28 The Microscope. 



books and monographs, are traced the steps in the development of 

 antiseptic technique, of dressings and ligatures; but it has not as yet 

 found its way in its fully perfected state into the text -books of general 

 surgery. The times then are ripe for the cordial reception of an 

 American work that brings the art and science of surgery to the 

 present date. That Dr. Wyeth's is the coming text-book we firmly 

 believe. 



We turn at once to the subject of antiseptic surgery, very pro- 

 perly given the first chapter in the book, and find in eight pages a 

 concise but complete account of dressings and their preparation, and 

 a few pages on the details of an aseptic operation. With aseptic 

 surgery made so plain and in so short a lesson, the surgeon who, 

 through ignorance or prejudice, does not give his patients the comfort 

 and safety of it, commits an ofi'ense that should not be condoned. 



Professor Wyeth's reputation in the field of the surgery of the 

 arteries impels us to read carefully the chapters on this subject: they 

 contain his large experience crystallized. The newly- developed field 

 of the surgery of the great cavities of the body receives the full atten- 

 tion its importance demands. Our short space, however, forbids a 

 further detailed review. But it is almost unnecessary — we could not 

 say aught but in praise. The book presents the broad field of gen- 

 eral surgery in a concise style that is refreshing ; theoretical discus- 

 sions are omitted, and what the author thinks to be the best modes 

 of treatment only are given, and this, with its generous illustrations, 

 make it a perfect book for ready reference. The printing and bind- 

 ing are in the highest style of the art. 



Fresh Water Sponges : A Monograph, by Edward Potts ; includiuir 

 Diagnosis of European SpongillidfB, by Prof. Franz Veidovsky (Prague). 

 Philadelphia: Academy of Natural Sciences. 1887. Octavo, pp. 279, 

 paper. 



Since the publication of " The History and Classification of the 

 Known Species of Spongilla," by H. J. Carter, F. R. S., in 1881, 

 many genera and species have been discovered, especially in North 

 America. The object of the author of the veiy exhaustive monograph 

 before us is to describe these genera and species, to give to the scien- 

 tific world the results of his observations into the character and 

 variations in North America of all known species, and by adding brief 

 technical descriptions to make it a complete work for i-eference. 



In the introduction we find a succinct account of the morphology 

 of the sponges, illustrated by excellent plates from drawings by Dr. 

 C. W. de Lennoy and Miss S. G. Foulke of Philadelphia ; and the 

 methods of collecting and mounting. 



