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. Is 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 stipation, diarrhoea, and other conditions which are merely symptoms of different and altogether distinct conditions. There is no doubt that many useful hints may be got from the perusal of this book, although, as we have said, we do not look on it as an example of the highest class of medical literature. The style is clear and easy to read, and the manner in which the work is brought out leaves nothing to desire. Refraction of the Eye, its Diagnosis and the Correction of its Errors. By A. STANFORD MORTON, M.B., F.R.C.S. Eng. Fourth Edition. H. K. Lewis. 1891. WE gladly welcome a new edition of this little work on Refraction. As we have had occasion to notice each of the former editions, we need not do more than state that we have no reason now to reduce the large share of praise which we bestowed upon the earlier editions. The book though small, only 69 pages, puts clearly all the most important facts concerning the subject with which it deals. In the present edition the whole book has been revised, and in part rewritten, but no very essential change in its arrangement and scope has been made. We still regard it as one of the very best of the small works on Refraction. QUASSIN. SS. OLIVERI and DENARO having obtained quassin in a pure and crystalline state, thus describe it :-Quassin occurs in fine needle-like colourless crystals of the monoclinic order when formed from a warm menstruum. On cooling, the crystals tend to form an amorphous mass, which is very soluble in alcohol, acetic acid, and chloroform, but sparingly so in ether. Exposed to the air, the solution becomes yellowish. The glucoside is neutral in reaction; does not reduce Fehling's solution; gives a white precipitate with tannic acid, and gives no colour test with perchloride of iron. It dissolves in concentrated alkaline solutions, but not in solutions of the carbonates. The chemical is given as C10H22O5, or C32H4O10Gazzetta Chimica Italiana, No. 165, May, 1891. [The chemical formula given above differs from that ascribed to the glucoside by British writers, who give the formula as C1,H12O3. Attfield, however, accepts the formula of SS. Oliveri and Denaro]. 44 PART III. MEDICAL MISCELLANY. Reports, Transactions, and Scientific Intelligence. ROYAL ACADEMY OF MEDICINE IN IRELAND. President-GEORGE H. KIDD, M.D., F.R.C.S.I. General Secretary-W, THOMSON, F.R.C.S.I, SECTION OF OBSTETRICS. Friday, November 27, 1891. Dr. ATTHILL in the Chair. President's Address. The PRESIDENT having returned his warmest and best thanks to the Fellows of the Royal Academy of Medicine for having elected him as President of the Section of Obstetrics, read an Address on Cæsarean Section. His firm conviction was that there are many infants annually sacrificed who might be saved if the medical profession would recognise the fact that a majority of such cases could be saved by prompt surgical interference. He gave a short resumé of the history of the operation, and did not consider it required more than ordinary surgical skill for its performance. He laid special stress on the treatment of the uterine wound, as advocated by Sänger, of Leipzig, and paid a tribute of respect to Lister, as having restored the Cæsarean section from the limbo to which it was consigned to its proper place in the surgical art, by means of antiseptics. On the early recognition of pelvic deformity depended the success of Cæsarean section. Specimens Exhibited. DR. W. J. SMYLY showed specimens of myoma uteri removed from six different patients, which illustrated the chief varieties of such growths. Case I. was a subperitoneal fibroid with a long pedicle, somewhat larger than a foetal head. It had been removed from a patient in the |