744 



NA TURE 



[June io, 1922 



Nerve Exhaustion. By Sir Maurice Craig. Pp. 148. 

 (London : J. and A. Churchill, 1922.) ds. 



In introducing the subject of nerve exhaustion, Sir 

 Maurice Craig makes it evident that he is writing for 

 the general practitioner rather than for the student of 

 psychology. He particularly emphasises the import- 

 ance of the prevention of nerve exhaustion, which is 

 defined as " a state in which there is undue physical, 

 nervous, or mental fatigue." The author considers 

 that the essential factor leading to such a state is 

 " hypersensitivity," which may be physical or psychical, 

 and the recognition of which may enable one to prevent 

 the onset of nerve exhaustion. 



It follows from the definition that the condition has 

 a very wide etiology and symptomatology, each of 

 which is discussed under numerous headings. A 

 separate chapter is devoted to sleeplessness and to the 

 individual hypnotics which are used in the treatment of 

 insomnia, but there is no mention of bromural, which 

 is a safe and efficient sedative for most of the milder 

 cases. 



In the last chapter it is urged that the treatment of 

 mental disorder should be freed from the legal restric- 

 tions which hamper it — restrictions which may have 

 been necessary many years ago, but are now obsolete. 

 The author considers that there are numerous cases of 

 functional nervous disorder which should be allowed 

 institutional treatment without the necessity of being 

 certified, and he instances strong evidence in support 

 of this. 



The book will be of considerable value to the practi- 

 tioner in the recognition and treatment of minor 

 functional nervous disorders. 



Guide to the Reptiles and, Batrachians exhibited in the 

 Department of Zoology of the British Museum {Natural 

 History), Cromwell Road, London, S.W.7. Third 

 edition. Pp. 56. (London : British Museum 

 (Natural History), 1922.) i^. 



This publication is intended more for the general 

 public than for the student of zoology. The author, 

 whose name does not appear, has obtained a good 

 balance in the treatment of the different groups of 

 animals with which the little book deals. Exception 

 must be taken to the statement that the Opisthoglypha, 

 or back-fanged snakes, are, although poisonous, not 

 dangerous. This is not always the case : the South 

 African boomslang, Dispholidus typus, for instance, 

 having in recent years been proved to be an extremely 

 dangerous snake, there being more than one record of 

 its bite having caused death in man. Experimentally 

 it has been shown that the boomslang is more venomous 

 than the cobra, puff adder, or any other justly dreaded 

 South African snake. 



Excellent in so many respects, it is a pity that so 

 little pains have been taken in the correction of the 

 proofs, some of the sentences, owing to lack of punctua- 

 tion, being almost incomprehensible. This little guide, 

 which is profusely illustrated by photographs of 

 specimens in the museum, and by illustrations 

 reproduced from the Cambridge Natural History, is, 

 however, well worth the shilling asked for it. 



Letters to the Editor. 



l^The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondetits. Neither 

 can he undertake to return^ or to correspond with 

 the writers of refected matiuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications ^^ 



The Bat and its Repression. 



I HAVE read with great interest the very able and 

 exhaustive article by Mr. Alfred E. Moore in Nature 

 of May 20, p. 659, on the rat and its repression. 

 As I have taken great interest in the question of rat 

 suppression, I should like to add a few words to what 

 Mr. Moore says. 



If the campaign against these vermin were in such 

 hands as his we should go a long way towards 

 exterminating them, but the public does not take 

 sufficient interest in a matter which they always 

 think affects other people more than themselves. 

 The result is that where one man makes a raid against 

 his rats, twenty do nothing to suppress them, and 

 perhaps ten others actually encourage their propaga- 

 tion by the carelessness with which they leave food 

 and consumable stores unprotected. 



One could have hoped that the Ministry of Agri- 

 culture would have taken up the matter seriously. 

 The amount of damage done to food-stuffs is in- 

 calculable. Not only do rats raid our storehouses, 

 but they also attack the crops almost before they 

 are sprouting in the ground. Those who know 

 Norfolk and Suffolk and any grain-growing district 

 are familiar with the squeals of rats nesting in the 

 hedgerows as they go along the roads, and when the 

 seed-corn has been planted fields are covered with 

 well-worn rat tracks, from which these rodents 

 start to grub up the seeds from the ground and 

 devour them. In December and January every field 

 is covered with rat scratchings, which means that so 

 much corn has been devoured. The loss to the farmer 

 is very great and, of course, the public participates 

 in this. 



Piecemeal suppression is of little use, as rats are 

 great travellers, but if a sufficient effort were made 

 by the Ministry of Agriculture to stir up local 

 authorities and to provide some funds, which would 

 not amount to very much, to help them, we should 

 have a remarkable result in the clearing from our 

 fields and our food stores of these destructive vermin. 

 The Treasury will sanction millions for unproductive 

 expenditure. Any minister can get practically what 

 he wants for his own particular hobby, but in this 

 matter of real usefulness where capable local ad- 

 ministration is at hand, our custodians of the public 

 purse refuse to assist in any way. 



Individual philanthropists cannot be expected to 

 find money for a public cause when the representa- 

 tives of the public stand idly by. What remedy 

 have we for this ? Only one ; which is that we should 

 put pressure locally upon our parliamentary repre- 

 sentatives and send up communications to the 

 Ministry of Agriculture, urging upon them the 

 necessity of some sort of action. 



I hope this advice will not fall upon barren ground. 

 There are plenty of men in both Houses of Parliament 

 who will be very glad to help in pushing this agitation 

 forward. 



Aberconway. 



43 Belgrave Square, 



London, S.W., May 24. 



NO. 2745, VOL. 109] 



