March 30, 1893] 



NATURE 



507 



is an opportunity to learn something about its teeth, 

 tongue, &c.," and so we get a series of " inferred" facts 

 about them. We have further details of its colours, 

 sexual differences, a very full account of its " physiologi- 

 cal characters," some of its " psychical characters," con- 

 cluding with its enemies, its repose, its sleep, and its 

 death. 



Enough has been written to prove that this volume is 

 not without a certain amount of interest. We have found 

 it a rather troublesome task to read it through, but to 

 open its pages at random one is sure to be arrested by 

 some startling phase of belief or by some marvellous 

 narration, and the first half of the book very certainly 

 deserves to be described as a conscientious compilation. 

 It is written in most excellent English. 



PUBLIC HEALTH. 



A Treatise on Public Health and its Applications in 

 Different European Countries. By Albert Palmberg, 

 M.D., Medical Officer of Health for the County of 

 Helsingfors in Finland. Translated from the French 

 edition, and the section on England edited by Arthur 

 Newsholme, M.D. (Lond.), D.P.H., Medical Officer of 

 Health for Brighton. ("London : Swan Sonnenschein 

 and Co., 1893.) 



ALTHOUGH scarcely more than a year has elapsed 

 since the issue of the Swedish edition of this work, 

 translations of it have already appeared in French, 

 English, and Spanish. .A book which within so short an 

 interval has attained to such a pitch of popularity may 

 be admitted to have practically established its claim to 

 rank amongst the important contributions towards the 

 literature of the subject with which it is concerned. Ex- 

 tensive indeed as is the ground travelled over by the 

 author, yet so ably has the material been handled, that 

 we feel it to be a matter for regret that the writer was 

 unable to deal with the hygienic administration of all, 

 instead of a portion only, of the important European 

 countries. The sanitary administrations of England, 

 Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, Sweden, and Fin- 

 land are detailed ; but the description of the Public Health 

 service of Russia, Denmark, Norway, Holland, and Italy 

 is omitted. Not having visited these countries, and 

 studied the subject by a personal inquiry on the spot. Dr. 

 Palmberg very wisely preferred not to deal with them at 

 all, rather than run the risk of making inexact statements 

 concerning them 



In treating of the various countries, the plan which the 

 writer has followed has been first to give a brief summary 

 of the sanitary laws in force, and then to describe in 

 detail the methods adopted in the capital towns for carrying 

 out these regulations. Of all countries England claims the 

 largest share of attention. Dr. Palmberg assigning to her 

 the chief place amongst the nations for the excellence of 

 her Public Health administration, and the care with 

 which all matters connected with hygiene are attended 

 to. The chapter on England contains a good resume of 

 our principal sanitary laws, together with a summary of 

 the model bye-laws of the Local Government Board. 

 The description of sanitary apparatus is excellent, the 

 text being plentifully supplied with illustrations. Not- 

 withstanding the limited space which is allotted to each 

 NO 1222, VOL 4.7 1 



country, the author is nevertheless able to introduce a 

 mass of detail relating to practical sanitation which we 

 believe would be looked for in vain even in our standard 

 text-books on hygiene. We may instance as examples 

 of this the paragraphs on the scavenging of London, and 

 the disposal of rubbish and street refuse ; the description 

 of the preventive measures adopted in this country for 

 the limitation of the spread of infectious disease, together 

 with an account of the ambulance service and hospital 

 ships ; the explanation of the methods adopted for the 

 ventilation of some of our important public buildings ; 

 the excellent resume of school hygiene, for which we have 

 no doubt the author is deeply indebted to Dr. Newsholme ; 

 and the summary on industrial hygiene, although the 

 author is rather inclined to repeat many of his remarks 

 under this head when describing "the sanitary provisions 

 as to industries." Dr. Palmberg's admiration of English 

 sanitation is pronounced, and in commenting on our 

 appreciation of the beneficent results of good ventilation, 

 we find him giving vent to the quaint statement that 

 " even in cold weather the windows of high houses are 

 opened, children and adults without fear of chill breath- 

 ing the pure air " ! 



France, the author informs us, has no general sanitary 

 law, most of the sanitary regulations in force consisting 

 of ministerial decrees, orders of prefects and councils of 

 health. Corresponding to this laxity of sanitary control, 

 the great sanitary improvements which have been from 

 time to time introduced have not been followed in Paris 

 by a continuous fall in mortality, as in the case of the 

 other European capitals. As the author very rightly 

 remarks, the time is past when it can be supposed that 

 good sense and administrative capacity merely suffice for 

 the regulation of the Public Health. The drainage of 

 Paris is exhaustively treated, the sewerage of the town 

 being dealt with in detail, the writer in the course of his 

 description pointing out that the system in use is objec- 

 tionable, inasmuch as it allows deposits of sand tooccurj 

 and necessitates the maintenance of an army of 850 men 

 to keep the sewers clear, the workers themselves at the 

 same time having a relative mortality from typhoid fever 

 twice as great as that for all Paris. Moreover, owing to 

 the friction of the enormous deposits of sand in the sewers 

 the wear and tear on the latter are great, and compel 

 frequent repairs. 



The sanitation of Germany and Austria is dealt with in 

 the same thorough spirit as pervades the rest of the book 

 and calls for no special remark. 



In the description of the general regulations in force in 

 Sweden relating to hygiene in towns, we think, however, 

 that these laws might with advantage have been more 

 systematised, much after the plan that the writer has 

 adopted in dealing with Finland. 



The translation is remarkably well done, and with one 

 exception is quite free from the sort of mistake usually 

 met with in English editions of foreign works. The 

 instance we refer to occurs on page 380, where the author^ 

 in describing the forms of stove ordinarily employed in 

 Germany, makes use of the following words :—" Although 

 the construction differs from that of the English ventilat- 

 ing stoves made by Douglas Gallon and Boyle and Son." 



Dr. Palmberg's book is undoubtedly a valuable one, 

 and should prove of the utmost utility to all interested in 



