argument for the use of the method seems to us entirely fallacious as the success of the method, according to his own statement, depends upon the production of a large amount of connective tissue to close the hernial rings and canal. We know from long experience that connective tissue is notoriously weak under strain and will not suffice to effect a permanent cure in most cases of hernia. Ten cases observed for a short time offer no good basis of judgment as to the real success of this method, and we believe it is poor in principle and offers little hope for a radical cure in most cases.

Genito-Urinary Diseases and Syphilis. By Edgar G. Ballenger, M. D., Lecturer on Genito-Urinary Diseases, Syphilis and Urinalysis, Atlanta School of Medicine; Editor Journal-Record of Medicine; GenitoUrinary Surgeon to Presbyterian Hospital, Atlanta, Ga. With 86 illustrations, 276 pages, practical, concise. Price $3.00. E. W. Allen & Co., Publishers, Atlanta, Georgia.

This volume presents in a brief and concise manner the fundamental principles of genito-urinary diseases and syphilis. The author goes into sufficient detail in his treatment of the different subjects to give a clear idea of all the important facts while omitting the minute detail of the larger and more comprehensive works. The volume is brought up to date with many illustrations which serve to elucidate the text and should prove a valuable work particularly for the student and general practitioner.

Medical Gynecology. By S. Wyllis Bandler, M. D., Adjunct Professor of Diseases of Women, New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital. Octavo of 675 pages, with 135 original illustrations. Philadelphia and London: W. B. Saunders Company, 1908. Cloth, $5.00 net; Half Morocco, $6.50 net.

The recent appearance of several works on Medical Gynecology is an indication of the swing of the pendulum away from the tendency to regard all gynecologic ailments as necessarily requiring operative procedures. The middle ground is, of course, the correct one, and the author, while emphasizing the importance of non-operative methods in many of these conditions, urges operation in such lesions as ectopic gestation which are generally conceded to require such measures. Operation is advised in all cases of fibromyoma which, when the tumor is not actually causing symptoms, is apt to be regarded by the average practitioner with more or less indifference. Such a stand gives evidence that the book is not of an extreme type but considers the subject free from the bias of a strictly non-operative standpoint. The various methods of examination and treatment are fully given. Under the latter head the use of electricity is evidently not particularly highly considered by the author and not accorded the wonderful value that some enthusiasts would lead us to believe it possesses. Hydrotherapeutic measures and especially the use of the Nauheim bath are strongly endorsed. The chapter on associated nervous conditions and that dealing with constipation deserve special mention.

The greater part of the work considers, first, the various symptoms occurring in gynecologic diseases and their significance, then the various diseases themselves are discussed. This arrangement, the author thinks, is of value in giving different viewpoints and more logical conclusions.

The work should be read by every gynecologist and especially by those who fail to appreciate the fact that after many operations the patient is not entirely recovered and that further measures are often required to effect a complete cure. Too often such cases are lost sight of after the operation only to return months later still suffering. To the general practitioner it should prove of real value, especially if due attention is paid to the cautions that are given in connection with the carrying out of so-called minor operative procedures, which are done in the office and which so often prove disastrous from lack of proper precautions. The work is a decidedly useful one if the reader will realize that it presents but one side of the treatment and that, as the author points out, to try to apply such non-operative treatment to all kinds of gynecologic diseases is a mistake.

A Manual of Diseases of the Nose and Throat. By Cornelius G. Coakley, M. D., Clinical Professor of Laryngology in the University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York. New (4th) edition, 12mo., 604 pages, with 126 engravings and 7 colored plates. Cloth, $2.75 net. Lea & Febiger, Publishers, Philadelphia and New York, 1908.

This new edition is very complete, concise and practical. It deals with the author's own way of dealing with the different nose and throat conditions and does not discuss theories or other men's methods. This makes it valuable to the student and general practitioner as there is a minimum of reading necessary to get the author's ideas. It is handy for the specialist as he is able to see what such an authority on the subject does in his own practice.

The section on Spurs and Deflections of the Septum, in the earlier editions, is here considered under Deformities of the Septum, and the technic of operations on the accessory sinuses has been more fully described than in the previous editions.

