LITERARY NOTICES. 



701 



L. D. Putnam, a lady to whose zeal the 

 prosperity of the academy is largely due. 

 We observe that a good deal of work is 

 done in archaeology, which is certainly wise, 

 considering the richness of this Western 

 field. 



Health and Healthy Homes ; A Guide to 

 Domestic Hygiene. By George Wil- 

 son, M. A., M. D. With Notes and Addi- 

 tions by J. G. Richardson, M. D. Phila- 

 delphia: Presley Blakiston. 1880. Pp. 

 307. Price, $1.50. 



This is an American reprint of the ex- 

 cellent work of Dr. Wilson, accompanied 

 with a brief preface by Dr. Richardson, of 

 Philadelphia, and such notes as the appli- 

 cation of Dr. Wilson's statements to Amer- 

 ican sanitary condition seemed to warrant. 



The book is designed to reach and inter- 

 est all classes of readers, and the various 

 subjects considered are therefore treated in 

 a practical, untechnical manner. Dr. Wil- 

 son opens his subject by a consideration of 

 the amount of preventable disease, which 

 he finds to be still very great, though it has 

 been steadily declining, and there is good 

 reason to hope for continued improvement 

 in this direction. Such a description of the 

 structure of the human body and the func- 

 tions of the various organs is given as will 

 enable the reader to have a clear apprecia- 

 tion of the laws of health, and the causes 

 of diseases are then explained and illus- 

 trated. Among these causes are considered 

 heredity, personal habits, mode of living, 

 work and worry, bad air, food and water, etc. 

 The subject of food and diet is treated quite 

 fully, the nutritive value of the various 

 foods, together with a considerable amount 

 of information of the principles of dietetics, 

 being given. Cleanliness, bathing and cloth- 

 ing in relation to health, and the hygienic 

 value of exercise and recreation, as well as 

 the essential features of healthy houses and 

 surroundings, are duly considered. In the 

 closing chapter of the book the principal 

 dangerous infectious diseases are dealt with, 

 and their mode of dissemination, and the 

 precautionary measures necessary indicated. 



Though the work is a continuous expo- 

 sition of the subject of domestic hygiene, 

 each chapter is made complete in itself, so 

 as to be read independently of any other. 

 The variety and extent of the information 



contained in the small compass of this vol- 

 ume eminently fit it for household use, 

 while the position of the author is a guar- 

 antee of the accuracy of its statements. 



Water Analyses for Sanitary Purposes, 

 with Hints for the Interpretation of 

 the Results. By E. Frankland, Ph. 

 D., D. C. L., F. R. S. Philadelphia : 

 Presley Blakiston. 1880. Pp. 149. 

 Price, $1. 



This is an exposition of the most reli- 

 able means of making analyses of water 

 by the well-known chemist, Dr. Frankland. 

 The greater part of the book is of purely 

 technical interest, but in the appendix Dr. 

 Frankland has given briefly information 

 regarding the purity and value of different 

 kinds of water that is of concern to the 

 general public. 



He finds that the best water for dietetic 

 purposes is that of deep springs and wells, 

 and the worst that of shallow wells, which 

 are usually situated near drains, cesspools, 

 etc. Rain-water, collected at a distance 

 from towns and upon surfaces kept clean, 

 is next in purity to that of deep wells ; that 

 collected from roofs and stored in under- 

 ground tanks is rarely good enough for die- 

 tetic purposes. Water from the surface of 

 uncultivated land is fairly good, while that 

 from cultivated land is not sufficiently good 

 for domestic use, though better than shal- 

 low well-water. River-water when it is from 

 cultivated land and is polluted by sewage 

 and factory refuse, is always dangerous to 

 use. Surface and river water containing 

 more than - 2 part of organic carbon or - 03 

 part of organic nitrogen in 100,000 parts, is 

 to be avoided for domestic use when pos- 

 sible. 



Dr. Frankland states that organic mat- 

 ter in solution in water is so very persistent, 

 that sewage would not be completely oxi- 

 dized and destroyed in traveling from the 

 source to the mouth of any river in the 

 United Kingdom. Impure water can be 

 more or less improved by filtration through 

 sand, spongy iron, and animal charcoal, 

 but even this can not be relied upon to 

 render sewage-tainted water fit for use. 

 Boiling is probably effective in destroying 

 the power of such water to communicate 

 disease. Water suffers little or no deteri- 

 oration in transmission even through long 



