LITERARY NOTICES. 



273 



Diseases of Man : Data of their Nomen- 

 CLATDRE, Classification, and Genesis. 

 By John W. S. Gouley, M. D. JSew 

 York : J. H. Vail & Co. Pp. 412. 

 The author's purpose in preparing this 

 book has been to urge the official adoption 

 of a stable basis for the nomenclature and 

 classification of disease; to advance some 

 propositions that may contribute to that 

 end ; and to call attention to the impro- 

 prieties evident in the present unsystematic 

 nomenclature, with a view to enforcing the 

 need of reform. The book is, in short, of- 

 fered as " a plea for the more systematic 

 study of diseases, and as an individual pro- 

 test against their existing nomenclature and 

 classification, with the hope that this pro- 

 test will become general among teachers 

 and others, who realize the necessity of 

 bettering the condition of medicine, with- 

 out undertaking to destroy its fabric in 

 order to reconstruct it ; but rather to mod- 

 ify, simplify, and improve it by gradually 

 substituting exact terms for those which 

 have never conveyed correct ideas." While 

 it is easy to attach an exaggerated impor- 

 .tance to mere names, it is evident that a 

 philosophical nomenclature, based upon the 

 real and ascertained principles of the sci- 

 ence to which it is to be applied, is a great 

 aid to the undei'standing of that science and 

 to forwarding its advance. But the prac- 

 tical difficulty arises in every science, and 

 every nomenclature, that names have to be 

 found and used before it is possible cor- 

 rectly to determine the principles. In this 

 fact, which is unavoidable, unless we would 

 carry on our science without words, we find 

 the origin of the anomalies in names — the 

 wrong names and the unmeaning names — 

 of which Dr. Gouley complains, and which 

 he makes this effort to correct. He recog- 

 nizes the nature of the evil, and, while anx- 

 ious to find a remedy and apply it, does not 

 overlook the importance of acting prudent- 

 ly upon the matter. Therefore he says : 

 " Conservatism is praiseworthy when ap- 

 plied to words that have stood the test 

 of years, and are still adjudged good and 

 proper. Those time-honored terms which 

 convey ideas with precision should be jeal- 

 ously preserved ; but that multitude of mis- 

 leading expressions, to be found in the lit- 

 erature of medicine, should be speedily 

 blotted out of coming medical treatises 



VOL. XXXIII. — 18 



and dictionaries, and their places filled 

 with well-chosen and philologically correct 

 words." True to the spirit thus exhibited, 

 he does not so much suggest a new set of 

 names, although that point is not over- 

 looked, as he discusses the principles on 

 which the classification of diseases and their 

 nomenclature should be based. With the 

 discussion are embodied reviews of the vari- 

 ous systems of classification that have been 

 introduced to the profession by its most 

 eminent representatives of all ages, from 

 Hippocrates down to Broca. The final con- 

 clusion is reached that any system of no- 

 sography, to be of utility to those whom it 

 concerns, should be the result of the con- 

 joint labors of the medical profession of all 

 the civilized nations. 



Report of the CoMirissioNER of Education 

 FOR THE Year 18S5-'86. N. H. K. Daw- 

 SON, Commissioner. Washington ; Bu- 

 rcau of Education. Pp. 21 -I- 792, 



This report has been prepared by N. H. 

 R. Dawson, who was appointed commissioner 

 soon after the close of the year which it 

 covers. The new commissioner determined, 

 after the completion of the report for 1884- 

 '85, which was still in hand, to concentrate 

 the work of his force upon the preparation 

 of the present volume, so that this and fu- 

 ture reports might appear more promptly 

 than previous issues have. The result has 

 been that, while the preceding volume was 

 distributed twenty-two months after the end 

 of the year which it covers, the report for 

 1885-'86 has not been so long delayed 

 by three months. This is a commendable 

 change, for many of our Government re- 

 ports lose much of their value by delay in 

 preparing and publishing them. Mr. Daw- 

 son has also revised the plan of the reports, 

 with a view of further facilitating prompt 

 preparation and early printing of the docu- 

 ment. The nature of the change is " to avoid 

 repetitions, to omit unimportant items, to 

 consolidate related but hitherto separated 

 facts, and to unite the discussion of statisti- 

 cal conditions with the tabular statements 

 wherein they appear." The appendices con- 

 tain the usual statistics thus modified in 

 form. Appendix I deals with State school 

 systems. Its statistical tables are followed 

 by a resume of the general condition of pub- 

 lic schools in the several States and Terri- 



