April 25, 1918] 



NATURE 



43 



ry considerable improvement on the first, and 

 ^re are a number of references to the applica- 

 'is of physics to medicine that may help to bring 

 le to the student the dependence of his future 

 6rk on the more fundamental sciences. 



G. D. W. 



MEDICINE AND THE LAW. 

 Lyon's Medical Jurisprudence for India, with 



Illustrative Cases. By Lt.-Col. L. A. Waddell. 



Sixth edition. Pp. xiii + 783. (Calcutta and 

 . Simla : Thacker, Spink, and Co. ; London : W. 



Thacker and Co., 1918.) Price 28s. net. 



THE reviewer remembers the appearance of 

 the first edition of this work in i888, for 

 in that year he passed from military to civil 

 employ under the Government vof India and 

 became a district civil surgeon. That officer, to 



certain extent, combines the duties of police 

 surgeon and coroner, since all medico-legal cases 

 are submitted to him. Upon his report further 

 action depends. Where the use of poisons is 

 susf>ected he passes on the viscera or other 

 material to the chemical examiner, whose report 

 is attached to the surgeon's record. In the Presi- 

 dency cities where there exist coroners' courts a 

 special surgeon is appointed for medico-legal 

 work. In Calcutta and Bombay that officer is 

 also lecturer on medical jurisprudence in the 

 medical college. The later editions controlled by 

 Lt.-Col. Waddell have maintained the leputation 

 which Lyon's work acquired at its first appear- 

 nce. With advances in research and experience 

 new tests and methods have been added, while 

 old technique has been improved. Time brings 

 few changes in fundamentals, but, as knowledge 

 increases, science follows more closely the track 

 of the criminal and provides more certain help 

 to those who administer the law. 



There can be no more profitable school for the 

 student of forensic medicine than a large Indian 

 city such as either Bombay or Calcutta. Lyon 

 took his material from the police records of Bom- 

 bay and from that classic storehouse of illustra- 

 tive cases erected by Norman Chevers. As re- 

 gards toxicology Lt.-Col. Waddell was specially 

 fitted for the editorial work through practical 

 knowledge acquired as a Government chemical 

 examiner in Calcutta. It is again, in this new 

 edition, from Bombay that much help has come. 

 In the "Preface" Lt.-Col. Waddell records in- 

 debtedness to the experience of Prof. Arthur 

 Powell, lecturer on medical jurisprudence at the 

 Bombay University. 



Very useful advice is given to the medical 

 witness as to demeanour in court and as to the 

 character of his replies to questions. This advice 

 Is amplified in the appendices, where examples 

 are given of the kind of question which may be 

 expected in particular cases. 



Now that well-deserved praise has been given, 

 is there anything lacking, anything that might be 

 mended? While most of the chapters contain 

 ithe latest information, it is noticeable that 

 NO. 2536, VOL. lOl] 



chap, xxvii., "Snake Venoms," gives no refer- 

 ence to the valuable recent researches of Acton 

 and Knowles (" Ind. Jour. Med. Res.," 1914, pp. 

 46-148). This paper "throws the searchlight into 

 many dark places, straightens some crooked 

 ways, and is altogether illuminating and inspir- 

 ing " (Alcock). 



Again, one is surprised to find scorpions and 

 spiders classed as "venomous insects " (p. 592). 

 Errors which might be due to proof reader or 

 printer are few and of no great importance. 

 "Myer" for "Mayer" (pp. 623, 624) might lead 

 to momentary difficulty, but the reagent is well 

 known. The book has a good general index and 

 also a "Vernacular Index of Plants and Daigs." 

 We notice some differences in the spelling of 

 certain names in the text and in the latter index. 

 This may be due to different hands using slightly 

 different methods of transliteration. As cases of 

 self-inflicted injuries to support false charges are 

 rare in England, it may be mentioned that the 

 case of Jitan Ali Mir (ref. p. 573) was fully re- 

 ported, under the title "Two Interesting Medico- 

 legal Cases." J. H. T. W. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Department of Commerce, U.S. Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey. Terrestrial ■ Magnetism. United States 

 Magnetic Tables and Magnetic Charts for 191 5. 

 By D. L. Hazard. Pp. 256 + maps 5 in pocket. 

 (Washington : Government Printing Office, 

 1917.) 

 The latest American publication of similar scope 

 referred to 1905, but declination charts for 

 1910 have been published. The observing stations 

 used for the present charts exceeded in number 

 those used for the 1905 charts by some 50 per 

 cent. For declination 405 sea observations were 

 used, and results from 6120 land stations, includ- 

 ing 1 1 29 in Canada, Mexico, and the West Indies. 

 The first set of tables give declination (D), in- 

 clination (I), and horizontal force (H) results 

 obtained at successive epochs at repeat stations. 

 The D and I results are given to the nearest i', 

 the H results to the nearest 10 y. The second 

 set of tables gives the corrections for reducing 

 observations taken at different epochs and in dif- 

 ferent geographical positions to the epoch 

 January i, 191 5. They are followed by tables 

 giving D, I, and H, first as observed at the 

 several stations, then as reduced to January 1, 

 191 5. The last set of tables gives for each whole 

 degree of latitude and longitude the values for 

 January i, 191 5, of D, h H, total force (T), and 

 north, east, and vertical (V) components. Lati- 

 tudes from 19° to 51° N. are included. At 19° N. 

 the longitudes range from 74° to 105° W., while 

 at 47° N. they range from 64° to 128° W. In 

 these final tables the D and I results go to 0*1°, 

 the force results to 0001 C.G.S. 



A pocket at the end of the volume contains 

 charts of D, I, H, V, and T for the epoch 

 January r,'i9i5, the lines of, equal values of the 

 elements being in red. The first three charts 



