by the amount the giver can afford to lose, and that such loss can be repaired by the intravenous injection of saline fluid, but also to show that life, jeopardised by severe hæmorrhage, can be restored even after the heart has ceased to beat, and that most cases of acute anæmia can be successfully treated by injecting a moderate quantity of saline fluid into the veins.

The value of the work is considerably augmented by a lengthy appendix in which is embodied the details of experiments and cases shewing that transfusion may be employed as a valuable curative agent in other conditions than those resulting from mere

* On Transfusion of Blood and Saline Fluids. By C. E. Jennings, F.R.C.S., M.S., M.B., Assistant Surgeon to the Cancer and North-west London Hospitals. Third edition. London: Baillière, Tindall and Cox. 1888.

blood loss; for example, in chloroform and opium poisoning, and in certain cases of anæmia. The volume contains an abstract of a valuable address delivered by the author before the Medical Officers of the Army Medical Department on transfusion for hæmorrhage in Military Surgery. An exhaustive bibliography still further adds to the value of the monograph.

We think it incumbent on every practitioner, especially if he is engaged in midwifery practice, that he should familiarise himself with the method of transfusion which we owe to Mr. Jennings.

THE HEALTH OF CHILDREN.*

EVERYONE who has to deal with the complaints of infancy and childhood must be constantly impressed with the fact that a great deal of avoidable suffering and ill health is caused, especially among the lower classes, by ignorance and thoughtlessness respecting the needs and requirements of infants and children, and must appreciate the need there is for fuller knowledge on the part of the class alluded to. This short and popular treatise on the hygiene of childhood will therefore be welcome on account of its being calculated to meet that need.

It is concise and clear, and the various subjects dealt with are divided up in a way that makes reference to them very easy. It is, in fact, what the author claims for it in the preface, viz., "simply a contribution to preventive medicine, and, being intended chiefly for the public, it contains nothing in the way of amateur doctoring, nor any choice method of treating disease."

Not only will it afford knowledge of the way to prevent illness, but its perusal will give what is sometimes so strangely wanting in mothers and those who have care of children, namely, a knowledge of the healthy standard of infancy, thus enabling any departure therefrom to be at once recognised and

* The Health of Children. By Angel Money, M.D., B.S., M.R.C.P., Assistant Physician to the Hospital for Sick Children, and to University College Hospital. London: H. K. Lewis, 1888.

medical aid summoned in good time, and before any serious consequences have resulted.

It is to be hoped that this little book will command the sale which its usefulness and cheapness deserves.

MESMERISM (HYPNOTISM.)*

THIS pamphlet contains an interesting and concise résumé of many of the facts concerning the above state.

These facts are placed before the reader plainly and without bias. The language is that of a pleasantly-written, impartial report on the subject.

One amusing, and at the same time most instructive, example is the following, which the author thus mentions on the authority of M. Liébault :-" M. Liébault hypnotized a boy of considerable intelligence, but an incorrigible idler; it was suggested to him that he must work to get to the top of his class. He rose to the top of his form, and maintained this position for several months. The suggestion then began to wear off, and, as the boy had by no means enjoyed the part he had been forced to play, he refused to be hypnotized again."

Many other interesting cases are given, several of which have occurred in the writer's own practice.

But this opens

There seem to us to be two serious objections to this treatment: first, "only a small percentage of persons can be hypnotized," and, second, these are the very ones who can least afford to have their will power weakened. up a large metaphysical question for which this magazine is not suited. In some cases—such as chronic alcoholism-the good resulting may very greatly overbalance any injurious effect arising from the method.

* Mesmerism (Hypnotism). By Sidney Barwise, M.B. Birmingham: Cornish Brothers, 1888.