August 4, 1923] 



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should be the equal and companion of the clinical 

 physician. One -of the deservedly best known text- 

 books on this important subject is Dr. Charles E. 

 Simon'S;, first published in 1896^ the tenth edition 

 of which is now before us. During its life of more 

 than a quarter of a century^ it has served as a kind of 

 index of the extent of the subject^ and in this connexion 

 it may be noted that the present edition is more than 

 double the size of the first. Dr. Simon^ who speaks 

 with the authority of a former professor of clinical 

 pathology, a post he has given up for that of lecturer 

 in medical zoology in the School of Hygiene and Public 

 Health of the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 

 is emphatic in his opinion that even now too little 

 attention is paid to clinical pathology by hospital 

 physicians, and that accordingly students and general 

 practitioners are without an accurate idea of the value 

 of this means of diagnosis. Dr. Simon advocates the 

 establishment in every medical school of a chair of 

 clinical pathology, and that its occupant should in 

 every respect rank equally with the clinical teachers. 



The subject matter of clinical pathology is so con- 

 stantly increasing that, as the author admits, it is 

 impossible for a text-book to be actually up-to-date. 

 The truth of this is indeed shown in this instance, for 

 the date of its going to press is apparently June 1922, 

 and there is not any reference to Hijmans van den 

 Bergh's test for bilirubins in the blood serum, now 

 much employed in the differentiation of obstructive 

 from other forms of jaundice, which was first brought 

 prominently to the notice of British readers by Dr. 

 J. W. M'Nee's paper in the British Medical Journal of 

 May 6, 1922. 



The present edition has 273 pages more than its 

 predecessor, and has been largely rewritten, especially 

 the section on parasitology, which now occupies more 

 than 100 pages and is illustrated by fifty figures. 



The subject of the blood takes up more than a fourth 

 part of the volume, and, naturally from the great 

 interest taken in America in the subject of basal meta- 

 bolism, gives the methods of estimating the hydrogen- 

 ion concentration of the plasma, the determination of 

 the carbon dioxide combining power of the plasma, 

 and the determination of the alveolar carbon dioxide 

 tension. The estimation of the blood sugar and the 

 tests for renal efficiency have been brought up-to-date, 

 though perhaps more might have been said about the 

 laevulose test in connexion with hepatic insufficiency. 

 The serological section has been entirely rewritten, 

 and the author's method of carrying out the Wasser- 

 mann reaction for syphilis is fully detailed and critically 

 compared with that of Noguchi. It may be noted 

 that in the section on parasites, under the heading 

 of Leptospiras, the genus isolated by Noguchi, the 

 NO. 2805, VOL. 112] 



organisms of spirochgetosis icterohsemorrhagica and of 

 yellow fever are described with a plate. 



The section devoted to the alimentary canal contains 

 a good account of Rehfuss's fractional analysis of the 

 stomach contents, which gives an insight into the entire 

 cycle of gastric digestion, including both the secretory 

 and the motor activities of the viscus. Lyon's method 

 of obtaining bile by means of the duodenal tube is 

 described, but the recent discussion on the validity 

 of the distinction of the three categories of bile — from 

 the common bile duct, the gall bladder, and the liver — 

 obtained by this procedure is not mentioned. 



In the second part of the work, occupying about one- 

 quarter of its pages, the diseases are arranged in alpha- 

 betical order with the essential points in their laboratory 

 diagnosis. In conclusion, this manual may be con- 

 fidently recommended to clinical pathologists as a valu- 

 able source for daily reference. 



Argumentum ad Communem Sensum. 



Universe. By Scudder Klyce. With Three Introduc- 

 tions by David Starr Jordan, Prof. John Dewey, and 

 Morris Llewellyn Cooke. Pp. x + 251. (Winchester, 

 Mass. : The Author, 1921.) 105. 



WE are told on the highest authority that there 

 are things which God has hidden from the 

 wise and prudent and revealed unto babes. The extra- 

 ordinary claim which Mr. Klyce makes in this book is 

 that the whole riddle of the universe has a verifiable 

 solution which can be made plain to a child of six. 

 Quantitatively indeed, the child might find this book 

 an overdose, but qualitatively it would understand the 

 argument. The author speaks from knowledge, for 

 he tells us he has tried it and found it is so. The 

 preliminary prospectus is so extravagant, and the 

 account of the conception and production of the book 

 (which we are told was rejected by eighteen publishers 

 and turned down by twenty-five financiers, and conse- 

 quently had to be printed by the author in a press set 

 up by himself for the purpose) is so amusingly naive 

 that the serious student would probably decide on a 

 priori grounds that its value is zero, were he not arrested 

 by the names of three distinguished scholars who have 

 made themselves sponsors for the author and his work. 

 Two of them. Prof. J. Dewey and Dr. David Starr 

 Jordan, enjoy a world-wide reputation. We are com- 

 pelled, therefore, to treat Mr. Klyce's book seriously. 



The first distinction to which we are introduced is 

 that between qualitative and quantitative problems. 

 It is the former which are easily solved : the latter are 

 infinite in number, and as life is finite we cannot ex- 

 haust them. It is in regard to the qualitative problems 

 in religion, science, and philosophy, that Mr. Klyce 

 thinks we are being fooled by a trick of language, for 



