LITERARY NOTICES. 



73 



line, from discharging his musket without 

 destroying his aim, from cutting perpendicu- 

 larly with the edge of his saber, and which 

 likewise hinders him from so following in 

 his own frame the motions received from the 

 frame of his horse that the forces enumer- 

 ated by this latter shall be so absorbed into 

 and discharged with the making of his aim, 

 as to give no recoil from the saddle." 



It is thus assumed that some fault in 

 the play of the bony skeleton is the radical 

 cause of the soldier's deficiencies in move- 

 ment, and this fault is held to be a one- 

 sided action, as is illustrated in right-hand- 

 edness. The author takes the ground that 

 only a man who is ambidextrous can have 

 the perfect command and full force of the 

 movements of his body. He holds that 

 " the excessive use of one hand, and of the 

 parts of the body brought into action with 

 it, is a cause of general deformity among 

 civilized men. This so interferes with the 

 central-point working of the body as to 

 greatly reduce its power of producing and 

 sustaining action. The working of the spine 

 is the fundamental basis of movement. 

 Motion properly originates in the spine, is 

 directed by the head, and is only followed 

 up by the limbs. The snake presents the 

 simplest type of spinal working." Colonel 

 Wainwright makes a great deal of this last 

 idea, showing that the locomotion of the 

 snake, when mechanically resolved, throws 

 light upon the work of the higher vertebrate 

 machines. The book is curious and attrac- 

 tive. 



The Microscope in Medicine. By Lionel 

 S. Beale, M. B., F. R. S. Fourth edi- 

 tion. With more than 500 Illustrations, 

 most of them drawn on wood by the au- 

 thor. Philadelphia: Presley Blakiston. 

 1878. Pp. 539. Price, $7.50. 



We have commended the former editions 

 of this work, which now appears much en- 

 larged, and more deserving of the student's 

 favor. We by no means entertain the high- 

 est opinion of Dr. Beale as a philosopher ; 

 but, as a microscopical observer, and an his- 

 tological manipulator, his skill and eminence 

 are generally conceded. This elaborate vol- 

 ume, on a rapidly growing branch of physi- 

 ology and pathology, is entitled to a place 

 among the standard volumes of reference 

 in every well-supplied medical library. 



The Field Engineer. By William Find- 

 lay Shunk, C. E. New York : D. Van 

 Nostrand. 1880. Pp.325. Price, $2.50 



In this hand-book Mr. Shunk has given, 

 in a convenient form, a clear and concise 

 statement of the information needful for 

 the young railroad engineer. The initial 

 chapters give an exposition of the mathe- 

 matics and methods essential as a basis for 

 work, and following these are instructions 

 as to the use and adjustments of instru- 

 ments, with hints on field routine. A num- 

 ber of problems of field location occurring 

 in the author's practice are given as covering 

 the greater part of those likely to be met 

 with. Very full tables, a number of which 

 are new, are appended. The book is well 

 printed, in clear type, and bound in leather 

 in the ordinary form of the engineering 

 field-book. 



Hygienic and Therapeutic Relations op 

 House-Plants. By J. M. Anders, M. D., 

 Ph. D. Philadelphia : J. B. Lippincott 

 & Co. 1880. Pp. 16. 



In this paper Dr. Anders calls attention 

 to the well-known property of transpiration 

 of plants, and their value on this account 

 as hygienic agents. He has been making 

 some quantitative experiments, and finds 

 that plants having soft, thin leaves, such as 

 the geranium, exhale one and a half ounce 

 (by weight) of watery vapor per square foot 

 of leaf-surface in twelve day-hours during 

 clear weather. In-door plants transpire 

 something more than half as much in the 

 same time as those in the open air. He is, 

 therefore, of the opinion that growing plants 

 are of great value in keeping the air of an 

 apartment properly moist, and can be of 

 considerable help in cases of consumption. 



The Fabulous Gods denounced in the 

 Bible. Translated from Selden's " Syr- 

 ian Deities." By W. A. Hauser. Phil- 

 adelphia : J. B. Lippincott & Co. 1880. 

 Pp. 178. Price, $1.25. 



But very little has been known by the 

 general public of the mythology of the Jews, 

 while that of the Greeks and Romans is 

 part of the most familiar knowledge. Mr. 

 Hauser thinks that, as Christianity arose 

 among the Jews, a knowledge of the early 

 religious ideas and habits of this people 

 should be of interest to at least the Christian 



