418 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



us, and briefly to outline the course of its 

 argument ; but our sketch gives no ade- 

 quate idea of the number and importance 

 of the specific topics that are treated in the 

 course of the exposition. Many of the 

 larger and more urgent questions of the 

 time are taken up, and, while considered in 

 relation to the fundamental principle which 

 it is the object of the work to develop, they 

 are handled in a way that is full of sug- 

 gestiveness and valuable instruction. 



Our Home Physician : A Popular Guide 

 to the Art of preserving Health and 

 treating disease. by george m. 

 Beard, M. D., assisted by Eminent Medi- 

 cal Authorities. New York : E. B. Treat. 

 Pp. 1,506, with Plates. Price, $6. 



This work is designed to present, in a 

 form intelligible to ordinary readers, a re- 

 view of the whole field of medical science, 

 so far as it is of practical application and 

 popular acquaintance with it is desirable. 

 It includes within its scope anatomy, physi- 

 ology, hygiene, and the employment of sim- 

 ple treatment and remedies. It gives in- 

 formation concerning the structure of the 

 human body and the functions of its organs ; 

 on diet, stimulants, narcotics, air, sunlight, 

 exercise, and bathing ; on the care of the 

 sick-room, the management of infants and 

 children ; on the general laws and history of 

 disease ; and on the treatment of accidents 

 and emergencies, with descriptions of fa- 

 miliar remedies, for all persons and every 

 household ; together with suggestions con- 

 cerning the special care and treatment of 

 obscure and grave diseases and the applica- 

 tion of powerful remedies, for persons who, 

 like planters, miners, sailors, travelers, and 

 dwellers in remote districts, are beyond the 

 reach of skillful medical aid, and must be 

 either treated by themselves or by their 

 friends, or left to suffer. The great advance 

 that has been made in the science of medi- 

 cine during the last quarter of a century is 

 duly recognized ; and prominence is given 

 to the view that the types, phases, and 

 names of diseases have wonderfully changed 

 during that period, and that a greater revo- 

 lution has been wrought in the method of 

 treatment and the selection of remedies. 

 Hence, physicians are more successful in the 

 treatment of disease now than formerally ; 

 and the fact is enforced that a large num- 



ber of maladies formerly regarded as incur- 

 able have been found susceptible of relief 

 and cure, and that the accession of a con- 

 siderable proportion of diseases may be pre- 

 vented by timely and suitable precautions. 

 On the subject of medical schools and sys- 

 tems, the broad principle is assumed that 

 " the wise physician of our time uses for his 

 patients all things that have been proved to 

 be beneficial." The author has been aided 

 by authorities and physicians of recognized 

 standing in the preparation of the several 

 departments of his work. His aim has been, 

 in his own words, " to prepare a comprehen- 

 sive, popular treatise, . . . that shall say just 

 enough to instruct and not so much as to be- 

 wilder ; that shall fairly represent the va- 

 rious departments in language both clear 

 and attractive, as well as accurate and in. 

 structive ; that shall make broad and plain 

 the boundaries between those subjects which 

 the people can and should know and those 

 which they should not attempt to know ; and 

 that shall treat all this large variety of 

 themes in such a manner as not to offend 

 the taste of the best-ordered household." 

 The work is illustrated by fifteen chromo- 

 lithographic plates and numerous woodcuts. 



The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle 

 and Halm Waldo Emerson, lS34-"72. 

 Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. Vol. 

 I, pp. 368 ; Vol. II, pp. 383. Price, $4. 



This work, edited by Charles Elliot Nor- 

 ton, is one of remarkable interest, and is 

 unique in literature. It covers a period of 

 thirty-eight years in the intellectual life of 

 two gifted and remarkable men belonging to 

 different nationalities, and who were early 

 drawn together by a sympathy of ideas and a 

 mutual appreciation of genius before either 

 had conquered a position in the world of pub- 

 lic letters. The work has all the interest of 

 personality, and is a sort of compound auto- 

 biography or revelation of the inside life of 

 the distinguished men whose intimate and 

 prolonged correspondence makes up the vol- 

 umes. The characters of Carlyle and Em- 

 erson were, of course, both formed before 

 they came into this relation of close corre- 

 spondence ; but the epistolary record covers 

 the period of their mental development, and 

 brings it to the maturity of advanced age, 

 when it ceased, through the decline of liter- 



