LITERARY NOTICES. 



7ii 



The Mounds of the Mississippi Valley, 

 historically considered. by lucien 

 Care, Peabody Museum. Cambridge, 

 Mass. Pp. 107. 



This essay, which, forms a part of the 

 "Memoirs" of the Kentucky Geological 

 Survey, is an argument in favor of the the- 

 ory that the mound-builders were the ances- 

 tors of the present Indians. The advocates 

 of the theory that the mounds were built 

 by some other race rest to a large extent 

 upon the assumptions that the Indians were 

 not sufficiently advanced to execute the 

 works that have been examined ; that they 

 were not agriculturists, as the mound-build- 

 ers must have been; and that they were 

 not subject to such central authority, or 

 controlled by any such impelling motive, as 

 seems to have been necessary for the con- 

 struction of such extensive works. Mr. 

 Carr's effort is to controvert these assump- 

 tions. He argues, with the aid of many 

 citations from historians, chroniclers, and 

 travelers, that the Indians of the Mississippi 

 Valley lived in fixed villages, which they 

 were in the habit of fortifying by pali- 

 sades ; that they raised corn in large quan- 

 tities and stored it ; thut they all worshiped 

 the sun, as the mound-builders are supposed 

 to have done ; and that works similar to 

 those of the mound-builders, if not quite as 

 extensive, are known to have been erected 

 by Indians. 



A Practical Treatise on Materia Medica 

 and Therapeutics. By Roberts Bar- 

 tholow, M. A., M. D., LL. D. Fifth edi- 

 tion, revised and enlarged. New York : 

 D. Appleton & Co. 1884. Pp. 738. 



The appearance of a new edition of this 

 well-known work so soon after the edition 

 of 1881 is due, in part, as the author tells 

 us in his preface, to the recent changes in 

 the " United States Pharmacopoeia." Al- 

 though the work has been adapted to the 

 new official standard in general, we fail to 

 find any reference to the changes in the 

 morphia strength of the opium preparations, 

 and the doses prescribed are the same as in 

 the earlier editions. This is the more to be 

 regretted since the new Pharmacopoeia does 

 not itself give any doses. 



Many additions demanded by the ad- 

 vance of science have been made in the 

 body of the work, so that nearly one hun- 



dred pages in all have been added to the 

 book, making it a complete exponent of the 

 present state of knowledge in this direc- 

 tion. 



In Part I the routes by which medicines 

 are introduced into the organism are classi- 

 fied and briefly described. Under this head 

 the author treats insufflation, the use of the 

 nasal douche and atomizers, etc., and gives 

 a valuable chapter upon hypodermatic (hy- 

 podermic) methods, with a list of the reme- 

 dies, solutions, and doses employed, and 

 cautions as to the points to be avoided in 

 hypodermatic injections. Then follows an 

 article on transfusion, with references, as in 

 other cases, to the authorities consulted. In 

 Part II the actions and uses of remedial 

 agents are very fully described. In this 

 part we find the uses of water, externally 

 and internally, of heat, of air, and of mass- 

 age, discussed, as well as the actions of 

 drugs in general, and the effects of various 

 kinds of aliments and beverages. Formulae 

 are given for the preparation of animal 

 broths and diet-drinks ; the koumiss-cure, 

 whey- cure, and buttermilk-cure, each receive 

 some attention. Directions are also given 

 for the preparation of gruels, jellies, pep- 

 tonized milk, and other restorative agents. 



The various pharmacopceal preparations 

 are briefly mentioned, their strength noted, 

 and the dose given, while their physiologi- 

 cal and therapeutical use receives more at- 

 tention. Processes for their preparation are 

 not given. 



In addition to a very copious general in- 

 dex, the work is provided with a very full 

 "clinical index," which will serve to sug- 

 gest the remedies that may be employed in 

 any particular disease, but which may also 

 prove an injury in other ways as furnishing 

 an aid to quackery, and offering an encour- 

 agement to " counter-prescribing " by drug- 

 gists. 



Human Proportion and Anthropometry. 

 By Dr. Robert Fletcher. Cambridge, 

 Mass. : Moses King. Pp. 37, with Plates. 

 This is a lecture delivered at the Na- 

 tional Museum, Washington, D. C, and in- 

 cludes an examination and explanation of 

 the ancient Egyptian and the Polykleitan 

 canons of proportion, with a review of the 

 results of recent anthropometric measure- 

 1 ments. 



