190 The Microscope. 



and Urinalysis, so that the student need not wade through the more 

 exhaustive text-books." By a few indolent students such an aim 

 may be considered a good one, but to any person interested in the 

 proper education of physicians it seems vicious. Such a conden- 

 sation has a use as an adjunct to the more complete text-books, for 

 class-room and laboratory reference, but it is rarely that an author 

 offers one as a substitute. 



The introduction is a short article on theoretical chemistry. 

 Under inorganic chemistry are briefly presented the elementary facts 

 of the chemistry of the elements and inorganic compounds. Twenty 

 pages are devoted to organic chemistry. In this the author has 

 entirely lost sight of the beautiful relation which exists between the 

 various classes of organic compounds, and which makes their study easy 

 and fascinating. Thus the organic acids are taken up in this order, 

 acetic acid, benzoic acid, picric acid, carbolic acid (!) citric acid, 

 formic acid, etc. Not a veiy logical arrangement. In this chapter 

 also are found expressions so careless as to make much of the matter 

 worse than useless. For example, the author says: " The alcohol 

 radicals, a homologous series of univalent basylous radicals." What 

 would he call the trivalent radical, glyceryl, Cj H5 ? Or the hexiva- 

 lent radical, mannityl, C^ Hs ? Again, he defines the simple ethers as 

 " the results of dehydrating two molecules of alcohol by means of 

 sulphuric acid." As a definition of the compound ethers, he says 

 they " are made by treating the appropriate alcohol with the appro- 

 priate acid." In a work on one of the exact sciences such expres- 

 sions are inexcu.sable. In the chapter on the urine are given some 

 of the main facts very well presented. Taken as a whole the book 

 cannot be commended. 



The Modern Treatment op Pleurtsy and Pneumonia, by G. M. Garland, 

 M. D. Pp 103. Paper, 2.5c. Geo. S. Davis, Detroit. 



The Infectious Diseases, Vol. 1, by Karl Liebermeister. Pp. 141. Paper, 

 25c. Geo. S. Davis, Detroit. 



These two little books, forming Nos. 7 and 8 of the Physician s* 

 Leisure Library, are fully up to the standard of the former numbers. 



Dr. Garland gives, in a simple and concise manner, the most 

 approved modern treatments of pleurisy and pneumonia. The 

 average text-books are very deficient on these points, so far as recent 

 work is concerned, and the reading of this little book will prove of 

 much value. 



Dr. E. P. Hurd is the translator of Liebermeister' s book, and has 

 done his work in a satisfactory manner. Believers in the bacterial 

 origin of disease will find in Liebermeister a strong advocate of 

 their cause. Both books are in the best style of the publisher. 



