LITERARY NOTICES. 



2 7S 



qui's work in viewing social questions, but 

 no one at all interested in such questions 

 will fail to read one of the most fascinating 

 economic works ever published. 



A Practical Treatise on Nervous Ex- 

 haustion ; its Symptoms, Nature, Se- 

 quences, Treatment. Bv George M. 

 Beard, A.M., M.D. New. York: Wil- 

 liam Wood & Co. Pp. 198. 



Dr. Beard's work deals not only with 

 a very important subject to which he has 

 paid long professional attention, but to a 

 subject of prominent and painful interest in 

 this country. Nervous exhaustion, or, as he 

 names it, Neurasthenia, he declares to be at 

 once the most frequent, the most interest- 

 ing, and most neglected disease of modern 

 times; while the family of disorders that 

 have been hitherto grouped together under 

 the name of "general debility," "nervous 

 prostration," " nervous debility," " spinal 

 weakness," "spinal irritation," etc., are 

 of comparatively recent development and 

 abound especially in the Northern and East- 

 ern parts of the United States. The author 

 thus states his purpose in the preparation of 

 the book : " To describe with thoroughness 

 if not exhaustively the symptoms of neura- 

 sthenia those hitherto assigned to the other 

 affections or regarded as special and dis- 

 tinct diseases themselves ; to show their re- 

 lation and interdependence ; to distinguish 

 them from the oftentimes closely resembling 

 symptoms of organic disease on the one 

 hand, and the symptoms of hysteria and 

 hypochondria on the other hand; to unify 

 and harmonize the complex developments 

 and manifestations of this malady ; to indi- 

 cate its pathology and rationale, and. trace 

 out in detail its prognosis, sequences, treat- 

 ment, and hygiene this is the task I have 

 undertaken in the present volume." 



Dr. Beard affirms that there has been a 

 very important progress in the treatment of 

 these affections during the last ten years. 

 " In no department of therapeutics has there 

 been even in this most active age so rapid 

 and successful advance as in the manage- 

 ment of nervous exhaustion, and the diseases 

 that result from and are related to it ; and 

 hence a subject, the interest of which was 

 originally scientific and philosophic, is now 

 of direct practical and personal concern not 

 only to specialists in the diseases of the 



nervous system, but to practitioners and to 

 sufferers everywhere." 



As the work is chiefly practical and de- 

 signed for the use of the medical profes- 

 sion in treating the disease as it is found, 

 the question of the causes which lead to it 

 is not taken up. This is a very important 

 branch of the subject, which requires to be 

 itself separately and fully dealt with. Dr. 

 Beard accordingly has in preparation and 

 nearly completed a work on American ner- 

 vousness, intended to be supplementary to 

 the present treatise, which will discuss both 

 the causes and the consequences of the rise 

 and increase of neurasthenia, and the gen- 

 eral nerve sensitiveness which is a kindred 

 phenomenon in this artificial and excitable 

 age. The author remarks that a philosophic 

 and thorough analysis of American nervous- 

 ness must be a contribution to sociology in- 

 volving many problems of race, climate, in- 

 stitutions, and social customs. 



Science Primers : Introductory. Bv Pro- 

 fessor T. II. Huxley. New York : D. 

 Appleton ic Co. 18 SO. Pp. 94. Price, 

 45 cents. 



The appearance of this little volume 

 has been waited for with eager interest aud 

 much impatience, owing to the popularity 

 of the science series, to which it is a step- 

 ping-stone, and to the celebrity of its au- 

 thor. Much was expected, and the general 

 expectations will not be disappointed. In 

 the happy selection of its subjects, in the 

 felicity of its illustrations, in the admirable 

 clearness and simplicity of its style, and in 

 the instructiveness of the lessons it incul- 

 cates, Professor Huxley's Primer is quite 

 unrivaled, and it will be read by thousands 

 with equal pleasure and advantage. It aims 

 to convey a general idea of the nature and 

 importance of scientific knowledge, to ex- 

 plain science as a method of thinking, to 

 show its practical uses, and to exemplify its 

 systematic bearings and various aspects by 

 means of the most familiar objects. The 

 first division of twenty pages, under the head 

 of "Nature and Science," treats of Causes 

 and Effects, the Properties and Powers of 

 Bodies, what is meant by the Order of Na- 

 ture and the Laws of Nature, and how sci- 

 entific knowledge is obtained. The second 

 division is devoted to " Material Objects," 



