LITERARY NOTICES. 



515 



synthetic grasp, which leads him to take 

 large views, and treat the subjects he en- 

 ters upen with comprehensiveness. The 

 opening and closing papers of the present 

 volume the first, " On the Relation of 

 Natural Science to Science in General," and 

 the last, " On the Aim and Progress of 

 Physical Science " are admirable examples 

 of this broad judicial treatment of the sub- 

 jects discussed. His statement of the re- 

 actions of science and philosophy in Ger- 

 many, and the influence of the German 

 universities upon contemporary thought, in 

 the first paper, is especially admirable. The 

 volume also contains very able articles upon 

 his special subjects of investigation one 

 " On the Physiological Causes of Harmony 

 in Music," and another elaborate paper, in 

 three parts, " On the Recent Progress of 

 the Theory of Vision." There is also a 

 very interesting lecture " On Goethe's Sci- 

 entific Researches," and an elaborate dis- 

 cussion of glacial phenomena. Two papers 

 are also given " On the Interaction and 

 Conservation of Forces," a subject which 

 Prof. Helmholtz has pursued independently, 

 and which in these expositions is presented 

 in its fundamental principles. Numerous 

 illustrations enhance the instructiveness of 

 the volume, which, though compactly writ- 

 ten, is still remarkably clear in its explana- 

 tions. Prof. Helmboltz is an eminent mas- 

 ter of the art of statement, but, as his 

 thoughts appear in a foreign language, the 

 force and finish of the original composition 

 are not to be looked for. Yet the several 

 translations of this volume by Professors 

 Eve, Ellis, Atkinson, Tyndall, and Drs. Flight 

 and Pye-Smith, have been made with great 

 care, so that the work is as attractive and 

 readable in style as it is solid and instruct- 

 ive in its thought. We commend this book 

 to all who are interested in the higher sci- 

 entific problems of the age, as treated by 

 one of its master-minds. 



The Mineral Springs of the United 

 States and Canada, with Analyses and 

 Notes of the Prominent Spas of Eu- 

 rope, and a List of Sea-side Resorts. 

 By George E. Walton, M. D. New 

 York : D. Appleton & Co. 



The author of this work seems at first 

 to have been sorely perplexed as to whether 

 there are or are not any medicinal virtues 



in mineral waters. The public is inclined 

 to be credulous in regard to their remedial 

 uses, and the medical profession is inclined 

 to be skeptical about them. In point of 

 fact, great numbers of people with divers 

 ailments seek the mineral fountains of va- 

 rious localities, and use them very much at 

 hap-hazard. At the same time he says 

 that, while the American profession is in- 

 clined to be incredulous as to the medical 

 services of these springs, eminent Euro- 

 pean physicians, such as Trousseau and 

 Niemeyer, assign an important place to 

 mineral waters in the treatment of many 

 chronic diseases. In this unsatisfactory 

 state of opinion, Dr. Walton entered sys- 

 tematically upon the inquiry as to the 

 remedial uses of the mineral waters of the 

 United States and Canada, and in the vol- 

 ume now printed he has endeavored to ar- 

 range all the known facts concerning them 

 in such a manner that they shall be readily 

 accessible, and serve to guide the reader in 

 selecting such as shall be best adapted to 

 his own wants : " For this purpose he has 

 consulted the best European authors, their 

 conclusions being drawn from hundreds of 

 years of laborious investigation of the spas 

 of Germany, France, Switzerland, and Italy. 

 It has been interesting, in the course of this 

 study, to note how closely the conclusions 

 drawn by them, concerning the action of 

 different classes of waters, agree with the 

 observations made at springs in this coun- 

 try independent of any knowledge of for- 

 eign research. The portion relating to the 

 springs of the United States is the result 

 of a selection of credible evidence regard- 

 ing them gained by correspondence and 

 personal observation." 



After some preliminary chapters on the 

 nature, classification, and chemical con- 

 stituents of mineral waters and their rela- 

 tions to various organs and diseases, Dr. 

 Walton considers the springs of the coun- 

 try under the heads of " Saline Waters," 

 " Sulphur Waters," " Chalybeate Waters," 

 " Purgative Waters," " Calcic Waters," and 

 " Thermal Waters," and the resources of 

 the whole country are then given in respect 

 to mineral waters having these various 

 properties. Of all the localities in the 

 United States or Canada, Saratoga is the 

 most eminent for the extent and variety of 