A very brief outline of the anatomy and physiology is given and tends to recall only the salient points in the subject. The section on Methods of Examination is very good.

The discussion of the different conditions is taken up under the separate headings of etiology, pathology, symptoms, examination, differential diagnosis, prognosis and treatment. This gives a very complete idea of any condition and makes the book valuable for ready reference. The closing chapter on Remedies for the Local Treatment of Nose, Pharynx and Larynx is very helpful, especially in connection with the rest of the book. The illustrations are good and several new ones have been added. These assist materially in the clearer understanding of the

text.

Pathogenic Micro-organisms, including Bacteria and Protozoa. A Practical Manual for Students, Physicians and Health Officers. By William H. Park, M. D., Professor of Bacteriology and Hygiene in the University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New York. New (third) edition, thoroughly revised and much enlarged. Octavo, 648 pages, with 176 illustrations and 5 full-page plates. Cloth, $3.75 net. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia and New York, 1908.

This book, which has become the standard textbook in a number of teaching laboratories, has been brought up to date in the present edition. The difficulty with all books which are concerned with parasitology of any sort is that they tend so rapidly to get out of date, a contingency which Park is trying hard to avoid. The section on protozoa has been amplified, and is of great value as regards the facts. Unfortunately the proof reading in this section has been very slipshod, and a large number of mistakes in men's names mar the text. It is also to be regretted that the author uses the article before the species name of organisms, as "the spirocheta pallida," etc. These are minor defects and do not seriously interfere with the marked value of the work as a combined textbook of bacteriology and protozoology.

Textbook of Nervous Diseases and Psychiatry for the use of Students and Practitioners of Medicine. By Charles L. Dana, A. M., M. D., LL. D., Professor of Nervous Diseases in Cornell University Medical College; Visiting Physician to Bellevue Hospital; Neurologist to the Montefiore Hospital; Neurologist to the Women's Hospital; Consulting Physician to the Manhattan State Hospital; ex-President of the American Neurological Association; ex-President of the New York Academy of Medicine; Corresponding Member of the Sociètè de Neurologie, etc. Seventh edition. Illustrated by 261 engravings and 3 plates in black and colors. New York, William Wood & Co., 1908.

The idea held by many physicians that neurology has been, in the last few years, an unprogressive science, finds its refutation in this wellknown work of Dana. Such a compact statement of neurologic facts now requires a book of 670 pages, to which have been added some 90 pages devoted to diseases of the mind. This latter section is added to meet the needs of students in the many colleges in which the work is used as a textbook.

The book is too well known to require extensive comment as to either the classification or the special diseases of which it treats. It is sufficient to say that it is a standard work, giving a condensed but adequate presentation of the whole range of neurologic phenomena. The engravings and plates, some 260 in number, are a most valuable feature of the work. Not only diagrams but half-tone pictures of patients make the subject a much more concrete one than can be done without their use. Dana has an unusually comprehensive grasp of the subject from the physiologic and anatomic as well as from the clinical side. The work is therefore a most useful one for reference by the busy practician as well as for the medical student.

Medical News

At the last meeting of the Mississippi Valley Medical Association the following officers were elected for the ensuing year: J. A. Witherspoon, Nashville, Tenn., President; Louis Frank, Louisville, Ky., First Vicepresident; Albert E. Sterne, Indianapolis, Ind., Second Vice-president; S. C. Stanton, Chicago, Ill., Treasurer, and Henry Enos Tuley, Louisville, Ky., Secretary. The next annual meeting will be held in St. Louis, Mo., October, 1909.

The St. Alexis Hospital Alumni Association met at the Hollenden, Thursday evening, October 1. The program was as follows: Postpartum Hemorrhage, P. S. Smigel; Mammary Carcinoma, with late Metastasis, K. E. Ochs; Report of case of Brain Tumor, W. J. Irwins; Report of case of Psoriasis, R. J. Lawlor.

J. N. McCormack, organizer of the American Medical Association, addressed the students of Western Reserve University and The Cleveland College of Physicians and Surgeons, on the general subject of "Ethics and the Relations of the Physician and the Public," Monday, October 26, 1908, at the Cleveland Medical Library.

