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On page 7 we read that "the amount of refraction is the same for any medium, at the same obliquity, and is called the index of refraction; air is taken as the standard and is called 1." This statement gives a very hazy notion of the real meaning of a refractive index. We could point out several other examples, but the above will suffice. There are also a few instances of omissionse.g., on page 15 spherical aberration is mentioned without any explanation of its meaning. On page 21 the reason why rays entering the eye return to the source of origin is not given, nor is the reader referred back to it. The movement of the vessels, as seen with the ophthalmoscope, in myopia and hypermetropia is not fully explained.

An appendix which occupies the three last pages gives a resumé of the proper routine to be adopted when examining an eye. The book is remarkably free from misprints, but "Galezowski" appears twice as "Galizowski."

Differences in the Nervous Organisation of Man and Woman, Physiological and Pathological. By HARRY CAMPBELL, M.D., B.S. London: H. K. Lewis. 1891. Pp. 383.

THIS most interesting and fascinating work is divided into three parts. The first treats of the evolution of sex. The following is the account of how the sexes came to be separated :-"Suppose that in the evolutionary career of a given species a stage has been reached at which, while the organism still remains hermaphroditic, the female generative system is fairly complex; then given an individual varying in such wise that the female generative system is better developed, and the male generative system not so well developed as in an average member of the class, such an individual will stand a better chance of leaving a numerous progeny than the average member. And, similarly, an organism possessing the male generative system more developed than the female will be at an advantage over others as regards its capacity for fertilising. According to the laws of heredity, as limited by sex, their respective characters will tend to be transmitted respectively to certain individuals among the offspring, some developing more of the female, others more of the male sexual character. It is further evident that those of the offspring in which the sexual disparity is greatest will stand the best chance of leaving a numerous progeny to inherit their sexual

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peculiarites; and thus it happens that with each generation the female element will become more pronounced in one set of individuals, the male in another, until an element in each organism being finally eliminated altogether the sexes become quite distinct."

As regards the all-important question of the inheritability of somatogenetic characters no decided option is given; but the author inclines to agree with Weismann, and to deny such inheritance. That blastogenetic eharacters are inherited there can be no doubt; but how far these are influenced by the environment is not quite clear. Weismann believes that effects produced by the environment are inheritable, but that the change thus wrought takes no part in evolution. Dr. Campbell, however, maintains that distinct pathological conditions may be thus induced, and that the tendency to disease may thereby accumulate from generation to generation.

The views of Gidder and Thompson that the male organism is more katabolic and the female organism is more anabolic, that the former is characterised by the expenditure of energy, the latter by the storage of energy, are fully considered, and the contrast is regarded as most important and having considerable pathological significance, although it cannot be taken as expressing the primary and fundamental sexual difference.

In the second part, which is "chiefly concerned with the pathological application of conclusions arrived at in Part I.," we would notice as more than usually interesting the chapters on woman and undeveloped man, and those on the monthly rhythm. In the latter it is argued that a monthly period or cycle is common to both men and women, and that the actual occurrence of the menstrual flux is only one stage of the cycle, just as new or full moon is of the cycle in which the moon completes her orbit around the earth.

The third part is psycho-physiological. In this the chapters on the varieties of male will are of great interest. These varieties are divided into four groups:

1. The form in which compound mento-motor action tends to approximate to simple mento-motor action.

2. That in which no one impulse to action is able to retain the permanent mastery-i.e., vacillation.

3. That due to the peculiar strength of sense over motion of the nature of a fascination.

4. That in which coherent thought is impossible, the individual being incapable of realising in idea any definite course of action. The entire work is, of course, mainly speculative, but it is full of ingenious and suggestive matter, and is evidently the outcome of much thought and observation. It is written in a charmingly easy and unaffected style, free from obscurity or pedantry. It is a volume which, if once taken up, will scarcely be laid down until it is finished.

An Introduction to Human Physiology. By AUGUSTUS W. WALLER, M.D. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1891. Pp. 612. In this work we have the latest handbook of Physiology for the use of medical students. It is one to which we can afford the highest praise, and we would say that, in our opinion, it is, for the class for which it is written, the best book on Physiology in the language.

The division of the subject is into two parts. Firstly, the phenomena of Nutrition-including blood and circulation; respiration; digestion; renal excretion and food, nutrition, and excretion; and animal heat.

