LITERARY NOTICES. 



l 33 



Vocal Physiology and Hygiene. By Gor- 

 don Holmes, L. E. C. P., Edinburgh. 

 Philadelphia : Presley W. Blakiston. 

 1880. Pp. 266. Price, $2. 



The object of this work, the author 

 states in his preface, " is to furnish persons 

 who make an artistic or professional use of 

 the vocal organs with a concise but com- 

 plete account of those scientific relations 

 of the voice, physical and medical, which 

 are generally only alluded to cursorily, or 

 passed over altogether, in works on elocu- 

 tion and singing." The author gives an his- 

 torical review of the origin and progress of 

 vocal culture, and considers the relation of 

 sound to the voice, the physical construc- 

 tion of the vocal organs, their physical ac- 

 tion, the physiological principles involved, 

 and the hygiene of the voice. Under this 

 latter head he considers the effect on the 

 voice of the use of stimulants and narcotics, 

 the diet, the habits of life, of exercise, etc., 

 and gives some directions for its care and 

 treatment when not in good condition. 



Electric Induction. By J. E. H. Gordon, 

 B. A. London : Sampson Low & Co. 

 1879. Pp. 141. 



,Jn the four lectures before the Royal 

 Institution contained in this little volume, 

 Mr. Gordon has undertaken to present such 

 facts in electric induction as go to show 

 what it is, and how it is propagated from 

 the excited to any other body. The ques- 

 tion, he says, which for fifty years physi- 

 cists have been trying to answer, is now, 

 through the experimental and mathematical 

 researches of recent years, in a fair way of 

 being answered, and the object of these lec- 

 tures has been to present some of the data 

 and reasoning upon which this answer rests. 

 According to him, the present position of 

 science on the subject is, that induction is 

 propagated through space by means of un- 

 dulations in an ether in a manner similar 

 to light, and all that is at present known 

 points to the ether being the same for both 

 excitations, and the difference of the phe- 

 nomena being due to differences of vibration. 

 An induced body is in a state of strain 

 which in a good conductor is being con- 

 stantly relieved, and which in a poor con- 

 ductor is not so relieved. The lectures, 

 when delivered, were illustrated with a 

 number of delicate experiments, descrip- 



tions of which and cuts of the apparatus 

 employed are given in the present volume. 

 The lectures are an excellent example of 

 that clearness and directness of statement 

 by which a naturally abstruse subject is 

 made intelligible and interesting to the lay 

 reader. 



Therapeutics and Materia Medica. By 

 C. E. Armand Semple, M. R. C. P. Lon- 

 don. Pp. 60. 



Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. By 

 W. Douglas Hemming, M. R. S. C. Pp. 



72. 



Aids to Anatomy. By Gecrge Brown, 

 M. R. C. S., L. S. A. New York : G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons. Pp. 64. Price, 50 cts. 

 each. 



These are volumes in the " Students' 

 Aids Series," on subjects of technical interest 

 only. In the preface to his volume Dr. Semple 

 states that it is intended to be a companion 

 to his " Aids to Chemistry." A long list of 

 remedies is considered, the doses given fol- 

 lowing closely those in the " British Phar- 

 macopoeia." 



In the second of the above volumes, Dr. 

 Hemming considers the questions with which 

 medical men have to be familiar in appear- 

 ing to testify as experts in cases in law 

 courts, and gives a large amount of infor- 

 mation in a compact and concise form. 



In " Aids to Anatomy " Dr. Brown has 

 aimed to present the main facts of anatomy 

 in such a way as to be most readily grasped 

 and retained by the student, and to be of 

 value to him in the work of dissection. 



Annual Report of the New York Meteo- 

 rological Observatory for 1878. By 

 Daniel Draper, Director. New York : 

 John F. Hahn, Printer. 1879. Pp. 69. 



The year covered by this report com- 

 pletes the tenth of the existence of the ob- 

 servatory, and Mr. Draper gives a summary 

 of its establishment and an account of what 

 has been accomplished in this time. The 

 report states the conditions under which 

 the observatory was begun, gives short ab- 

 stracts from the reports of each year, de- 

 scribes the different self-recording instru- 

 ments made and used at the observatory, 

 insists on the desirability of a new observa- 

 tory, and closes with annual and monthly 

 tables. The report is interesting through- 



