628 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with facility. The health-point, or nornic, 

 is marked zero ; = II, or health. From 

 this point, in fever, the index runs up, and, 

 in depression, it runs down, proportionally 

 to the danger in both directions, the points 

 of significance being indicated upon the 

 scale. Careful directions are given for using 

 the instrument, and simple charts are pre- 

 pared for recording the observations. These 

 charts, and the systematic records they con- 

 tain, are indispensable as forming a history 

 of the case, for it is not only the deviations 

 of temperature, but the train of variations 

 and intermittent changes, that it is desirable 

 to know. Dr. Seguin says : " The supreme 

 importance of the first observation of the 

 first abnormal temperature, at the first mo- 

 ment of a sickness, cannot be overrated. If 

 it rarely shows, by name, what the intrud- 

 ing illness will be, at least it can often, by 

 exclusion, tell what it will not be. For in- 

 stance, a high first temperature, as of 3 

 to 4 above the point of health, cannot 

 herald typhoid fever, but can measles or 

 scarlatina. Moreover, the first observation 

 serves as a mile-post to start the reckoning 

 of the future stages, of increase or effer- 

 vescence, of full force or diminution, of 

 convalescence or relapse." Dr. Seguin ob- 

 serves : " The A B C of motherhood is the 

 name I would give to that part of nurs- 

 ing which mainly consists in spying the 

 subtle and bold invasion of disease, and of 

 measuring from the first its deadly strides 

 into the vitals of the innocent. The mother 

 who can do that is the sentry. When she 

 detects the moment of the invasion of the 

 cradle, and measures the strength of the 

 enemy on the stem of her thermometer, and 

 can transfer and read its warnings on her 

 chart, she is prepared for the struggle with 

 death itself." Yet there is a difficulty here 

 which Dr. Seguin has not been slow to per- 

 ceive, and which he states without reserve 

 or circumlocution. He says : " But where 

 shall we find a mother who has been taught 

 her duty in that matter of life and death ? 

 No use to mince it ; it is a shame and a 

 scandal that, in the curriculum of education 

 devised for our sisters and wives, there is 

 room for algebra, trigonometry, etc., and 

 none for the fine art of nursing ; that they 

 are taught to look through microscopes and 

 telescopes, but not in the faces of the little 



ones to read therein health or sickness ; 

 that they can tell the latitude of Peking, the 

 height of Chimborazo ; know at what point 

 potassium fuses, or mercury solidifies, but 

 that not one ever heard at what point of ele- 

 vation, of the latter metal in a thermometer 

 life escapes from their dearest." 



The Forces of Nature. A Popular Intro- 

 duction to the Study of Physical Phe- 

 nomena. By Amedee Gcillemin. 

 Translated from the French by Mis. 

 Norman Lockyer, and edited, with Ad- 

 ditions and Notes, by J. Norman Lock- 

 yer, F. R. S. Macmillan & Co. 



The novel and interesting feature of this 

 book is its profuse and sumptuous illustra- 

 tions. Its author has won some reputation 

 as a popular writer on science, and the work 

 has evidently lost nothing in translation 

 and editing ; yet its text alone would give 

 it little claim to attention. The pictorial 

 part of the work is not only copious and 

 varied, but is finely executed, and renders 

 the volume both attractive and instructive. 

 It has no value as a text-book, and not 

 much as an authority for reference ; but it 

 may be read with pleasure, and many of the 

 illustrations cannot fail to be helpful to the 

 student. The work is unique as a popular 

 scientific luxury. 



Epidemic Cerebro-Spinal Meningitis. With 

 an Appendix. By Meredith Clymer, 

 M. D. Philadelphia : Lindsay & Blak- 

 iston. 1872. 



In this little work, which is mainly a re- 

 print of the author's additions to Dr. Ait- 

 ken's " Science and Practice of Medicine," 

 we have, in compact form, a large amount 

 of valuable information concerning one of 

 the most dreaded, because most deadly, of 

 man's diseases. As first published in 1866, 

 and revised two years later, Dr. Clymer's 

 monograph contained a sketch of the geo- 

 graphical and clinical history, the pathology 

 and treatment of cerebro-spinal meningitis, 

 as also, under the head of " Etiology," a 

 brief account of the conditions attending 

 outbreaks of the disease, and a very full 

 list of authors upon the general subject. 

 This new edition contains all the matter of 

 the first two, and has, besides, a most val- 

 uable appendix, which deserves to be in the 

 hands of every family that is capable of 