Secondly, the phenomena of Excitation-including the peripheral nervous system; muscle; animal electricity (treated in a chapter by itself); light and vision; sound and hearing, and the other senses; and the central nervous system.

In an appendix is a short sketch of Embryology, and an outline of physiological chemistry, together with tables of weights and

measures.

There is a pretty full bibliography given at the end of the volume, and the copious reference to recent papers will be found most useful by senior students or others wishing to extend their knowledge beyond the limits of a text-book. Finally, there is a good index.

At the head of each chapter is placed a very full table of its contents. This is intended to serve not only as a summary or syllabus, but as a means by which the student can examine himself. The chapters dealing with difficult subjects, and which may be omitted by the junior student, are marked, so that the selection of parts to be studied in a first reading is easily made.

Throughout, the work is written in a clear, pointed style, free from affectation or obscurity. The facts are accurately stated, and

the information is all up to date. The text is abundantly illustrated, not by the histological drawings, which occupy such an undue amount of space in most students' text-books, but by drawings of instruments, curves, and such diagrams and figures as are distinctly physiological rather than anatomical. The type is large and clear, and the paper and binding all that can be desired.

On the whole, this is a work we would strongly recommend to all our readers, who require within a reasonable compass a thoroughly reliable and complete view of modern Physiology. We congratulate Dr. Waller on the production of the volume, which will, we doubt not, add to the deservedly high position which he already holds among contemporary physiologists.

The Human Figure: its Beauties and Defects. By ERNST BRÜCKE, Emeritus Professor of Physiology in the University of Vienna, &c. With a Preface by WILLIAM ANDERSON, Professor of Anatomy to the Royal Academy of Arts, London. With 29 Illustrations by Hermann Paar. London: H. Grevel & Co. 1891. 8vo. Pp. 188.

PROFESSOR BRÜCKE has clothed with anatomical learning Hamlet's famous reflection on man :- -"What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!" He has added to the poet's enthusiasm of mere beauty the sculptor's knowledge of bone and muscle which brings into prominence every line and curve of physical grace and strength. He has provided for us an anatomical key to the forms and proportions of paintings and statuary which have come to be recognised as embodying the highest point of physical development. The author does not single out as the artistic type that which in many instances anatomy would teach us to be the normal one, but allows to the artist ample scope to avail himself of any slight deviations which may present a more pleasing outline or add to the symmetry and grace of his delineation. We cannot single out the numerous points of interest touched upon by Professor Brücke. Suffice to say it will be found to afford much instruction to those who are not merely students of art, but to all those who care to see the ghastly details revealed by dissection clothed, yet not concealed, by the skill of the painter's brush or of the sculptor's chisel;

to realise Coleridge's ideal of "the sublime of man"-" to know himself, part and proportion of a wondrous whole." A word of praise must be added for the beautiful specimens of wood engraving by Hermann Paar, mostly from well-known sculptures or paintings, which adorn the volume.

Nerve Prostration and other Functional Disorders of Daily Life. By ROBSON ROOSE, M.D., &c. Second Edition. London: H. K. Lewis. 1891. Pp. 671.

FUNCTIONAL disorders, so-called, or as we should say diseases whose real nature is unknown or misunderstood, are the happy hunting ground of therapeutists and speculators. The pursuit only, while it does not contain much that is new or original, gives a plain straightforward account of the symptoms of each of the conditions described without too much theoretical speculation about anabolism and katabolism, and does not unduly multiply the therapeutic agencies to be employed in treatment.

The book will, no doubt, be found useful by many practitioners, although to the scientific physician the effect it produces is not satisfactory.

It is divided into an introduction and four sections. In the introduction it is fairly stated that no sharp line can be drawn between functional and organic diseases, and that many diseases formerly regarded as functional are now known to have an organic basis.

The first section treats of the functional disorder of the nervous system, including neurasthenia, hysteria, epilepsy, neuralgia, headache, hypochondriasis, toxic neuroses, and others.

The second section is on the functional disorders of the organs of circulation, and deals with palpitation, syncope, neurasthenia of the heart, characterised by weakness of the heart with increased excitability, and angina pectoris.

In the third section the functional disorders of the respiratory organs are considered. These include laryngismus stridulus, asthma, and hay fever. It seems rather a straining of terms to call the last a functional disorder.

The fourth section deals with the functional disorders of the organs of digestion. This is, to our mind, the most unsatisfactory section. We find chapters on dyspepsia, nervous dyspepsia, con

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