LITERARY NOTICES. 



281 



self familiar with what has been accom- 

 plished in certain limited localities." 



It will not be possible in our space to go 

 into any analysis of the varied and extensive 

 contents of this treatise, much less to at- 

 tempt a criticism of its plan or execution. 

 It has evidently been done with admirable 

 judgment, and the names of its contributors 

 are a sufficient guarantee that its pages faith- 

 fully reflect the present state of hygienic 

 knowledge. Part I. of the first volume is 

 devoted to individual hygiene, and begins 

 with the treatment of " Infant Hygiene," by 

 Dr. A. Jacobi, of New York. This is fol- 

 lowed by " Food and Drink," by Dr. James 

 Tyson, of Philadelphia. Professor William 

 Ripley Nichols, of Boston, writes " On Drink- 

 ing Water, and Public Water Supplies." 

 The article on " Physical Exercise " is by 

 Dr. A. Brayton Ball, of New York ; and the 

 last essay of Part I. is on "The Care of the 

 Person," by Dr. Arthur Van Harlingen, of 

 Philadelphia. Part II. of Volume I. treats 

 of " Habitations," and its first essay is on 

 " Soil and Water," by Dr. William H. Ford, of 

 Philadelphia. Dr. D. F. Lincoln, of Boston, 

 next takes up " The Atmosphere," and Dr. 

 Francis H. Brown, of Boston, closes Volume 

 I. by a disquisition on the " General Prin- 

 ciples of Hospital Construction." Part I. of 

 Volume II. treats of "Occupation." The 

 first essay is on the " Hygiene of Occupa- 

 tion," by Roger S. Tracj', M. D., of New 

 York. Charles Smart, M. D., C. M., assist- 

 ant Surgeon U. S. Army, takes up the "Hy- 

 giene of Camps " ; and Dr. Thomas J. Tur- 

 ner, Medical Director U. S. Navy, treats of 

 " Hygiene of the Naval and Merchant Ma- 

 rine." Heniy C. Sheafer writes on the 

 " Hygiene of Coal Mines," and Rossiter 

 W. Raymond, New York, contributes an 

 essay on " The Hygiene of Metal Mines." 

 Part II. of Volume II. is devoted to the 

 general subject of "Public Health." Dr. 

 Thomas B. Curtis, of Boston, presents the 

 subjects of " Infant Mortality " and " Vital 

 Statistics " ; Professor Stephen P. Shar- 

 pies, of Boston, considers " Adulteration of 

 Food " ; and Dr. Roger S. Tracy develops the 

 subject of "Public Nuisances." "Quaran- 

 tine," with reference to seaport towns, is 

 by Dr. Vanderpoel, of New York ; and Dr. S. 

 S. Herrick, of Louisiana, writes on " Inland 

 Quarantine." "Small-pox and other Con- 



tagious Diseases " are treated by Drs. Ham- 

 ilton and Emmett, of New York, and " The 

 Hygiene of Syphilis " by Dr. F. R. Sturges, 

 of New York. "Disinfectants" is by Dr. 

 Elwyn Waller, of New York ; " Village 

 Sanitary Associations" is by Dr. R. S. 

 Tracy ; and Dr. Lincoln, of Boston, closes 

 the work by an essay on " School Hygiene." 

 The treatise has an excellent index, and 

 a very valuable feature of it is the copious 

 bibliography appended to each contribution. 



First Lines of THERAPEriics : As based on 

 the Modes and the Processes of Healing 

 as occurring spontaneously in Disease ; 

 and on the Modes and Processes of Dy- 

 ing as resulting naturally from Disease. 

 In a Series of Lectures. ByALEXANDEii 

 Harvey, M. A., M. D., Edinburgh, Eme- 

 ritus Professor of Materia Medica in the 

 University of Aberdeen ; Lecturer on 

 the Practice of Medicine, etc. New 

 York: D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 278. 

 Price, — . 



This important work is addressed to a 

 fundamental question in practical medicine 

 — the old question of the relations subsist- 

 ing between nature and art in the cure of 

 disease — what is the value to be assigned 

 to the vis mcdicatrix naturce, or the sponta- 

 neous processes of healing and recovery in 

 the diseased constitution ? That the follow- 

 ers of the medical art should magnify their 

 vocation, and that practitioners should be 

 led to favor those theories which enlarge 

 the sphere of practice, is perfectly natural, 

 but there can be no doubt that the conse- 

 quence is greatly to exaggerate the efficacy 

 of drugs in the treatment of disease. The 

 doctors want business, and the people want 

 medicine ; and so the profession is at any 

 rate not pecuniarily interested in belittling 

 the administration of remedies. But able 

 physicians have appeared from time to 

 time who recognized very clearly that there 

 is far too much medical meddling, and too 

 little recognition of the forces and tenden- 

 cies of nature in the eradication of disease. 

 It is to the credit of the profession that its 

 best mind is in cordial sympathy with all 

 rational hygienic measures which have for 

 their object the prevention of disease ; but 

 the use of hygienic agencies in disease is a 

 lesson which many think has yet to be more 

 enforced in the sphere of medical practice. 

 Many medical men have ranged them- 



