Liicraiy Notices. ix 



Pershing's iHag^iiosis of Nervous and Mental Diseases.^ 



"The object of this book is to facihtate the recognition of nervous 

 and mental diseases by physicians who are not speciaUsts in neurology." 



It is arranged after the method of a botanical key. After a gen- 

 eral introduction with details about the method of examining various 

 features (page 17-65), the author gives short chapters on "the recog- 

 nition of organic diseases, the principles of localization, the signs of 

 hysteria, the diagnosis of neurasthenia, and mixed forms of diseases" 

 (page 69-86). The key for the special diseases covers pages 86-217. 



Where we deal with more definite entities, as species and genera 

 of zoology, or elements with definite compounds in chemistry, and 

 fairly definite units, as in mineralogy, the method undoubtedly has 

 more justification than in this special field where with the decision upon 

 the name frequently we are quite far yet from an appreciation of the 

 whole condition, which after all should be implied in a diagnosis. While 

 a number of the tables for differential diagnosis given in the book are 

 very useful, the book cannot try to make unnecessary the available 

 text-books of nervous and mental diseases, and as a supplement of these 

 books it is rather expensive and by no means easy to use for one not 

 familiar with the larger works. 



In many portions, especially that on insanity, it must offer very 

 little relief to the physician to have found such names as mania, melan- 

 cholia, stuporous insanity, and a whole string of insanities named after 

 their cause, as puerperal, lactational, phthisical, carcinomatus, myxoe- 

 dematous, hysterical, etc. But these are faults of the present status of 

 these branches of medicine which, however, are seriously in the way 

 of the key-method. 



It would probably be of great advantage for the book and the 

 reader if the "key" applied to some definite standard work and prac- 

 tically were a part thereof. a.m. 



1 The Diagnosis of Nervous and Mental Diseases. By Howeix T. Per- 

 shing, M.Sc, M.D. Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases in the Univer- 

 sity of Denrer ; Neurologist to St. Luke's Hospital ; Consultant in Nervoui 

 and Mental Diseases to the Arapahoe County Hospital ; Member of the Amer- 

 ican Neurological Association. Illustrated. i2mo Published by P. Blakiston's 

 Son & Co., 1012 Walnut St , Philadelphia. 1901 Price, in cloth, $1.25 net. 



