October 27, 1892] 



NA TURE 



609 



to the lad, then why, we ask, do not the firms insist on 

 their pupils obtaining it before they enter the works ? 



Mere evening instruction for a lad who has been 

 hammering, say, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. is well-nigh useless, 

 and at the best ought to be regarded only as a makeshift 

 for those who are compelled to spend the day earning 

 their living. To place a lad at a technical college for 

 two years, and then for two years at a works would cost, 

 as far as fees and premium are concerned, about ^250. 

 To article him for three years at the works about ^300. 

 When will parents see that the cheaper course is far the 

 better, and when will firms refuse to take an articled pupil 

 unless he has already acquired that theoretical knowledge 

 which is necessary toenablehim to benefitby a works train- 

 ing .'' The father who articles his son to an engineering 

 firm immediately the lad leaves school and expects him 

 to pick up his technical education at odd moments, may be 

 more liberal in his money, but certainly is no more 

 liberal in his ideas than the parents who sent their sons 

 to receive their practical training at Dotheboy's Hall. 

 " Now, then, Where's the first boy.?" " Please, sir, he's 

 cleaning the back parlour window." " So he is, to be 

 sure," rejoined Squeers. " We go upon the practical mode 

 of teaching, Nickleby. . . C-1-e-a-n, clean, verb active, 

 to make bright, to scour. W-i-n, win, d-e-r, der, winder, 

 a casement. When a boy knows this out of a book he 

 goes and does it." P, D. 



HYGIENE AND PUBLIC HEALTH. 

 A Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health. Edited by T. 

 Stevenson, M.D., F.R.C.P. (Official Analyst to the 

 Home Office), and Shirley Murphy (Medical Officer of 

 Health of the Administrative County of London). 

 Vol. I. 



THI.:> is a treatise consisting of various contribu- 

 tions from different writers. In the selection of 

 authors it has been wisely decided not to limit the choice 

 to members of the medical profession, and the wisdom of 

 this decision has been exemplified in the acquisition of 

 two of the very best articles which the book contains, i.e. 

 that by P. Gordon Smith, F.R.I.B.A., and Keith D. 

 Young, F.R.I. B.A., entitled "The Dwelling," and 

 that by W. N. Shaw, F.R.S., headed "Warming and 

 Ventilation." 



There are at present several excellent small works upon 

 hygiene and public health, but these of necessity treat of 

 the subject in far too cursory a manner — indeed, they are 

 designed more to meet the repuirements of candidates for 

 the Public Health Diplomas now granted by many 

 examining Boards. This work is evidently intended as a 

 book of reference, and there is no doubt that it will be of 

 great value to those from whom a special knowledge of 

 public health work is demanded. While, then, the last 

 year or two have been remarkably fruitful in the produc- 

 tion of works upon the subject here treated of, the volume 

 before us will not be one jot the less appreciated on this 

 account, for it meets a want which must long have been 

 felt among those who desire a better and more inclusive 

 knowledge of public health matters than was hitherto 

 accessible in a collective form. 



It is needless to insist that the work is all well done, 

 NO. 1200, VOL. 46] 



and that any shortcomings must, of necessity, be faults 

 of omission rather than of commission, for the list of 

 contributors includes those who occupy some of the fore- 

 most positions as authorities upon the subjects of which 

 they treat. It is not an easy task — and one is conscious 

 of running great risk of appearing arrogant — to single out 

 those sections especially deserving of praise. If this is 

 permissible in such a work, we should point to the two 

 articles already mentioned as occupying a foremost place 

 — indeed, the article upon " Warming and Ventilation '* 

 is a little too exhaustive and technical in its physical 

 aspect, and deals too briefly and sparingly with the 

 commoner provisions now used for both the purposes of 

 warming and ventilation ; — a shortcoming which has the 

 effect of somewhat sacrificing the practical utility of the 

 article to its bulk, when viewed from the health officer's 

 standpoint. It would not be easy to speak in terms too 

 high of the all-round excellence of the article upon " Dis- 

 posal of Refuse," by Prof. W. H. Corfield, M.A., M.D.,and 

 Louis C. Parkes, M.D., D.P.H., and the work of com- 

 piling this section could not have been entrusted to more 

 capable hands. " Water," by T. Stevenson, M.D., is a 

 capital article, but one would like to have seen in it more 

 about the methods of collecting water and distributing it, 

 and of the risks which the water runs of pollution in and 

 around dwellings. 



In the preface we read that "it has been the desire of 

 the editors that the several papers which these volumes 

 contain should present a fair account of the knowledge, 

 so far as obtainable, of the subjects of which they 

 treat"; and this is invariably achieved, for where the 

 account is not an excellent one, it is always more than a 

 " fair " one. 



The contribution upon " Air," by Prof. J. Lane Notter, 

 M,A.,M.D.,is too short, and does not nearly include all the 

 material given in his edition of Edmund Parke's work ; 

 and the same fault may be found with the articles upon 

 " Hospital Hygiene," by H. G. Howse, M.S., and " The 

 Inspection of Meat," by E. W. Hope, M.D., D.Sc. 



" Systematic Physical Education " — a subject which 

 has been all too little studied in this country — is well and 

 spiritedly treated of by F. Treves, F.R.C.S. 



The articles upon " Baths," by H. Hale White, M.D. ; 

 " Clothing," by G. V. Poore, M.D. ; " Food," by Sidney 

 Martin, M.D. ; " Soil," by S. M. Copeman, M.A., M.D., 

 D.P.H. ; "Meteorology," by G. F. Symons, F.R.S. ; 

 " The Influence of Climate upon Health," by C. T. 

 Williams, M.A., M.D. ; " Offensive and Noxious Busi- 

 nesses," by T. W. Hime, B.A., M.D. ; and " Slaughter 

 Houses and their Administration," by E. W. Hope, M.D., 

 D.Sc, are all good, though some of them might have 

 been fuller. The article upon "The Influence of Climate 

 upon Health ' might with advantage have considered 

 much more fully the reasons why the various climatic con- 

 ditions influence the health of man in the way they do. 

 The contribution upon " Meteorology," which is capitally 

 illustrated, and one of the most useful in the book, 

 might also have considered the physical causes which 

 affect the readings of the various instruments, and dealt 

 more fully with the principles upon which these are 

 constructed. The article upon " Food " is excellent in 

 some respects, but an attempt to convey to the reader, in 

 an abstract form, the methods of food analysis fails— as 