The Lakeside Hospital Clinical Society held its thirty-first meeting Wednesday, October 28, 1908. The following clinical cases were shown: A case of Mediastinitis and Thrombosus of the Superior Vena Cava with Compensatory Circulation, J. MacLachlan; Two cases of Hemophilia, L. A. Pomeroy; A case of Congenital Malformation of the Cerebellum, R. H. Bishop; A case of Anterior Poliomyelitis following Lobar Pneumonia, S. C. Hotchkiss; A case of Brain Tumor, C. F. Hoover. Report of a case of Early Carcinoma of Cervix, F. W. Hall; Presentation of Pathologic Specimens, S. L. Haas.

George M. Gould has removed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Ithaca, New York. Copies of his case-records have been left with Walter L. Pyle, 1913 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia.

The Charity Hospital Medical Society met Wednesday, October 14, 1908. The program was as follows: (1) Obscure Pelvic Tumor, W. H. Humiston. (2) Report of Three Cases of Intestinal Resection, F. E. Smith. (3) The Use of Obstetric Forceps, with demonstration on the Manikin, E. O. Houck,

Army Medical Corps Examinations. The Surgeon General of the Army announces that the first of the preliminary examinations for the appoint ment of first lieutenants in the Army Medical Corps for the year 1909 will be held on January 11, 1909, at points to be hereafter designated.

Full information concerning the examination can be procured upon application to the "Surgeon General, U. S. Army, Washington, D. C." The essential requirements to securing an invitation are that the applicant shall be a citizen of the United States, shall be between 22 and 30 years of age, a graduate of a medical school legally authorized to confer the degree of doctor of medicine, shall be of good moral character and habits, and shall have had at least one year's hospital training or its

equivalent in practice. The examinations will be held concurrently throughout the country at points where boards can be convened.

In order to perfect all necessary arrangements for the examination, applications must be complete and in possession of The Adjutant General on or before December 10, 1908. Early attention is therefore enjoined upon all intending applicants. There are at present 57 vacancies in the Medical Corps of the Army.

The State Medical Board has received information that some medical students, having preliminary educational requirements less than demanded by the Ohio law, have been induced to attend medical colleges in other states, under the impression that after graduation they can return to, and obtain a license to practice in Ohio under reciprocity. This should be corrected. All medical students who have or who contemplate matriculating in colleges in other states with such impressions should understand that a license from another state is accepted in place of an examination only. The applicant in all other particulars must comply with the laws of Ohio and the rules of this Board. The preliminary educational attainments must be the same as required of students of Ohio colleges.

The Guy Buttles Case Memorial Wing of Saint Luke's Hospital was dedicated by appropriate ceremonies at the Hospital and at Epworth Memorial Church on Sunday, October 18, 1908. Members of the board of officers and a number of ministers of the city took part. This Memorial Wing was built at a cost of $30,000, as a monument of love to the memory of Dr Guy Buttles Case, at one time a member of the staff of Cleveland General Hospital, from funds left by his mother, Mrs. Jane M. Case. On Tuesday evening, October 20, the first annual dinner of the Hospital took place at the First Methodist Church. An attractive program was provided, speeches being made by various members of the official and visiting medical staff.

Franklin H. Martin, of Chicago, recently spent a few days in this city as the guest of Mr. Charles Nicola. While here he operated upon a case at St. Luke's Hospital.

Two Cleveland Institutions were honored by the International Tuberculosis Congress at Washington. The Anti-Tuberculosis League of Cleveland received a silver medal in competition for the best evidence of effective work in the prevention or relief of tuberculosis by any voluntary association since the last International Congress in 1905. The card setting forth the relation between the Babies' Dispensary and Hospital of Cleveland and the Anti-Tuberculosis League was not in competition, but nevertheless received a special award for honorable mention by the committee.

Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service Examinations. A board of commissioned medical officers will be convened to meet at the Bureau of Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service, 3 B Street S. E., Washington, D. C., Monday, January 11, 1909, at 10 o'clock A. M., for the purpose of examining candidates for admission to the grade of assistant surgeon in the Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service. Candidates must be between 22 and 30 years of age, graduates of a reputable medical college,