July 4, 191 8] 



NATURE 



343 



surgical lecTinique by Prof. C. H. Frazier, a full 

 Bibliography, and a splendid index. 



One point remains for criticism. The work pre- 

 sented is a typical example of that association of 

 animal experimentation witk practical medicine and 

 surgery which has made such definite headway in 

 recent years, especially in America. It is perhaps 

 beside the point that in this particular case the con- 

 tribution made by the experimentalist is rather 

 meagre of practical indications. There can, how- 

 ever, be little doubt that the practice of restricting 

 ■experimentation to one species of animal, generally, 

 as in the present instance, the dog, is a dangerous 

 technique if it is proposed to apply the results in 

 detail to man. The truth of the matter seems to be 

 that while the end which different animals will 

 iittain is the same (i.e. they will so far as may be 

 Testore themselves to the normal state or some- 

 how or other get round their difficulties), the means 

 and detailed mechanism of restoration and compen- 

 sation will likely vary widely in various species; 

 they are, of course, relatively immaterial to the 

 individual concerned. A. E. B. 



OVR BOOKSHELF. 



Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society. New 

 Series. Vol. xvii. Pp. 497. (London : Williams 

 and Norgate, 1917.) Price 125. 6d. net. 

 NoTWiTHST WDiNG the War, the Proceedings of the 

 Aristotelian Society suffer no diminution in bulk. 

 During the thirty-eighth session thirteen papers 

 have been given, and two symposia have taken 

 place. One of the latter, on the ethical principles 

 of social reconstruction, deals directly with the war 

 and some of its issues. In the other symposium the 

 •question is discussed whether the materials of 

 sense — or "presented sensatjons," as G. E. Moore 

 prefers to phrase it — are affections of the mind. 

 The Dean of St. Paul's writes suggestively of 

 some phases of the philosophy of Plotinus. M. 

 Ginsberg gives a critical account of Malebranche's 

 theory of knowledge. C. Lloyd Morgan, discussing 

 fact and truth, and distinguishing facts of appear- 

 ance from facts of knowledge, points out that the 

 former are facts for knowledge. The static nature 

 of truth-.structure and of fact is repudiated. 

 C E. M. Joad deals with the onslaughts of the 

 pragmatists and the new idealists on the theory of 

 monism. Relations are real, external, and experi- 

 enced. The fundamental objections to monism arc 

 logical. Bernard Bosanquet discusses the function 

 oi the State in furthering the unity of mankind, but 

 it may be questioned whether a "communal " mind 

 ictually exists. A. N. Whitehead emphasi.ses the 

 idea that logic is the organising principle by which 

 obsenation is elalx)rated into science. C. D. 

 Broad criticises Hume's handling of miracle, and 

 concludes that miracles might, but do not, happen. 

 W. A. Pickard-Cambridge writes of the relation 

 of value to our consciousness. The various sub- 

 jective criteria offered us are inadequate or 

 erroneous. We have innate, direct, unique know- 

 ledge of value. G. Dawes Hicks attacks the prob- 

 lem of realism. Matter and mind arc disparate 

 NO. 2540, VOL. lOl] 



entities. The esse of sensible objects is not merely 

 percipi. There is no distinction between the mind 

 and its states. The mind is its states. J. S. 

 Mackenzie emphasises the dynamic value of the 

 view that the universe is an intelligible whole. Miss 

 L. S. Stebbing also contends that the c6nception 

 of concrete unity is valid and stimulating. 



H. Wildon Carr's presidential address inquires 

 into the nature of recognition as a modified cog- 

 nition, and also discusses racial or- instinctive 

 recognition. The volume is suggestive and stimu- 

 lating, and we regret that space does not allow of 

 more extended notice. W. L. S. 



Aids to Rational Therapeutics with U.S.A. 

 Pharmacopoeia Equivalents. By Dr. R. W. 

 Leftwich. Pp. x + 233. (London: Bailli^re, 

 Tindall, and Cox, 1918.) Price 35. 6d. net. 

 In many books on the treatment of disease the 

 plan adopted is to discuss each disease and to 

 indicate its treatment. This leads to much need- 

 less repetition, for in many instances the same 

 general treatment may be applied to many dif- 

 ferent diseases. If, for example, we take the 

 case of the infectious fevers, almost the same line 

 of treatment may be adopted for all, with here 

 and there a slight modification or addition. The 

 author of this book has acted upon this principle : 

 he divides diseases into some forty groups, dis- 

 cussing the general treatment applicable to each 

 group, and then adding any special method indi- 

 cated for any particular case. Thus, selecting at 

 random, we have such groups as the catarrhal, 

 the anaemic, the abscess, the malarial, the rheu- 

 matic, the cardiac, the vitamine insufficience, etc. 

 The grouping seems to have been particularly well 

 done, and the information given in almost all cases 

 is accurate an4 sufficient. Thus that rare disease, 

 rat-bite fever, and its treatment with salvarsan are 

 mentioned. Throughout, typical prescriptions are 

 given, and, in addition, dietetic, electrical, and 

 other forms of treatment are described as required. 

 By adopting this plan the author has succeeded 

 in compiling in a comparatively small space a com- 

 plete ^'stem of treatment, and we believe that the 

 book will be of considerable service to the yoiing 

 practitioner. In an appendix some useful hints 

 are given on dealing with patients in private 

 practice. R. T. H. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 

 [The Editor does not hold himself responsible for 

 opinions expressed by his correspondents. Neither 

 can he undertake to return, or to correspond tuith 

 the writers of, rejected manuscripts intended for 

 this or any other part of Nature. No notice is 

 taken of anonymous communications.] 



The Profits of Research. 



A NOTIFICATION issufcl bv the Department of 

 Scientific and Industrial Research, entitled "'Notes 

 on the Conditions under which Grants are made to 

 Students-in-Trainin^ and to Individual Workers,'" 

 states that the Department, with the object of' en- 

 couraj^inj:* research into fundamental problems of pure 

 science, is prepared to make grants to workers in 

 educational institutions and elsewhere. I think the 



